Kenny Jackett

Club

Jackett joined his local club Watford at the age of 12, progressing to make his first-team debut aged 18 on 26 April 1980 as a substitute in a game at Sunderland. He became a regular member of the Watford side that won promotion to the First Division and finished runners-up in the league in the 1982–83 season under manager Graham Taylor. In addition, he played in the club's first of only two appearances in an FA Cup Final, when they lost to Everton in 1984. These successes also led to Jackett appearing in the subsequent UEFA Cup campaign. However, having undergone a series of knee operations, he was forced to prematurely end his playing career in 1990 aged 28. In total he made 428 appearances for the Hornets, scoring 34 goals, placing him sixth in the club's all-time appearance records.

International

Jackett made his international debut for Wales, for whom he was eligible through his Welsh-born father, on 22 September 1982 in a 1–0 win over Norway in a Euro 84 qualifier. He won 31 full caps in total, the final on 27 April 1988 in a 4–1 friendly defeat to Sweden in Stockholm.

Watford

Upon his playing retirement, Jackett remained at Vicarage Road and, having already undertaken many qualifications, became a member of the club's coaching staff. In February 1996 he and fellow long-term Watford player Luther Blissett were selected by the returning Graham Taylor to run the first team, while he served as general manager. At the conclusion of this campaign Jackett was appointed the club's manager, with Taylor then becoming director of football. Watford had just been relegated to the third tier and, although Jackett oversaw a long unbeaten stretch of results the team were unable to mount a serious promotion challenge, ending in 13th place – Watford's lowest position in the league structure since the 1970s. During the close season he was demoted to the position of first team coach, with Taylor once again becoming manager. Jackett assisted Taylor in getting Watford promoted in two successive seasons, as well as being part of the coaching staff during their 1999–2000 Premier League season, which ended in relegation. When Taylor left Watford at the end of the 2000–01 Division One season, Jackett was released on the instruction of incoming manager Gianluca Vialli. Following his exit from Watford he joined Ian Holloway at Queens Park Rangers as assistant manager and contributed towards their Division Two promotion campaign.

Swansea City

After three years as an assistant, Jackett left QPR to replace Brian Flynn as manager of Third Division side…

Jackett was the son of professional footballer Frank Jackett, who played for Watford between 1949 and 1953. His son Ryan was appointed caretaker manager of Kings Langley in September 2019.

As a player

Watford

FA Cup runner-up: 1983–84

As a manager

Swansea City

Football League Two third-place promotion: 2004–05 Football League Trophy: 2005–06 FAW Premier Cup: 2004–05, 2005–06 Manchester City Reserves

Manchester Senior Cup: 2006–07 Millwall

Football League One play-offs: 2010 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Football League One: 2013–14 Portsmouth

EFL Trophy: 2018–19; runner-up: 2019–20 Individual

Football League One Manager of the Month: September 2008, October 2009, March 2010, March 2014 Football League Championship Manager of the Month: April 2012, November 2012, August 2014 LMA League One Manager of the Year: 2013–14 (shared)