John Keith Jackson (5 September 1942 – 29 December 2022) was an English

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 lea ...

who made 656 appearances in

the 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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

playing as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

and

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 'Th ...

. He also played for St. Louis Stars and

California Surf The California Surf was an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1981. The team was based in Anaheim, California and played their home games at Anaheim Convention Center and the Long Beach ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

Career

Jackson was born in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

and began his career as a junior with

, signing from St Clement Danes School in March 1962. He also spent time with

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

as a junior. He was initially understudy to Bill Glazier but when Glazier left in 1964, vied successfully for the goalkeeping position with Tony Millington. He then went on to make 222 consecutive appearances and was ever present in the 1968–69 season which saw Palace reach the top flight for the first time. In the club's subsequent four seasons in the top division Jackson missed only four games. After Palace were relegated in 1973, he moved to

, where he stayed for six years. After that, two years at

was followed by a year with

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

, and Jackson finished his career with

, after 19 years as a goalkeeper. In 1983 he was signed by Brighton & Hove Albion as cover when they reached the FA Cup Final. His one league appearance for Ipswich was in a high-pressure match against Manchester United, with Ipswich needing to win to stay in with a chance of winning the League Championship. Jackson received a standing ovation at the end of his first top flight match for seven years, having made three important saves in Town's 2–1 win. Ipswich manager Bobby Robson said: "We have paid him a year's salary to make those saves, but it was worth it!" His nickname, reflecting the Palace supporters' respect for his safe hands, was "Stonewall", inspired by the

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

general from the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

International career

Prior to signing for

Jackson had already won England youth team honours and in March 1971, represented the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

against the

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 k ...

Later life and death

After retiring from football Jackson had many jobs including working for a golf magazine, then selling golf equipment after which for a time he was goalkeeping coach for Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.; and most recently reported as working as a courier for

Lewes (district) Lewes is a local government district in East Sussex, England. The district is named after the town of Lewes. The largest town is Seaford, and the council is based in Newhaven. The district also includes the towns of Peacehaven and Telscombe ...

council. Jackson died on 29 December 2022, at the age of 80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, John 1942 births 2022 deaths Footballers from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham People from Hammersmith English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Crystal Palace F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players St. Louis Stars (soccer) players California Surf players Millwall F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players English Football League representative players Brentford F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in the United States People educated at St. Clement Danes School