Alex Jackson (footballer, born 1905)

Alexander Skinner Jackson (12 May 1905 – 15 November 1946) was a Scottish footballer who played for clubs including Dumbarton, Bethlehem Steel, Aberdeen, Huddersfield Town, Chelsea and Nice; he won the English Football League title with Huddersfield in 1925–26. Jackson received 17 international caps for Scotland over a five-year period, and was a member of the 1928 team that became known as the 'Wembley Wizards' after defeating England 5–1 in London, scoring three of those goals.

Alex Jackson
Jackson prior to the 'Wembley Wizards match, 1928
Personal information
Full name Alexander Skinner Jackson
Date of birth (1905-05-12)12 May 1905
Place of birth Renton, Scotland
Date of death 15 November 1946(1946-11-15) (aged 41)
Place of death Cairo, Egypt
Position(s) Outside right
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1922–1924 Dumbarton 29 (2)
1923–1924 Bethlehem Steel 28 (14)
1924–1925 Aberdeen 34 (8)
1925–1930 Huddersfield Town 179 (70)
1930–1932 Chelsea 65 (26)
1932–1933 Ashton National
1933 Margate
1933–1934 OGC Nice
1934–1936 Le Touquet
International career
1925–1930 Scotland 17 (8)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Football career

Club

Jackson was born and raised in Renton. A highly talented outside right, known as the Gay Cavalier,[1] he was particularly adept at dribbling and free kicks. He initially played for Renton Victoria but was transferred to Dumbarton in 1922 for the pre-inflation price of a football. In 1923, he left Scotland to play in the American Soccer League with Bethlehem Steel alongside his elder brother Wattie, before both returned to Scotland to play for Aberdeen.[1][2]

After an impressive debut season for the Dons he joined English side Huddersfield Town, then the reigning League Champions, for a record £5000.[1] Jackson helped Huddersfield retain their league title in 1925–26 and the runners-up spot in the following two years. He also led them to two FA Cup Finals: he scored in the 1928 final against Blackburn Rovers, but it was not enough to prevent a 3–1 loss. In 1930 he was again on the losing side, this time against Arsenal.

Jackson signed for David Calderhead's big-spending Chelsea in September 1930 for £8,500, joining international teammates Hughie Gallacher, Tommy Law and Alec Cheyne already at the club.[1] His time at Chelsea was hampered by injuries, though he linked up well with the prolific Gallacher and himself scored 31 goals from 78 games for the club. Jackson's first-class career was then ended prematurely during the 1932–33 season. Having already fallen foul of the Chelsea hierarchy for activities relating to the public house he operated,[3] he and several other star players at the club were approached by French side Nîmes with a lucrative contract offer, which Jackson threatened to accept unless Chelsea broke their maximum wage structure and increased his salary. The club refused to budge and, in the days before the Bosman ruling, Jackson could do little. He was forced to finish his career playing for a series of non-league clubs such as Ashton National (from Ashton-under-Lyne) and Margate. He later joined French side Nice.[1]

International

It was Jackson's career with the Scotland national team that he is now perhaps best remembered. He won his first cap at the age of 19 and scored the winning goal against England to clinch the 1925–26 British Home Championship. He was one of the Wembley Wizards, the name given to the Scotland side which beat England 5–1 at Wembley in March 1928; Jackson scored a hat-trick during the match.[3] He stated that his most "glorious" match for Scotland was eleven months later, when he scored two of his side's goals in a 7–3 victory over a capable Ireland team in Belfast.[3] His international career was later hindered by a ban on Anglos (Scots who played for English clubs) as a result of a dispute between the SFA and FA, and he finished with 17 caps and eight goals, only finishing on the losing side once.[1][4]

Career statistics

International
Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
117 April 1926Old Trafford, Manchester England1–01–0BHC
230 October 1926Ibrox Park, Glasgow Wales2–03–0BHC
33–0
431 March 1928Wembley Stadium, London England1–05–1BHC
53–0
65–0
723 February 1929Windsor Park, Belfast Ireland4–17–3BHC
87–3

Other interests

Jackson was the landlord of a public house in London's Covent Garden while playing with Chelsea, and also had a weekly newspaper column.[3] After retiring from international football he owned greyhounds at Wandsworth Stadium. He was enthusiastic about the stadium after it was built in 1933 and his first greyhound was called Jovial Honey. He also urged the management to consider the possibility of using the stadium as a football field inside the greyhound track.[5]

He was killed in a traffic collision whilst serving with the army, as a major in the Pioneer Corps[6] in Egypt in 1946 aged 40.[1][3] He is buried at the Fayid War Cemetery.[6]

See also

References
  1. The Forgotten Story of … Alex Jackson, star of Scotland’s Wembley Wizards, The Guardian, 16 November 2014
  2. Alex Jackson, AFC Heritage Trust
  3. England 1-5 Scotland: The day the Wembley Wizards were born, Richard Winton, BBC Sport, 5 June 2020
  4. (Scotland player) Alex Jackson, London Hearts Supporters Club
  5. Genders, Roy (1981). The Encyclopedia of Greyhound Racing. Pelham Books Ltd. ISBN 07207-1106-1.
  6. "Casualty Details: A S Jackson". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
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