Simeon Jackson

Simeon Jackson

Born 28 March 1987 (Age 17 at debut)

Position: Forward

(Diamonds player #188)

Total appearances 104 – 43 goals

(90 League, 5 FA Cup, 5 FA Trophy, 4 Maunsell Cup)

Debut:

10 August 2004 (Away Northampton Town)

Final game:

29 January 2008 (Away Burton Albion)

Having previously had trials at Gillingham and Dulwich Hamlet, Simeon was being signed as a 15 year old scholar by Geoff Harrop and progressed through the Diamonds youth ranks. After a number of impressive performances for the U18’s and the reserves, Simeon was named on the bench a number of times at the end of the 2003 / 2004 season, but had to wait until the following season before making his debut.

His first taste of action in the League Two saw him coming off the bench in the local derby away at Northampton Town at the start of the 2004 / 2005 season. Simeon’s impressive performances brought him to the attention of a number of high profile clubs, and resulted in trials at both Manchester United and Manchester City. He went out on a one month loan to Raunds Town in December 2005, and towards the end of the 2005 / 2006 season, Simeon proved a revelation up front, scoring 5 goals in 16 appearances. He signed his first professional contract on 28 April 2006, keeping him at Nene Park until the summer of 2008. His form continued to improve into the 2006 / 2007 season scoring consecutive hat-tricks in September 2006 against Altrincham and Tamworth. By the end of the season, he was the club’s top scorer with a total of 19 goals. Although born in Jamaica, Simeon had spent the early part of his life with his parents in Canada and through them, qualified for the Canadian Under 20 side and he took part in the FIFA U20 World Cup in Canada.

Despite interest from League sides, Simeon agreed offered a three year contract in the summer of 2007 and scored scored some 18 goals in the first half of the following season attracting further interest in the January transfer window. On 31 January 2008, he signed a 3½ year contract with League One club Gillingham for a £150,000 transfer fee, plus a sell-on clause. He scored just four goals in the remaining games in the 2007 / 2008 season, but his 21 goals the following season saw him being linked with a number of Championship clubs. He won his first full International cap with Canada on 30 May 2009, scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win over Cyprus and has since become a regular in the side. He finished his time at Gillingham with 42 goals from 115 appearances, before he signed a two year contract with Championship side Norwich City on 15 July 2010 for an undisclosed fee. After assisting Norwich into the Premiership, he was offered a further one year contract in May 2012. He made a total of 86 appearances for the Canaries, scoring 21 goals, before being released on 20 May 2013. On 10 July 2013, Simeon signed for newly promoted Bundesliga side Eintracht Braunschweig on a two-year deal. Simeon was released by the German side on 31 January 2014 after 9 appearances, and signed an end of season deal the following day with Championship side Millwall. He was released on a free transfer, and joined League One side Coventry City on 18 August 2014, on a one year deal. After short spells with Barnsley (2015) and Blackburn Rovers (2016) he joined Walsall for the 2016-17 season, remaining there for the following season apart from a loan spell at Grimsby Town from the start of 2018, before being released by the Saddlers at the end of the 2017-18 season. He signed for St Mirren in September 2018. His Wikipedia entry is here.

Appearances

2004/2005 – squad number 35

2005/2006 – squad number 28

2006/2007 – squad number 12

2007/2008 – squad number 10