Jakob Andrew Hessenthaler (born 20 April 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club

Dagenham and Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as ...

. He initially came through the youth academy at Chelsea, before later turning professional with Gillingham. He went on to play 181 times over a five-year stay that also brought loan spells with non-league sides

Merstham Merstham is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It lies 25 miles south of Charing Cross and 2 miles south of the Greater London border. Part of the North Downs Way runs along the northern boundary of the town. Mers ...

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

, Tamworth and

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

. He joined Grimsby Town where he remained for several seasons before joining Crawley Town in 2020.

Career

Gillingham

Born in

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Ro ...

, Kent, Hessenthaler began his career with Chelsea as an Under-8 in their youth system and was 15 when Chelsea released him after seven years with the club. He signed his first professional contract with Gillingham in February 2013. In February 2012, he joined

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Division One South side Whitstable Town on a work-experience loan, along with Josh Hare. In January 2013, Hessenthaler signed for

on loan. After loan spells with non-League clubs

, Tamworth and

, he made his debut for Gillingham on 30 November 2013 as an 85th minute substitute in a 4–1 away league loss to

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

. On 7 February 2014, Hessenthaler signed a new long-term deal at Gillingham to keep him contracted until the end of the 2017–18 season. He scored his first goal for Gillingham in a 4–2 win at home to

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

on 11 March 2014, with a 40-yard strike in the 90th minute. His goal against Coventry earned him Gillingham's 'Goal of the Season' award, whilst he also won the club's 'Young Player of the Year' award for the 2013–14 season.

Grimsby Town

He was released by Gillingham at the end of the 2017–18 season and signed a two-year contract with Grimsby Town on 25 June 2018. He scored his first goal for Grimsby in a 2–1

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

win over Notts County on 4 September 2018. On 28 January 2020, he suffered a punctured lung, a broken rib, and ligament damage across the shoulder and collarbone as a result of a challenge by

Simeon Jackson Simeon Alexander Jackson (born March 28, 1987) is a Canadian professional soccer player who currently plays as a forward for Chelmsford City. He has spent the majority of his career playing in England, relocating from Mississauga, Ontario, to ...

in the first minute of a 3–1 victory over

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

Crawley Town

Hessenthaler was released by Grimsby at the end of the 2019–20 season. On 1 September 2020, he signed for fellow

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side Crawley Town. He scored his first goal for Crawley on 30 January 2021 in a 3–1 defeat against Cambridge United. On 31 January 2023, Hessenthaler joined

club

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

on loan until the end of the season.

Dagenham and Redbridge

On 21 July 2023, Hessenthaler signed a two-year deal with

Personal life

Hessenthaler is the son of former Gillingham player and manager

Andy Hessenthaler Andrew Hessenthaler (born 17 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player who is head of recruitment at club Gillingham. He began his career in non-league football and did not turn professional until he joined Watford at ...

, the nephew of

Darren Hare Darren Hare (born 2 April 1967) is an English football coach and former player, who is first team coach at Faversham Town. Career Born in Canterbury, he began his career playing for the youth teams of Dover and Gillingham and went on to play ...

, who has worked as the club's youth team manager, and the cousin of former Gillingham teammate

Josh Hare Joshua Darren Hare (born 12 August 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Boreham Wood. Career Hare signed his first professional contract with Gillingham in November 2012. In February 2012, he joined Is ...

Honours

Individual * Gillingham Young Player of the Season: 2013–14