Rodney Jack (born 18 September 1972) is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

from

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea wh ...

. He is best known for his spells with

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

and

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

. He has also played internationally for

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines national football team The Saint Vincent and the Grenadines national football team represents Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in men's international football. It is controlled by the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation. The team finished second in ...

Career

Jack was born in

Kingstown Kingstown is the capital, chief port, and main commercial centre of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. With a population of 12,909 (2012), Kingstown is the most populous settlement in the country. It is the island's agricultural industry centre ...

. He was spotted by

manager

Don O'Riordan Donald Joseph O'Riordan (born 14 May 1957) is an Irish football coach and former professional player, who is the manager of Women's National League club Treaty United. O'Riordan notably played for Middlesbrough, Grimsby Town and Notts County ...

when playing for Lambada, a

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

select side. O'Riordan signed him for the Gulls on 10 October 1995. He joined

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

on trial in September 1996,

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. A forward, he played for several professional clubs from 1968 to 1984. Having begun his career at Scunthorpe United, he moved to Liverpool in 1971 and ...

offering £250,000 for him, but the deal fell through due to problems with his work permit. With the attention being placed on him from higher levels it was inevitable that Jack would move on at some point, and on 17 July 1998 he moved to

for a club record fee of £650,000. He had played 110 times, scoring 30 goals for Torquay. He immediately settled into the Crewe side, scoring nine goals in his first season, but injuries and international call-ups hampered his progress. He played 188 times and scored 42 goals for Crewe before signing for

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town. The cl ...

in 2003 playing 49 games and scoring 13 goals before following manager

Brian Talbot Brian Ernest Talbot (born 21 July 1953) is an English former football player and manager. He was capped six times for the England national team. Talbot played in midfield for Ipswich Town, Arsenal, Watford, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, ...

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

in 2004. His time with Oldham was blighted by injuries and the club released him in 2005. He spent the summer on trial at newly relegated Division Two side

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

but failed to win a contract at the club and signed for Irish side

Waterford United Waterford Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Phort Láirge) formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland First Division. The club was founded and elected to the ...

. In the summer of 2006 he rejoined

on a one-year contract, at the end of which he was released on a free transfer. In July 2007, he trialed for

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

side

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

, playing in a friendly against

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

, in which he set up the only goal of the game. He was offered a contract by Southport manager,

Peter Davenport Peter Davenport (born 24 March 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager who has managed teams in both the Welsh and English leagues. He has also managed classes as a substitute teacher. Born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, he won ...

, before returning to his home country to deal with "family commitments". On returning to England he trained with Southport and joined full-time until the end of the season. His experience shone through in the 5–1 thrashing of fellow promotion chasers AFC Telford United. He left Southport towards the end of the season, and joined

Nantwich Town Nantwich Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. The club was founded in 1884 and is nicknamed ''The Dabbers'', a reference to the town's tanning industry. They currently compete in and play ...

. He won the club's Player of the Year award for the 2010–11 season. He left Nantwich at the end of the 2011/12 season.

Honours

Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 1997–98 Third Division

References

External links

* * 1972 births Living people People from Kingstown Association football forwards Saint Vincent and the Grenadines footballers Saint Vincent and the Grenadines international footballers 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Torquay United F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Waterford F.C. players Southport F.C. players Nantwich Town F.C. players English Football League players League of Ireland players Northern Premier League players Saint Vincent and the Grenadines expatriate footballers Saint Vincent and the Grenadines expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Saint Vincent and the Grenadines expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Expatriate association footballers in the Republic of Ireland {{SaintVincent-footy-bio-stub