Kenny Jackett

Jackett is the son of professional footballer Frank Jackett, who played for Watford between 1949 and 1953.

Kenneth Francis Jackett (born 5 January 1962) is a former professional football player and manager, who is currently Director of Football at club Gillingham.

A skilful left-footed player, able to play in defence or midfield, Jackett was capped 31 times for Wales.

He spent his entire playing career at Watford before his career was ended by injury at the age of 28.

Watford had just been relegated to the third tier and, although Jackett oversaw a long unbeaten stretch of results the team were unable to mount a serious promotion challenge, ending in 13th place – Watford's lowest position in the league structure since the 1970s.

During the close season he was demoted to the position of first team coach, with Taylor once again becoming manager.

Jackett joined his local club Watford at the age of 12, progressing to make his first team debut aged 18 on 26 April 1980 as a substitute in a game at Sunderland.

He became a regular member of the Watford side that won promotion to the First Division and finished runners-up in the league in the 1982–83 season under manager Graham Taylor.

Jackett made his international debut for Wales, for whom he was eligible through his Welsh-born father, on 22 September 1982 in a 1–0 win over Norway in a Euro 84 qualifier.

In addition, he played in the club's first in only two appearances in an FA Cup Final, when they lost to Everton in 1984.

These successes also led to Jackett appearing in the subsequent UEFA Cup campaign.

He won 31 full caps in total, the final on 27 April 1988 in a 1–4 friendly defeat to Sweden in Stockholm.

Upon his playing retirement, Jackett remained at Vicarage Road and, having already undertaken many qualifications, became a member of the club's coaching staff.

However, having undergone a series of knee operations, he was forced to prematurely end his playing career in 1990 aged 28.

In total he made 428 appearances for the Hornets, scoring 34 goals, placing him sixth in the club's all-time appearance records.

Having moved on to the club's coaching staff, he began his managerial career during the 1996–97 season.

In February 1996 he and fellow long-term Watford player Luther Blissett were selected by the returning Graham Taylor to run the first team, while he served as general manager.

At the conclusion of this campaign Jackett was appointed as the club's manager, with Taylor then becoming Director of Football.

Jackett assisted Taylor in getting Watford promoted in two successive seasons, as well as being part of the coaching staff during their 1999–2000 Premier League season, which ended in relegation.

When Taylor left Watford at the end of the 2000–01 Division One season, Jackett was released on the instruction of incoming manager Gianluca Vialli.

Following his exit from Watford he joined Ian Holloway at Queens Park Rangers as assistant manager and contributed towards their Division Two promotion campaign.

From 2004 to 2007 he was manager of Swansea City, leading the club to promotion and several trophies.

After three years as an assistant, Jackett left QPR to replace Brian Flynn as manager of Third Division side Swansea City in April 2004.

In his first full season in charge, the team were promoted from League Two, finishing in third place, and also lifted the FAW Premier Cup in their last game at the Vetch Field.

As a result of these successes he received a two-year contract extension.

A fine start to the League One season followed, putting the team top of the table on New Years Day 2006.

However, their form faltered in the second half of the campaign meaning they finished in sixth place, entering the play-offs.

The team reached the final and a potential return to the second tier after a 22-year absence but lost on penalties against Barnsley.

Jackett did however win silverware for a second consecutive season as the Swans won both the Football League Trophy, as well as defending the FAW Premier Cup.

During the close season he completed his UEFA Pro Licence in coaching.

The following season saw the team struggle for consistency and receive criticism from both their fans and chairman.

Despite initially insisting that he was the right candidate to take the club forward, he surprised his chairman by resigning on 15 February 2007, stating that he felt he "no longer has the 100 per cent support of everybody connected with the club from the fans, the media, the players and the board alike" and so departed by "mutual agreement".

Following his exit from Swansea Jackett was soon appointed reserve team manager of Manchester City on 7 March 2007.

Later in the year he was interviewed for the vacant managerial post at League One club Millwall after the sacking of Willie Donachie, but initially pulled out of the running.

However, on 6 November 2007 he left the Premier League club to take up this position.

He served as Millwall manager for six seasons, again bringing a promotion, before resigning in May 2013; weeks later he took over as manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers, a position he held until July 2016, yet again garnering a promotion along the way.

Jackett was appointed Rotherham United manager in October 2016 before leaving in November.

In June 2017 he took over from Paul Cook to become the Portsmouth manager.

In May 2021, Jackett took over from Jobi McAnuff as manager of Leyton Orient.

His son Ryan was appointed caretaker manager of Kings Langley in September 2019.