Jack Tucker

English footballer

Jack Tucker
Personal information
Full name Jack Robert Tucker[1]
Date of birth (1999-11-13) 13 November 1999 (age 24)
Place of birth Whitstable, Kent, England[2]
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Milton Keynes Dons
Number 4
Youth career
0000–2007 Whitstable Town
2007–2018 Gillingham
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2022 Gillingham 116 (3)
2018 → Greenwich Borough (loan) 2 (1)
2018–2019 → Hastings United (loan) 7 (0)
2022– Milton Keynes Dons 54 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:13, 27 April 2024 (UTC)

Jack Robert Tucker (born 13 November 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for EFL League Two club Milton Keynes Dons.

Club career

Gillingham

Tucker joined the academy of Gillingham as a seven-year old from his hometown club Whitstable Town.[3]

Having progressed through the academy system, he made his league debut for the club on 8 October 2017 as a 45th-minute substitute in a 1–0 defeat to Portsmouth,[4] and soon after signed professional terms in January 2018.[5] During his first two seasons as a professional, Tucker had short loan spells with Isthmian League clubs Greenwich Borough[6] and Hastings United,[7][8] and featured twice in the EFL Trophy for Gillingham. Following impressive performances, he was rewarded with a contract extension at the end of the 2018–19 season.[9]

On 12 November 2019, Tucker scored his first professional goal in a 2–0 home EFL Trophy win over Tottenham Hotspur U21s.[10] Having broken into the first team, a month later he was the subject of a transfer bid in December 2019 from an unnamed Championship club, which was rejected by Gillingham chairman Paul Scally[11] and the same day Tucker signed a further contract extension with the club.[12] He was named as the Kent side's young Player of the Season at the conclusion of the 2019–20 season.[13]

On 6 March 2021, he scored his first league goal for Gillingham in a 3–1 victory over Ipswich Town.[14]

Following the club's relegation to League Two at the end of the 2021–22 season, Tucker rejected the offer of a new deal in favour of a move elsewhere,[15] bringing an end to his fifteen-year association with Gillingham. At the club's end of season awards he was named Young Player of the Season, winning the award for the third successive year and the fourth time overall.[16][17][18][19]

Milton Keynes Dons

On 17 June 2022, Tucker signed for League One club Milton Keynes Dons on a long-term contract, with compensation owed to Gillingham due to his age.[20][21] He made his debut on 30 July 2022 in a 1–0 defeat away to Cambridge United.[22]

Career statistics

As of 7 May 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Gillingham 2017–18[4] League One 1 0 0 0 0 0 1[a] 0 2 0
2018–19[23] League One 0 0 0 0 0 0 1[a] 0 1 0
2019–20[24] League One 28 0 3 0 0 0 3[a] 1 34 1
2020–21[25] League One 43 1 2 0 2 0 3[a] 0 50 1
2021–22[26] League One 44 2 2 0 1 0 3[a] 0 50 2
Total 116 3 7 0 3 0 11 1 137 4
Greenwich Borough (loan) 2017–18[27] Isthmian South 2 1 — — — 2 1
Hastings United (loan) 2018–19[28] Isthmian South East 7 0 — — — 7 0
Milton Keynes Dons 2022–23[29] League One 38 1 2 0 4 0 4[a] 0 48 1
Career total 163 5 9 0 7 0 15 1 194 6
  1. ^ a b c d e f Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy.

Honours

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Notification of shirt numbers" (PDF). English Football League. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  2. ^ Proud mum thanks Gillingham FC for opportunities as teenage son signs two-year professional contract, kentlive.news, 21 January 2018
  3. ^ Youlton, Clive (21 January 2018). "Mum praises Gillingham for helping son achieve footballing dream". kentlive. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Games played by Jack Tucker in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  5. ^ "Three sign professional contracts with Gills". Gillingham F.C. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  6. ^ Jack Tucker joins Greenwich Borough, gillinghamfootballclub.com, 19 January 2019
  7. ^ TUCKER A 'U'........FOR NOW!, hastingsunited.com, 30 November 2018
  8. ^ Hastings United sign player from higher level club, hastingsobserver.co.uk, 23 January 2019
  9. ^ "Tom Eaves and Tomas Holy offered new contracts by Gillingham". BBC Sport. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  10. ^ "Report: Gillingham 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur U21". Gillingham. 12 November 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  11. ^ "Gillingham reject Tucker bid". Kent Online. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  12. ^ "Tucker: It was a simple decision to make". Kent Online. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  13. ^ a b "Gillingham defender Connor Ogilvie picks up four awards at the League 1 club's virtual player-of-the-year awards event". Kent Online. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  14. ^ "Gillingham 3-1 Ipswich Town". BBC Sport.
  15. ^ "Gillingham manager Neil Harris admits Jack Tucker is likely to leave and that Robbie McKenzie could be tempted to". Kent Online. 12 May 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  16. ^ a b "Mark Byrne voted Player of the Year". Gillingham. 6 May 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  17. ^ "Jack Tucker named Young Player of the Year". www.gillinghamfootballclub.com.
  18. ^ "Tucker | "I will enjoy my summer but I look forward to next season"". www.gillinghamfootballclub.com.
  19. ^ a b Cawdell, Luke (1 May 2022). "Stuart O'Keefe voted Gillingham supporters' player of the year 2021/22; Chairman Paul Scally insists they will be a better club next season". Kent Online. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  20. ^ "Jack Tucker to join MK Dons". Milton Keynes Dons. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  21. ^ "Dons sign Tucker as McEachran agrees new deal". BBC Sport.
  22. ^ "Cambridge United 1-0 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC. 30 July 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  23. ^ "Games played by Jack Tucker in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  24. ^ "Games played by Jack Tucker in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  25. ^ "Games played by Jack Tucker in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  26. ^ "Games played by Jack Tucker in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  27. ^ greenwichborofc [@greenwichborofc] (27 January 2018). "GOAL: GREENWICH BOROUGH 1-0 Shoreham - Jack Tucker (36')" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  28. ^ hastingsufc [@hastingsufc] (15 December 2018). "Today's teams" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  29. ^ "Games played by Jack Tucker in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  30. ^ "Kyle Dempsey named Gillingham supporters' player-of-the-year 2020/21; Vadaine Oliver players' player, Jack Tucker young player and Connor Ogilvie goal of the season". Kent Online. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
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