Ross Anthony Jenkins (born 4 November 1951 in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, London) is an English retired

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 ...

, who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He started his career at Crystal Palace, before spending eleven years with Watford. He played for the club whilst they were both bottom and top of The Football League.Jones, p 131

Playing career

Jenkins became an apprentice at Crystal Palace in July 1968, signing professional terms in November 1969. In November 1972 he was bought by Watford manager George Kirby for a then club-record fee of £30,000 initially, with £5000 to come a year later.Phillips, p 183Phillips, p 186 Kirby had made a series of unsuccessful bids for other players before signing Jenkins. Jenkins' debut coincided with the club's first away win in 18 months. However, he was unable to score until late in the season, his two goals in a 5–1 win over

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

being greeted with ironic applause from his supporters. The following season, under new manager Mike Keen, Jenkins only scored four goals in 26 appearances. Watford were relegated from the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

in 1974–75 season, with Jenkins finishing top scorer with 11 goals in 34 appearances. In the summer of 1975 Jenkins chose to turn down a transfer to Huddersfield Town for a fee of £12,000.Phillips, p 188 After a 1–0 defeat to

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

, which Jenkins played in, their fourth game and defeat of the 1975–76 season Watford were bottom of the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

. The club had a strong second half of the season and finished eighth, with Jenkins top-scorer with 19 goals. His achievements saw him win the player of the season award. In summer 1977 Keen was sacked and Graham Taylor was brought in. Under Taylor Watford advanced through the leagues, with Jenkins in the side. They were promoted from the Fourth Division in 1977–78, the Third in 1978–79 and the Second in 1981–82. Jenkins played in their first game in the top flight, a 2–0 win at home to Everton and early in the 1982–83 Watford topped the league. They eventually finished second to Liverpool and Jenkins left Watford at the end of the season to play in Hong Kong.

Coaching career

In 1987, Jenkins briefly returned to Watford as a coach, under Dave Bassett's management.

Personal

Jenkins is no relation to the player of the same name who played for Watford between 2008 and 2014.

References

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Notes

External links

Ross Jenkins Tribute Index
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Ross 1951 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Crystal Palace F.C. players Watford F.C. players Washington Diplomats (NASL) players Eastern Sports Club footballers Watford F.C. non-playing staff English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Footballers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea People from Kensington English Football League players