Ex Files - Mark Jackson

Former defender Mark Jackson is the latest former player to have his profile added to the interactive Ex Files

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Player Profile: Mark Jackson

Name	Mark Jackson
Position	Central Defender
Date of Birth	30th September 1977
Born	Leeds
Height	6'0
Weight	12.00
Signed for Dale	Kidderminster - 31.01.06
Fee	£35,000 (+ Iyesden Christie)
Debut	Oxford 1 Dale 1 - 04.02.06
Other Clubs	Leeds United Huddersfield Town Barnsley Scunthorpe United Kidderminster Harriers
Left Spotland	May 2007

Dale Stats (to July 2007)

	League			Cup			Total
Season	App	Sub	Goals	App	Sub	Goals	App	Sub	Goals
2006-2007	8	4	0	1	1	0	9	5	0
2005-2006	12	0	0	0	0	0	12	0	0
Total	20	4	0	1	1	0	21	5	0

Mark Jackson's time at Spotland will ultimately be judged as one of disappointment, as throughout his eighteen month spell with the club, it never really got going.

Which isn't to say that his performances were poor or anything like that, it's just that throughout his time, he suffered injury after injury and he eventually left the club with just twenty league starts in those eighteen months to his name.

Hopes were high for the former Leeds defender when he was brought in from Kidderminster. They were very reluctant to let him go, as he was club captain at Aggborough, and we were forced to shell out £35,000 as a combined fee for his services along with Iyeseden Christie.

However, even his debut saw him pick up an ankle injury which then ruled him out for two months. That sort of luck followed him throughout his time at Dale, and almost every injury report or team news had him down as being just a week or two away from a return to first team action.

But is it down to bad luck? He spent five years at Scunthorpe which were arguably the most successful of his career, but even then, he never averaged more than about 30 games per season for the Lincolnshire side.

Whatever the case, his transfer fee was money down the drain and both the club and Jackson will no doubt both agree that we never got the chance to see the best of him and with a settled run in the side, he could have contributed a lot more.

As it is, we'll never know and it was without any surprise at all that he was released by Keith Hill in May 2007. He later joined Farsley Celtic.

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