Birmingham Post interview with Marcus Jackson

Nomadic Jackson convinced by Brakes's title credentials
by Colin Stoner, Birmingham Post

Leamington dangerman Marcus Jackson is no stranger to surprises. This is the player who was once struck speechless when a night out with his partner finished with the accolade as the Kevin Keegan-supported Midland Alliance player of the season.

This is the winger whose go-for-goals thrills can shock any defence, and this is the player who sometimes has been more nomadic than a Bedouin tribe in a North African desert. While Leamington’s challenge might not be too much of a surprise – regardless of the fact this is their first season in the Southern League in 20 years – Jackson’s close-season arrival certainly was.  

The winger, with Wednesfield, Bilston Town, Stourbridge, Bromsgrove Rovers, Solihull Borough, Rushall Olympic and Tipton Town on his extensive CV, had fully expected to kick off the season at Willenhall Town. Jackson had played against Leamington for Tipton in the League Cup final last season but then he got a call from Brakes defender Adam Cooper, a former Solihull Borough team-mate.

“I live in Willenhall and I did all my pre-season training with Willenhall but then two weeks before the start of the season Willenhall got a friendly called off, “ said Jackson. “My mate Adam Cooper asked me down to Leamington and have a game because they were playing Nuneaton. I already knew Morton Titterton and Martin Hier at Leamington because we had played together at Solihull. “I enjoyed it and it went on from there. They had lost Jamie Towers in the summer and they wanted me to fill in.”

Expectations have been great with Leamington being among the pacesetters since the first weeks of the season, but so, reckons Jackson, are the fans. That’s why he is having so much fun and is happy to travel from the Black Country, with goalkeeper Andy Harper, to play for the Brakes. “I heard the supporters cheering my name in that game at Nuneaton and I knew I would be happy here,” said Jackson. “It was the fans chanting for me that really made my mind up. “There haven’t been that many clubs where I stopped for a whole season. There’s probably only Rushall Olympic and Bromsgrove but I’ve really enjoyed myself.”

Jackson, a former Midland Alliance title winner with Stourbridge and runner-up with Rushall when he was named 2002 player of the season, believes the fans draw every ounce of effort from the players. Despite suffering their first defeat since December to Chasetown last week, Jackson says the Brakes, who lie eight points behind Evesham with a game in hand, have championship quality. “I think we will win it – I said at the start of the season we would win it and I’m not going to change my mind,” said Jackson. “I’ve played in this league and know the players in this division and we’re as good as anybody.

“I still think Evesham will drop points and we can take advantage. I also think Rushall are dark horses for promotion and Chasetown will be flying after beating us,” The old AP Leamington had played in non-League’s top tier in their heyday in the early 1980s before Jackson was born and the midfielder suggest the Brakes can make further steps up the pyramid. The road to the Forest of Dean for today’s clash at Cinderford Town is another step in that direction.

Our thanks for this article to Colin Stoner at the Birmingham Post

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