Simeon Jackson

At 37 years old, Simeon Jackson has this physical status:

Simeon Alexander Jackson (born March 28, 1987) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays for Scottish club Kilmarnock.

He has spent the majority of his career in England, relocating from Mississauga, Ontario, to South London as an adolescent to pursue his passion for football.

Following Gillingham's dismissal of a case, he trained semi-professionally before joining Rushden & Diamonds of the Football Conference.

His goalscoring for the club earned him a move to Gillingham, later of League Two in 2008.

In the 2009 League Two Play-Off Final at Wembley Stadium, he scored the winning goal for the club. In 2010, Jackson was transferred to Norwich City, then of the Championship, and scored the goal that clinched Norwich's promotion to the Premier League the following year.

He fell out of favour at the club over the 2012-2013 season and joined Eintracht Braunschweig, a German club who had been recently promoted to the Bundesliga.

He was officially released from the German club in January 2014 and rejoined Milwall in England in the search of regular playing time. Jackson left Coventry City, Barnsley, Blackburn Rovers, Walsall, and Grimsby Town to join Scottish club St Mirren in September 2018.

In October 2019, he joined Kilmarnock, a Scottish club. Jackson, a native of Jamaica, has competed for the Canadian national team since 2009.

He scored a hat-trick against Saint Lucia in qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Personal life

Jackson was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He and his parents immigrated to Mississauga, Ontario, at the age of three.

Following the announcement by Umbro that Jackson had signed an endorsement contract following the launch of the English sportswear company's new partnership with the Canadian Soccer Association, making him one of the few Canadian players to have an endorsement contract. "I want to help children in Canada develop themselves and have the opportunity to compete in Europe and at the highest level through a soccer academy," Jackson said next year.

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Club career

Jackson began his playing days with Sunoco FC, a Canadian team. He had been invited to try Gillingham but was turned down by the club. He and his grandmother, who was 15 years old at the time, migrated to England and lived with his grandmother in Croydon, South London. Jackson continued his play with Dulwich Hamlet while playing for Dulwich Hamlet.

In 2004, Jackson joined Rushden & Diamonds and was the club's top scorer in the 2006–07 season, scoring 20 goals. Despite leaving for Gillingham in January, he was the top scorer for the Diamonds in the league this season, scoring 16 goals. He was the league's eighth top scorer. He had trials with Manchester United and Manchester City in 2005. In December 2005, Jackson signed a one-month loan to Raunds Town. He had established himself as the Diamonds' eighth highest goalscorer, scoring 43 goals in just over 100 games in all competitions.

Jackson signed with Gillingham, a club he had a trial with as a youth player, for a three-and-a-half years. On February 2, 2008, he made his debut against Cheltenham Town.

Jackson scored an equalizing goal for Gillingham in their 2–1 FA Cup Third Round loss to Aston Villa on January 4, 2009. Gillingham defeated Rochdale in the 2008–09 play-off semi final and the 90th-minute winner in the final, a year after relegation. He scored both goals.

In a season that saw striker Cody McDonald move to Gillingham on loan, Jackson signed for Norwich in July 2010, with the option for another year. On his arrival to the club and made his debut in a 3–2 home loss to Watford on August 6, 2010, he was given the number 10 jersey on his first day. On August 21, he scored his first goal for the team against Swansea City. Due to Grant Holt and Chris Martin's appearance and friendship, manager Paul Lambert often used Jackson as an impact substitute. Jackson was given a chance against Bristol City and scored a brace against Ashton Gate in each half. In favour of Martin, Jackson ruled out the next four games. In the 1–0 victory over Middlesbrough on October 23, he scored his fourth goal of the season. After a few months of being a passenger again, Jackson scored his first hat-trick for Norwich on April 2, 2011, coming as a replacement and scoring three times in the match against Scunthorpe United at Carrow Road. He continued to score the goal that clinched Norwich's promotion to the Premier League, despite being a late winner over Portsmouth.

In Chris Martin's second game of the season against Stoke City, Jackson made his Premier League debut on August 21, 2011, resulting in a 1–1 home draw for Norwich.

