Tommy Jackson

Name: Thomas A. Jackson

Born: 03 November 1946, Belfast

Height: 5.07 ft

Weight: 11.03 st

Position: Midfielder

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Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 35 Full Caps (1968-1977), 1 Under-23 Cap (1968), 1 Amateur Cap (1967), Junior, Youth.

Club Honours: (with Glentoran) Irish League Champion 1966/67, 1967/68; Irish Cup Runner-Up 1966/67; Steel & Sons Cup Winner 1965/66*, 1966/67*; George Wilson Cup Winner 1965/66*, 1966/67*; Louis Moore Cup 1965/66*; (with Everton) Football League Champion 1969/70; (with Waterford) FAI Cup Winner 1979/80, Runner-Up 1978/79. (* with Glentoran II)

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Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	FL Cup	Europe
Ewart's Rec	-	-	Youth	-	(Amateur League)
Glentoran	64/65-67/68	1963	Youth	*75 (0)/ 8	-	-	2(0)/0
Detroit Cougars	1967	May-67	Guest	12 (0)/ 0	(United Soccer Association)
Everton	67/68-70/71	Feb-68	-	30 (2)/ 0	3(1)/0	1(0)/0	0(1)/0
Nottingham Forest	70/71-74/75	Oct-70	-	73 (8)/ 6	8(0)/0	6(0)/0	-
Manchester United	75/76-76/77	c/s-75	-	18 (1)/ 0	-	4(0)/0	-
Waterford United	78/79-81/82	Jul-78	Free	-	-	-	-
TOTALS	-	£-		208(11)/14	11(1)/0	11(0)/0	2(1)/0

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Managerial Career:

Waterford (Jul/78-Jul/82) FAI Cup 1979/80

Crusaders (Jul/83-Oct/86) Gold Cup 1985/86

Glentoran (Jan/87-Jun/93) Irish League Championship 1987/88, 1991/92; Irish Cup 1986/87, 1987/88, 1989/90; Gold Cup 1986/87, 1991/92; Ulster Cup 1988/89, 1989/90; Co. Antrim Shield 1986/87, 1989/90; League Cup 1988/89, 1990/91; Floodlit Cup 1987/88, 1989/90; Co. Antrim Chalice 1987/88; Charity Shield 1992 (shared).

Ballymena United (Oct/93-Oct/94)

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Biography:

A 100% midfielder, Tommy Jackson came to the world's attention when he virtually man-marked Eusebio out of a Glentoran-Benfica European Cup tie in 1967. He had been with the Glens since 1963, captaining the Seconds to successive Steel Cup wins in 1965 and 1966 before establishing himself in the first eleven in time to claim a Championship medal in 1967 and a place in the Cougars squad.

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Jackson did enough to earn another League winner's medal prior to a move to Everton in February 1968. A week later he made his First Division debut in a 2-1 defeat by Nottingham Forest and he then replaced the suspended Alan Ball for a 1-0 FA Cup semi-final win over Leeds. For the FA Cup Final he was named in the matchday squad of fourteen but was left to watch from the stands as Everton lost out to West Brom.

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Through Everton's 1969/70 title winning season Jackson was the regular deputy when any of the "Holy Trinity" of Ball, Harvey and Kendall were missing from midfield. In all he played fifteen times - enough to claim a League medal - and was regarded as a key member of the squad. However, with the club spending big in an attempt to retain their title, Jackson was allowed to leave in October 1970.

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Jackson signed for a Nottingham Forest side struggling to retain their top-flight status. The highlights of his first two seasons at the City Ground were few-and-far-between, but he did manage to score the winner against his former club, Everton in December 1971. Perhaps more tellingly that same match saw international colleague Liam O'Kane break his leg and Forest begin the inevitable slide to relegation.

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The arrival of Brian Clough as Forest manager saw Jackson fall from the reckoning while another Northern Ireland player, Martin O'Neill began to flourish. In 1975 Jackson was granted a free transfer, and to the surprise of everyone, the man himself included, he was snapped up by Manchester United. United boss Tommy Docherty considered that Jackson's professionalism would be ideal to add experience to a young squad freshly promoted back to the First Division. Jackson was to captain the reserves, but an impressive pre-season saw him promoted to firstteam action and in all he played seventeen times as a holding midfielder as United amazed everyone by finishing third.

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After that initial season Jackson settled into the expected reserve-team role before being released in 1978. Wishing to continue his playing days, and rejecting offers to stay in England as manager, Jackson joined Waterford United as player-manager. He brought great success to the club, leading them to successive FAI Cup Finals (their 1980 win over St Pat's was their first success in the competition since 1937) and he was appointed manager of the League of Ireland side that lost out to a single Maradona goal against Argentina at the River Plate Stadium in October 1980. The goalkeeper for the Irish side was Glentoran legend, Alan Patterson, then with Sligo Rovers.

