Wayne Jacobs

Wayne Graham Jacobs (born 3 February 1969) is an English football coach and former professional player who is the assistant manager to Darren Moore at club Port Vale.

He also operates a charity he founded called One In A Million, which he set up after turning to Christianity.

Jacobs was a tenacious left back who began his playing career with Sheffield Wednesday, where he would play six First Division games in the 1987–88 season.

He made his debut in the Football League for Sheffield Wednesday on 18 August 1987, when he came on as a substitute in a 1–1 draw with Oxford United at Hillsborough.

He was given his first start in the First Division on 19 September in a 2–2 draw at Derby County.

He played ten games in the 1987–88 season, featuring in a variety of positions from left-back and right-back to left-midfield and left-wing.

He later credited "very strong and sergeant majori-sh" manager Howard Wilkinson for instilling him with the discipline needed for a good career in the game.

He was sold to Hull City for a £30,000 fee in March 1988 and would go on to win the club's Player of the Year award.

Jacobs signed a two-year contract with Hull City after being bought for a £30,000 fee on 25 March 1988.

He saw the step down to the Second Division as a chance to establish himself in the first XI at a club.

He was credited with being "one of Brian Horton's many bargain buys".

He competed with Ray Daniel for the left-back berth in the 1988–89 campaign.

After initially rotating the pair, manager Eddie Gray settled on Jacobs as his first-choice left-back from January.

Jacobs finished as runner-up to Keith Edwards in the fans' Player of the Year vote and was named as the Away Match Player of the Year.

He scored his first goal in senior football on 2 December 1989 in a 2–1 defeat at Leicester City.

He was voted as club's Player of the Year after being an ever-present throughout the 1989–90 campaign.

The club was in a state of flux as Colin Appleton was sacked three months into the season, to be replaced by Stan Ternent, though Jacobs retained his first-team place throughout.

He subsequently signed a new three-year contract.

A persistent ankle ligament injury limited him to 19 league appearances in the 1990–91 campaign as Hull were relegated into the Third Division.

He was deputised by Les Thompson during his absences from the team.

He featured 34 times under the stewardship of Terry Dolan in the 1991–92 campaign before he snapped a cruciate ligament in a game against Stoke City in January.

He suffered serious injuries, however, and was released in December 1992.

He returned to fitness towards the end of the 1992–93 season, having missed 14 months with a cruciate knee ligament, though he was released by chairman Martin Fish on Christmas Eve after Fish claimed the club were unable to pay his wages.

Shareholders criticised Fish for what they perceived to be his short-sighted decision at the club's AGM.

Fish said Jacobs was a potential "financial liability" and that he expected "to take some stick" for his decision.

He returned to fitness and spent the 1993–94 season with Rotherham United before he joined Bradford City in August 1994.

Jacobs signed with Second Division club Rotherham United on 2 July 1993.

He proved his fitness to manager Phil Henson by missing just four league games of the 1993–94 season.

Despite this, he was still allowed to leave Millmoor.

He was sent off for the first time in his career during a 1–0 defeat at Cardiff City on 29 March 1994, having received a second yellow card for tugging Tony Bird's shirt.

Jacobs remained in the Second Division as he signed with Bradford City on 5 August 1994.

He played 44 games in the 1994–95 season and was named as the club's Player of the Year.

In December 1995, Jacobs scored two goals, including one from a bicycle kick, in an FA Cup win over Preston North End in a match shown live on television amidst a thick fog.

Chris Kamara succeeded Lennie Lawrence as manager midway through the 1995–96 campaign and led Bradford into the play-offs with victory over Jacobs' former club Hull at Boothferry Park on the final day.

City then came back from a 2–0 home defeat by Blackpool in the first leg of the play-off semi-finals to win 3–0 and secure a place in the play-off final, with Jacon recalling an arrogant boast from a Blackpool player after the first leg being his motivation for the second leg.

He spent the next 11 years with Bradford, helping the club to win promotion out of the Second Division via the play-offs in 1996 and then to win promotion into the Premier League at the end of the 1998–99 season.

He was twice named as the club's Player of the Year and made 357 appearances for the club, including 45 in the Premier League, before he departed into non-League football in May 2005.

He spent two years as the assistant manager at Halifax Town and returned to Bradford City, serving as caretaker manager in February 2010 to add to his first spell as caretaker manager in November 2003.

He later worked as an assistant to Darren Moore at West Bromwich Albion, Sheffield Wednesday and Port Vale.

Jacobs joined Sheffield Wednesday on schoolboy terms upon turning 14.