Rising star Jackson has Becks appeal

by Graham Wilson (7.09.09)

YOU can't quite see Ashley Jackson up on the billboards showing off the Armani underwear but he has been compared with David Beckham as the new golden boy of England.

He is shy and unassuming in the same way but there the similarities between the hockey player from Chatham, Kent, and the footballing icon from Leytonstone just about end, certanly when it comes down to fame and fortune.

Not many can match Beckham any way but Jackson does have something that he hasn't - a European Championship gold medal after England took apart world and Olympic champions Germany in the final 5-3.

Now what would Beckham give for that. Jackson laughs off any comparison but even at the tender age of 22 and understandably raw in his approach, he knows exactly where he is going with his sport.

"The footballers earn a ridiculous amount of money for not doing very much," said Jackson "and some are not even talented sportsmen. Sometimes it winds me up but I just get on with it.

I suppose I will end up with a nine-to-five job eventually but I love playing hockey, I love being a full-time player and I love playing for England."

Not too much difference there with Becks in terms of loving the game and playing for his country.

But you can understand some of Jackson’s frustration. Such is the intensity of the modern game and the use of roll-on substitutes, a midfielder of Jackson's calibre can last only about 15 minutes on the pitch before needing to rest for recovery.

Operating at 90-95 per cent maximum heart-rate levels, sometimes 60 rolling subs are made in a 70-minute match while tournament demands mean they can play six internationals in nine days.

In Jackson's case against Germany he played on with a cracked and bruised ribs and pain-killing injections. But Beckham did do that record 17km against Greece to get England through to the 2002 World Cup final qualifiers though Jackson's efforts would equate to 18km.

Beckham's aim will be qualification for next summer’s World Cup while England's hockey boys, and women for that matter, have already qualified by reaching the semi-finals of those European Championships in Amsterdam where they even beat the Dutch on their home ground.

That's where Jackson now plays his hockey. He is playing for The Hague club HGC, alongside his England captain Barry Middleton in the best league in the world where all the stars of the game trade their skills.

He was the league's highest scorer last season until injury intervened. He scored eight in the Euros, four penalty corner goals– the equivalent of Beckham's set-pieces - three field goals and one penalty stroke.

The top player in Holland is on about £65,000 a year. Jackson is maybe on £25,000 and he gets a flat and a car thrown in. Jackson has one sponsor, Grays, to supply his sticks while endorsements for some players maybe run up to a maximum £5,000 a year.

Beckham wouldn’t get into his Armani’s for that.

But Jackson is being groomed as a sporting hero. He is just about to start off again in the Dutch league, he has the Champions Trophy coming up late in November for England which is a round-robin tournament taking in the world's top six teams in Melbourne, followed by next year's World Cup and Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

And the ultimate aim is the gold in the 2012 London Olympics.

The man responsible for delivering is England performance director David Faulkner, the 1988 Seoul gold medallist, and he calls Jackson "the most single-minded, determined player he has ever encountered".

Seoul team-mate Richard Leman, president of GB hockey, and close to Jackson as his mentor at the East Grinstead club said:

"None of our teams have won the European championship though we got to the final in 1987. Ashley is probably one of the top 10 players in the world now and he can be the best in the world. And I can see him being player of the tournament in 2012."

In that respect Jackson knows just how much it will mean for England and Beckham to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa.

"It's all about winning whatever sport you are," said Jackson. "We have a long-term plan for 2012 but we have to make sure this European title isn't just a one-off. It's no good turning up for a World Cup and not performing well."

So say all of us.

copy for Dail Express 8.9.2009