Background
Jackson was born on 19 October 1971 in Leeds. He grew up in Bedford and attended Sharnbrook Upper School.
Jackson was born on 19 October 1971 in Leeds. He grew up in Bedford and attended Sharnbrook Upper School.
As a player he was a defender from 1990 until 2007, notably in the Premier League for Everton and Wigan Athletic, as well as in the Football League for Luton Town, Preston North End, Charlton Athletic, Queens Park Rangers, Birmingham City, Norwich City, Watford and Blackpool. He earned 10 caps for the England U21 side. After initially turning down the club to concentrate on finishing his A-Levels, he started his footballing career at Luton Town, making his professional debut in 1990.
He made nine league appearances for the club before signing for Everton for a fee of £600,000 in 1991.
In 1996, he joined Norwich City for a fee of £450,000. In 1997, he became team captain, and was voted Norwich City player of the year in 1998.
On 19 October 2001, Jackson moved to Wigan Athletic on a month"s loan from Norwich, making his debut a day later in a 3–2 defeat against Wrexham. He made seven appearances during his loan spell before joining the club permanently on a free transfer, signing a two and a half year contract.
Jackson signed for Watford on 24 May 2007, after rejecting a new one-year contract with Wigan.
He spent a month on loan at Blackpool during late October and early November 2007. Watford recalled him on 5 November after an injury to Jay DeMerit. Jackson retired from football on 6 August 2008.
After retiring, he was employed as a football consultant by Image working in player development.
As of 2015, he is working for Wigan Athletic as an Operations Manager.