Jackson, who appeared on his Premier League debut, began to have trouble finding minutes in the team, but he didn't play a single minute of football in the league until October 1 as a second half sub against Manchester United. Jackson got off to a 1-2 victory over Queens Park Rangers on November 26; this was the first time a Canadian international had played in the Premier League since David Edgar with Burnley started in May 24, 2009. Jackson converted a Steve Morison cross one minute after being subbed on for his first Premier League goal against Wolverham Wanderers on December 20. Jackson played as a second half sub against Fulham on December 31 and scored the game tying goal in the second half, earning a 1–1 home draw. Norwich was drawn against West Bromwich Albion in the fourth round of the FA Cup in late January, with the game tied at 1–1 and scoring the winning goal in the 85th minute to advance to the fifth round. Jackson returned to the starting line up in a 3–3 away draw against Arsenal on May 5th after struggling to make an appearance for almost a month. Jackson was able to get off to a 2–0 home win over Aston Villa in the season's final game of the season, defeating Jackson and Grant Holt as the scorers. Jackson made 22 appearances in the 2011–12 season for Norwich, with 10 of them beginning in ten of them. In his debut Premier League season, he scored three goals and two assists, with 34 shots on goal. In June 2012, the club and David Fox and Elliott Ward considered the possibility to prolong Jackson's deal for another year. In a 1–1 draw at home to Queens Park Rangers on August 25, 2012, he scored his first goal of the new season. Jackson was fired by Norwich at the end of the season, having failed to find minutes in his second year in the top flight.

On July 10, 2013, Jackson signed for German Bundesliga side Eintracht Braunschweig on a two-year deal. Jackson was previously linked to AFC Bournemouth's promotion to the Championship team. Jackson and Eintracht Braunschweig have mutually agreed to end his deal on January 31, 2014 after only nine appearances during the first half of the season.

Jackson agreed to join Millwall in a season-long contract on February 1, 2014, a day after his Eintracht Braunschweig deal was ended. On March 1, 2014, he made his Brighton & Hove Albion debut. In a 3–2 home loss to Birmingham City on March 25, Jackson scored his first goal on March 25.

Jackson signed for Team Coventry City, a one-year deal, on August 18, 2014. In a 2–1 win over Yeovil Town on September 13, Jackson scored his first goal for the club and the game-winning goal.

Jackson left Coventry at the end of the 2014-2015 season and joined Barnsley in a trial. On September 3, 2015, he agreed to a short-term deal to keep him at the club until January 3, 2016.

Following a fruitful trial, Jackson signed a short-term contract with Blackburn Rovers on January 15, 2016 extending through the 2015-16 season. In a 2–1 loss to Leeds United on March 12, 2016, he scored his first goal for Blackburn.

In a 3–1 victory over AFC Wimbledon on August 6, 2016, Jackson signed for Walsall on July 18, 2016, scoring twice on his debut for Walsall. He signed Grimsby Town on loan for the remainder of the 2017–18 season in January 2018.

Walsall released him at the end of the 2017-18 season.

Jackson played for a trial with Scottish Premiership club St Mirren in September 2018 and was signed to a short-term contract until January 2019. He left Saints after his deal came to an end in June 2019, assisting the club in avoiding relegation.

In October 2019, Jackson signed a short-term deal with Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock. After the end of his deal in December 2019, Jackson resigned.

Jackson signed a six-month contract for Stevenage on January 20, 2020. Jackson was released by the club at the end of the 2019-20 season after only five appearances in all sports.

Jackson signed for National League South's Chelmsford City on February 5, 2021. Jackson signed for Lynn Town, a National League team, on loan until the end of the 2020–21 season on March 5, 2021. Jackson will be returning to the team for the 2021-2021 season, as well as a community ambassador role alongside his playing duties, as he announced it on July 3, 2021.

International career

Because of his time as a youth, Jackson qualified for Canadian citizenship, and he now has 45 caps for Canada, scoring six times. He also played for the Canadian men's youth (under-20) team, earning seven caps. In May 2006, he was a friendly against Brazil, and he appeared in all three of Canada's games at the 2007 U-20 World Cup, his last games at that level. He received his first call up for the Canadian senior squad in a match against his country of birth, Jamaica, on November 14, 2008.

Jackson made his Canadian debut against Cyprus on May 30, 2009, scoring the winning goal in the 53rd minute of a 1–0 win. Jackson helped Canada reach the quarter-finals of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States by participating in all four of Canada's games in the tournament. Jackson was named the Canadian Player of the Year on December 18, 2009.

Coach Stephen Hart decided to experiment with Jackson as a right winger during the friendly versus Peru. With a solid showing at BMO Field Hart, Jackson is expected to play out wide for future Canada matchups. In a friendly against Ukraine on October 8, 2010, Jackson scored his second international goal with a chip. In a game that resulted in a 7–0 away win for Canada, Jackson scored a hat-trick against Saint Lucia on October 7, 2011. With former striker Alex Bunbury, Jackson became the second time a Canadian to score a hat-trick in World Cup qualifying. Jackson, alongside Dwayne De Rosario and Josh Simpson, was shortlisted for the 2011 Canadian Player of the Year in early December, losing out to De Rosario in second place.

Jackson was chosen for his third Gold Cup title in a row, but after playing in his first group stage game against Martinique, he was fired with the team's permission and was replaced by Kyle Porter for the remainder of the tournament.

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