Thomas Jackson (born 3 November 1946) is a Northern Irish former

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 played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for Everton,

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

and

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. He also amassed a total of 35

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the

Northern Ireland national football team The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in men's international association football. From 1882 to 1950, all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team (1882–1950), Ireland ...

. Following his playing career, he went into management, taking charge of various clubs in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Jackson began his professional football career playing for

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Iris ...

. He became a regular in the Glentoran side by the age of 21, and won league-winners' medals in 1967 and 1968 before signing for Everton in February 1968. In just over two seasons with the Toffees, Jackson picked up yet another league-winners' medal in 1970. His performances as understudy to the likes of Alan Ball and Howard Kendall attracted the attention of other clubs and, after just 32 league appearances for Everton, Jackson was signed by Nottingham Forest in October 1970. Forest were struggling for survival in the First Division, but Jackson still only managed to make 81 appearances, albeit scoring six goals. The arrival of Brian Clough and the emergence of

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who played as a midfielder. After a brief early career in the Irish Leag ...

saw Jackson's opportunities become even fewer and further between, and he was granted a free transfer in the summer of 1975. He was then signed by Manchester United manager

Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times bet ...

with the intention of Jackson captaining the club's reserve team and instilling a level of professionalism in the club, which had just been promoted back into the First Division. However, Jackson made such a good impression that he was rewarded with 17 league starts that season, helping the team to an impressive third-place finish. Nevertheless, he spent the 1976–77 season back in his intended reserve team role before retiring back to Ireland to become the player-manager at Waterford United. There, he led the club to two consecutive FAI Cup finals, winning the competition in 1980. Despite the FAI Cup win, one trophy in four years was not enough for the Waterford United board, and Jackson was sacked in 1982. It was a whole year before he got another management job, returning to Northern Ireland as manager of

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

in July 1983. The team won the Gold Cup in 1985, beating Linfield 2–1 in the final, but Jackson left the club in October of the following season, before returning to his first club, Glentoran, three months later. In years at Glentoran, Jackson led the team to 16 major trophies, including the Double in 1988, but the team's form began to dip after their title win in 1992, and Jackson was sacked in July 1993. He then spent a further year in charge of Ballymena United.

Honours

As a player

* Irish League: 2 **

1966/67, 1967/68 * Football League First Division (1892–1992) ** Everton – 1969–70 Football League

As a manager

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

– 1980 * Gold Cup **

– 1985/86 * Irish League: 2 **

1987/88, 1991/92 *

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

: 3 **

1986/87, 1987/88, 1989/90 * Gold Cup (Northern Ireland): 2 **

1986/87, 1991/92 * Ulster Cup: 2 **

1988/89, 1989/90 *

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster F ...

: 3 **

1986/87, 1987/88, 1989/90 * Irish League Cup: 2 **

1988/89, 1990/91 * Irish League Floodlit Cup: 2 **

1987/88, 1989/90

External links

Profile
at StretfordEnd.co.uk

at MUFCinfo.com

at NIFG

at neilbrown.newcastlefans.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Tommy 1946 births Living people Association footballers from Belfast Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders NIFL Premiership players Glentoran F.C. players Everton F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Waterford F.C. players Waterford F.C. managers League of Ireland players League of Ireland managers League of Ireland XI managers Crusaders F.C. managers Crusaders F.C. players Glentoran F.C. managers Ballymena United F.C. managers Association football managers from Northern Ireland English Football League players Detroit Cougars (soccer) players Men's association football player-managers Northern Ireland men's under-23 international footballers