A former Premiere League defender, Jackson played in Everton’s FA Cup winning team in 1995 before becoming club captain at Norwich and Wigan. He then retired in 2008 and has since remained in the business, mainly at Wigan Athletic FC. There, he gained a wide range of experience and expertise in various senior executive roles such as Head of Recruitment, Academy Manager and Head of Football Operations. Most recently, he was heading the Strategic Player Marketing Department at Wolverhampton Wanderers, where, amongst other duties, he was responsible for creating marketing strategies to maximise returns on player sales and loans of the English Premier League club.
With his strong leadership, Matt Jackson contributed to Wolverhampton Wanderers achieving above-average financial stability through more cost-efficient decision-making and sustainable investment.
The new President, who will be permanently based in Zurich, will take over the operational leadership and at the same time be the direct link to sporting director Bernt Haas in all sporting matters. In his role as President, Jackson will also join the Board of Directors.
"I would like to thank Jenny Wang for the trust she has placed in me. I am looking forward to this new exciting role and to working closely with András Gurovits on the Board. I would like to thank him on behalf of the group for helping us and taking over on short notice the role of interim president at a difficult time. In the past few years, I have already had the opportunity to familiarise myself with the club and its environment and to establish a strong relationship with the management team. I am also glad to find Bruno again, whom I first met more than 10 years ago when we did our coaching licence together, as well as Bernt, whom I played against in the Premier League. Now I will get to work to identify potential areas of improvement and streamline structure and processes, with the aim of building a competitive team and a sustainable, financially healthy club that can inspire our fans, partners and donors again," said Matt Jackson.
After the appointment of the new head coach Bruno Berner, with Jackson another key position is filled, which will enable the club to continue to pursue its strategy and ambitious goals.
Grasshopper Club Zurich welcomes Matt Jackson to Zurich and looks forward to working with him.
