Simeon Jackson

Early years

Jackson started his career with his local team in Canada, Sunoco FC. He was invited to have trials with Gillingham, but was rejected by the club. At the age of 15, he moved to England and lived with his grandmother in Croydon, South London. While playing for Dulwich Hamlet, Jackson worked at McDonald's to sustain his move to England.

Rushden & Diamonds

Jackson joined Rushden & Diamonds in 2004 and was the club's top scorer in the 2006–07 season, scoring 20 goals. The next season, he was top scorer for the Diamonds in the league, scoring 16 goals, despite leaving for Gillingham in January. He was joint eighth top scorer in the league that season. In 2005, he had trials with Manchester United and Manchester City. Jackson went on a one-month loan to Raunds Town in December 2005. When he left the Diamonds he had established himself as the club's eighth highest goalscorer, scoring 43 goals in just over 100 games in all competitions.

Gillingham

In January 2008, Jackson signed with Gillingham, a club he had a trial with as a youth player, for a transfer fee of £150,000 on a three-and-a-half-year contract. He made his debut against Cheltenham Town on February 2, 2008. On January 4, 2009, Jackson scored an equalizing goal for Gillingham in their 2–1 FA Cup third round defeat by Aston Villa. He scored both goals as Gillingham beat Rochdale in the 2008–09 play-off semi final, and the 90th-minute winner in the 1–0 win against Shrewsbury Town in…

Jackson qualified for Canadian citizenship by virtue of his years of residence there as a child, and earned 49 caps for Canada, scoring six times. He also has seven caps for the Canadian men's youth (under-20) team. His first game was a friendly against Brazil in May 2006, and he played in all three of Canada's games at the 2007 U-20 World Cup, his last games at that level. On November 14, 2008, he received his first call up for the Canadian senior squad for a match against his country of birth, Jamaica. On May 30, 2009, Jackson made his debut for Canada against Cyprus, scoring the winning goal in the 53rd minute of a 1–0 victory. Jackson helped Canada reach the quarter-final stage of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup in the US, playing in all four of Canada's games in the tournament. On December 18, 2009, Jackson was named the Canadian Player of the Year. National team coach Stephen Hart decided in the friendly versus Peru to experiment by using Jackson as a right winger. With a solid performance at BMO Field Hart continued to use Jackson out wide for future Canada match ups. On October 8, 2010, Jackson scored his second international goal with a chip in a friendly against Ukraine. On October 7, 2011, Jackson scored a hat-trick against Saint Lucia in a game that finished in a 7–0 away victory for Canada. Jackson became only the second ever Canadian to score a hat-trick in World Cup qualifying joining the former striker Alex Bunbury. In early December, Jackson was shortlisted for…

Club

As of May 8, 2022

International

As of March 22, 2017

Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Jackson goal.

Jackson was born in Kingston, Jamaica. At the age of three, he moved with his parents to Mississauga, Ontario.

Commercial interests

On June 1, 2011, it was announced by Umbro that Jackson had signed an endorsement deal following the new partnership between the English sportswear company and the Canadian Soccer Association, making Jackson one of the few Canadian players to have an endorsement deal. In 2012, Jackson revealed that "he plans to fulfil a long-held dream next year when he sets up his first 'soccer' school in Southern Ontario ... "I want to help kids in Canada improve themselves, and get the opportunity to play in Europe and at the highest level through a soccer school."