Career
Hackett was a defender, primarily a left-back, who began his career with Tottenham Hotspur and was part of the 1990 winning FA Youth Cup side, but was released without breaking into the first-team, having spells with Leyton Orient, Doncaster, Mansfield and Barnet. After retirement from the football league due to injury, Hackett played for two seasons in non-League football before going into coaching where he was assistant manager at Waltham Forest, Fisher Athletic and Erith & Belvedere. He then moved to Toronto, Canada to further his coaching career and worked for Glen Shields Soccer Club as an Academy Director.
He returned to England and was the Academy manager / Centre Of Excellence Manager at Dagenham & Redbridge.
Hackett was promoted to first-team assistant manager in February 2013 when his former Leyton Orient team-mate Wayne Burnett took over as manager of Dagenham. In December 2015, following the sacking of manager Burnett, Hackett with Darren Currie became caretaker managers of Dagenham & Redbridge losing their first game in charge, on 26 December, 3-0 at home to Cambridge United.