Ryan Oliver Jackson (born 31 July 1990) is an English 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 ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

. Jackson joined the

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

reserve team in 2008 and broke into the first-team in the second half of the 2009–10 season. He made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

debut in 2011 following AFC Wimbledon's promotion to

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 ...

, before loan spells at

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

and Cambridge United. Following his release by Wimbledon in 2012, he signed for

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

side

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

. He joined League Two side Newport County one year later, where he made 63 league appearances before joining League One club Gillingham. He was released after two seasons and 71 league appearances, joining Colchester United in League Two. He signed again for Gillingham in July 2020 after being released by the

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

side. Jackson has represented England C, making two appearances in 2013.

Club career

AFC Wimbledon

Born in

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

, London, Jackson joined the reserve team at

in 2008 and graduated to the first-team in the latter stages of the 2009–10 season. On 3 April 2010, he made his first-team debut for the Dons in a

match against Histon in a 3–1 win, coming on as a substitute. In April 2010, he signed a full-time contract after a

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

display against Tamworth in his first start for the club. He became a first-team regular in the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season, with 42 appearances in all competitions and goals against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

and

Hayes & Yeading United Hayes & Yeading United Football Club is an association football club based in Hayes, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England. The club was formed in 2007 from a merger of Hayes Football Club (founded in 1909) and Yeading Football Club (f ...

, but did not feature in the

2011 Conference Premier play-off Final The 2011 Conference Premier play-off Final, known as the 2011 Blue Square Bet Premier play-off Final for sponsorship purposes, was a football match between AFC Wimbledon and Luton Town on 21 May 2011 at the City of Manchester Stadium in Mancheste ...

win over Luton Town, which saw the Dons gain a place in the

. On 10 September 2011, Jackson made his Football League debut in a 1–1 draw with Aldershot Town, coming on as a substitute. He joined Conference Premier side

on loan on 14 October 2011. He scored twice on his debut the same day in a 3–1 away win against Lincoln City. After four league games with Fleetwood, on 31 January 2012 he joined Cambridge United on loan until the end of the season. He was told that he could leave the club in January, and he was released by Wimbledon at the end of the season when his contract expired.

Macclesfield Town

On 7 June 2012, Jackson signed a one-year contract at

, dropping down one tier to return to the Conference Premier. He made his debut on 10 August 2012, earning his side a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

during a 2–1 away defeat to

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

. He scored once for Macclesfield in a 2–0 home win against Tamworth on 6 November 2012.

Newport County

After training with Newport County for two weeks during the summer of 2013, Jackson signed for the League Two club on 1 August 2013 following confusion as to whether he was a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

or not. To settle the issue, Newport agreed to pay Macclesfield a "small compensation fee". On 6 August 2013, he made his debut in a 3–1

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

win over Brighton & Hove Albion in the League Cup.

Gillingham

In May 2015, Jackson turned down a new contract offer at Newport and signed for League One side Gillingham on a two-year contract, joining up with former Newport manager

Justin Edinburgh Justin Charles Edinburgh (18 December 1969 – 8 June 2019) was an English professional football manager and player who played as a left back. He notably played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur, where he made 213 league appearance ...

. On 8 August 2015, he made his debut in a 4–0 home win against Sheffield United. He scored his first Gillingham goal on 28 November 2015 in a 2–2 away draw with Shrewsbury Town. After making more than 70 appearances for Gillingham during two seasons, he was released at the end of his two-year contract in 2017.

Colchester United

On 30 June 2017, Jackson agreed to return to League Two to join Colchester United on a two-year contract. He made his Colchester debut on 5 August in their 3–1 defeat at Accrington Stanley. He scored his first goal for the club on 9 September in Colchester's 3–1 win against Crawley Town. He signed a new two-year contract with the club on 15 May 2018. On 28 April 2020 Colchester confirmed that Jackson would be released at the end his contract in June 2020.

Return to Gillingham

On 31 July 2020 it was announced that Jackson had signed again for Gillingham. Following relegation to League Two, Jackson was released at the end of the 2021–22 season.

Cheltenham Town

In July 2022, Jackson signed for

International career

In January 2013, Jackson was named in

Paul Fairclough Paul Fairclough (born 31 January 1950) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of the England C team. As a player, he made five appearances for Cheshunt in the 1981–82 season. Managerial career Stevenage In ...

's England C team to face

Turkey A2 Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

in the

International Challenge Trophy The International Challenge Trophy, originally known as the European Challenge Trophy, is an international association football competition. It is open to national teams featuring semi-professional U-23 footballers who have not yet won senior inter ...

. He played in the 1–0 semi-final defeat on 11 February 2013. He made one further appearance for the C team, playing in a 6–1 defeat of

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

in June 2013.

Style of play

Jackson is a "pacy

" who possesses a long

throw-in A throw-in is a method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball has exited the side of the field of play. It is governed by Law 15 of The Laws of the Game. Award When the ball goes out of play past the touch-line ...

Career statistics

References

External links

Ryan Jackson profile
at the official

Colchester United F.C. Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Ryan 1990 births Living people Footballers from Streatham English footballers Black British sportspeople Association football fullbacks AFC Wimbledon players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players England semi-pro international footballers