It’s expected to happen today, but even if it doesn’t it’s only a matter of time. Seven years after only non-league Rushden & Diamonds was willing to have a look at a raw 17-year-old , Simeon Jackson is on the verge of making his Premiership debut.
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It’s an incredible story and one that more Canadians should be celebrating. At 15, Jackson uprooted himself to chase a dream that really only he believed in. He was rejected by Gillingham (hardly Barcelona that) as a youth but never gave up. Rather than mope when only non-league options presented themselves, Jackson got down to business. He scored an incredible 40 goals in 88 appearances for Rushden & Diamonds, a feat that made the Gills reconsider. Thirty-five more goals, including three vital markers during the Gills League Two promotion playoffs in 2009, lead to another upgrade to newly promoted Championship side Norwich City in 2010.
All he did there was score the goal that clinched the club’s return to the top flight.
Now 24, Jackson has already scored 88 goals in England and become a cult figure at no fewer than three clubs.
Since he’s Canadian, a hockey comparison: This is a 17 year-old that was forced to play semi-pro for a Senior B team in 2004 that somehow worked his way up to be a top 6 forward for the Columbus Blue Jackets – no one is betting against a trade to the Vancouver Canucks soon enough.
Every time it’s suggested that Jackson has found his top level he finds a way to show us otherwise. This already incredible story could have more chapters yet.
About the only area that you can point to and suggest that he’s failed to surpass expectations is in his international pay. With just two goals for Canada so far, Canadian fans are hopeful that he can step it up in this fall’s World Cup qualifying. As the Canadian arguably playing at the highest level right now it’s vital that he do so.
But those are worries for another day. Today should be all about celebrating what is a rare feel good story in Canadian football.