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First capped by Northern Ireland on a "dirt pitch" against Israel in Jaffa in 1968, Jackson's international career was to follow a similar path to his club career. He was considered a reliable and able deputy for the likes of McMordie, Nicholson or Clements and later Cassidy, O'Neill, McIlroy or Hamilton and was thus seldom assured of a place in midfield. Fortunately his versatility - he also filled in at left-back and in the centre of defence as required - offered Jackson further opportunities that would see him take his cap total to 35 in a nine year international career. His most treasured match in a green shirt was the 1-0 win over England at Wembley in 1972, a rare highlight in what was a difficult period for the Northern Ireland team.

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Jackson returned to the Irish League as manager of Crusaders in 1983, leading them to a rare trophy success following a 2-1 Gold Cup Final win over Linfield. In 1987 he returned "home" as manger of Glentoran. He galvanised a Glens side that had been in the shadow of Linfield for much of the decade, leading them to sixteen major trophies including the "Double" in 1988. He completed another unique double when he was appointed manager of the Irish League side for their Centenary match against Manchester United in 1990, a decade after managing the League of Ireland.

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Glentoran's form began to slump following Jackson's second title triumph in 1992 and he was eventually sacked in June 1993 following fan protests. He later spent an unsuccessful year in charge of Ballymena.

Since leaving management, Jackson has been involved in running soccer schools.

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Glentoran Heroes

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Northern Ireland Cap Details:

10-09-1968 Israel...... A W 3-2 FR

03-05-1969 England..... H L 1-3 BC

06-05-1969 Scotland.... A D 1-1 BC

10-05-1969 Wales....... H D 0-0 BC

10-09-1969 USSR........ H D 0-0 WCQ sub

22-10-1969 USSR........ A L 0-2 WCQ

11-11-1970 Spain....... A L 0-3 ECQ

20-05-1972 Scotland.... H L 0-2 BC

23-05-1972 England..... A W 1-0 BC

27-05-1972 Wales....... A D 0-0 BC

08-05-1973 Cyprus...... H W 3-0 WCQ

12-05-1973 England..... H L 1-2 BC

16-05-1973 Scotland.... A W 2-1 BC

19-05-1973 Wales....... H W 1-0 BC

26-09-1973 Bulgaria.... H D 0-0 WCQ

14-11-1973 Portugal.... A D 1-1 WCQ

11-05-1974 Scotland.... H W 1-0 BC. sub

15-05-1974 England..... A L 0-1 BC. sub

18-05-1974 Wales....... A L 0-1 BC. sub

04-09-1974 Norway...... A L 1-2 ECQ sub

30-10-1974 Sweden...... A W 2-0 ECQ

16-04-1975 Yugoslavia.. H W 1-0 ECQ

17-05-1975 England..... H D 0-0 BC

20-05-1975 Scotland.... A L 0-3 BC

23-05-1975 Wales....... H W 1-0 BC

03-09-1975 Sweden...... H L 1-2 ECQ

29-10-1975 Norway...... H W 3-0 ECQ

19-11-1975 Yugoslavia.. A L 0-1 ECQ

13-10-1976 Netherlands. A D 2-2 WCQ

10-11-1976 Belgium..... A L 0-2 WCQ

27-04-1977 West Germany A L 0-5 FR

28-05-1977 England..... H L 1-2 BC

01-06-1977 Scotland.... A L 0-2 BC

03-06-1977 Wales....... H D 1-1 BC

11-06-1977 Iceland..... A L 0-1 WCQ

Summary: 30(5)/0. Won 10, Drew 9, Lost 16.

Northern Ireland Under-23 Cap Details:
20-03-1968 Wales....... A W 1-0 FR

Summary: 1/0. Won 1, Drew 0, Lost 0.

Northern Ireland Amateur Cap Details:

23-09-1967 England. H L 0-1

Summary: 1/0. Won 0, drew 0, Lost 1.

Tommy Jackson Managerial Stats
1️⃣4️⃣4️⃣ games 4️⃣1️⃣% win ratio @CrusadersFC
3️⃣2️⃣8️⃣ games 6️⃣3️⃣% win ratio @Glentoran
4️⃣2️⃣ games 2️⃣4️⃣% win ratio @BallymenaUnited
Total: 5️⃣1️⃣4️⃣ games 5️⃣4️⃣% win ratio
Trophies won
1️⃣ @CrusadersFC
1️⃣6️⃣ @Glentoran pic.twitter.com/j45iAAbQN8

— Marshall Gillespie (@NIStats) January 5, 2022