This Month’s blog Spencer Reds has had the privilege to get to know all about Banbury’s Starman who plays on the right and is F*cking dynamite: Jak Hickman. Even though he just joined the Puritans in the summer of 22, Jak Hickman is quickly becoming a fans-favourite with his tenacious defending, Beckham-esque crossing and his in-game shithousary. This Blog entails all about the right back’s career from spells in non-league, football league, a short stay in the league of Ireland, to now here at the famous Puritans from Banbury.
Born in Sandwell in September 1998, Jak joined the football club less than 3 miles away from his birthplace, West Bromwich Albion, at the age of 8 where he started his career in the youth system. He stayed with the baggies until 2016 before signing a scholarship contract with Coventry City. After impressing Mark Robins, he made his senior debut for the Sky Blues in an EFL Trophy game against Forest Green Rovers ending in a 1-1 draw. During his time at Coventry, Jak had a series of loan spells at the likes of Mickleover, Hereford, Bromsgrove Sporting and Redditch.
During these loan spells Hickman showed his quality which earned him a move to Ex-premier league club Bolton Wanderers. Speaking to Bolton’s Official YouTube page Jak described the move as a ‘dream come true and a no brainer because of players who have previously played here’. Jak took on the number 12 shirt at BWFC which has been previously worn by world cup winner Roger Hunt who donned that shirt in the 1971/72 season for a very brief spell at the club. On the pitch, it was a slow start to the league campaign for the trotters but on the other hand, Jak straight away proved he was football league quality by putting on a series of fine performances, showing fans his quality deliveries and strong defending. Among this, he also scored his one and only professional goal in the EFL Trophy vs Newcastle u23s at the University of Bolton Stadium. However, his opportunities soon dried up in which Jak stated, “it was a great feeling playing for them, but at that moment I didn’t get as many opportunities as I’d hoped for, and my performances deserved but as I’ve realised as I’ve got older that’s football”. His views are parallel to a host of trotter fans as when @BurdenAces tweeted that Jak Hickman will be leaving BWFC at the end of the season, fans commented in numbers in support of the right back. @JamieB1993 tweeted “Hickman should stay his delivery from the wing is quality’ alongside @ajmstubbsuk views who thought “Hickman deserves a shout. He was great imo” and lastly my favourite tweet from the comments ‘@GazBWFC58 “I did like Hickman though, enduring memory was the shithousing tackle at Harrogate to stop them break on us”. Despite the limited opportunities, Jak reflected on the time he had with the club by stating “as a club I can’t fault it, (there’s) some really good people there, fans are very passionate and made me feel very welcome”. With his football league debut made, 1 professional goal and a league 2 promotion the right-back left Bolton with the best wishes of his gaffer Ian Evetts “I wish Jak all the best, He is a fantastic lad and he’s grown a lot and he has learned a lot during his life. I hope he goes away and plays the football he needs to play and shows everyone what he can do.”
Jak signed for the club during the midst of the Pandemic in August 2020 showing his resilience and his bravery in moving away from his family 97 miles north to live on his own. The right-back reflected on this by expressing ‘there were tough times especially the second half of the season as I spent it out injured but the experiences helped me mature a lot at that stage of my life”. This experience all contributed to his next career move by moving to Dublin outfit ST Patrick Athletic as jak expressed “I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and keep on improving myself”. He moved 247 miles out of his comfort zone to Irish team St Pats, ‘Dublin” his miles and more away from his hometown in Birmingham. (I’m aware using Dublin instead of doubling is a really poor joke). Jak described his time in Ireland as “some experience” where he went there completely as himself which is the reason why all the fans took him to him as he was “fully invested”. “Unless you go over there and play it’s hard to understand but the atmospheres, the different places I got to see and the people I met I wouldn’t change any of it”. This quote highlights how much Jak was invested in the Irish culture and the football club thus making a special bond with the SuperSaints. However, as much of a learning experience off the pitch, it was also a learning experience on the pitch as Jak came to the club still not fully recovered from his injury which kept him out for 6 months at Bolton, meaning it took him a while to get going and even then he was never fully fit. Just like every footballer in the profession injuries are part of the game but that doesn’t make it any easier when they come around, Hickman describes “it’s hard to play your game when your body just can’t do what your head wants it to, It’s really frustrating.”
However, on the 28th of November 2021, the negative of not feeling fully fit was squashed as Jak faced the biggest game of his career so far – The FAI Cup Final: St Patrick Athletic vs Bohemians. The game was in front of 37,126 fans packed in the Aviva Stadium creating history as it was the biggest attendance for an FAI Cup final in 53 years. The right-back came on at the end of regulation time for fellow English man Sam Bone to freshen up the right-hand side. His impact off the bench granted him a 7 out of 10 in the Irish independent proving he made a real impact. Not only did he add his usual qualities he also made himself a cult hero at St Pat's because of his contribution in that game as the Irish times describes ‘In a cruel yet thrilling finish, Bohemians will regret the chances they had to snatch victory as Jak Hickman’s Dramatic goal line clearance also denied Rory Feeley a second headed goal.’ This helped take the game to penalties where the SuperSaints clinched victory and claimed their first FAI Cup in 7 years. “The feeling and the emotion in that moment on that pitch at the end of the game after that penalty went in was priceless” Hickman quoted therefore creating the day of the final and a few days after up there with the best moments of the players life. Relating back to the lows of footballers with injuries these are the moments why footballers play the game for the feeling of exhilaration and adulation. Even though his time was short at the club, "the people will always have a special place in his heart". 11 appearances, contributing to a 2nd place finish in the league and 1 FAI CUP Winners medal.
The FAI Cup winner became the first Banbury signing of our National League era, showing the ambition of the club by attracting a player of his quality and pedigree at the club. His quality has quickly been shining through as he has slotted perfectly into the Banbury philosophy of putting on a show everywhere we go. Since Hickman arrived at the club, the stellar right-back has registered 2 assists and 1 goal so far for the red and gold army as well as being involved consistently in the build-up. This has been seen on multiple occasions such as Stratford away where Hicky’s diagonal pass was superbly taken down by Babos to assist Gio’s screamer in addition to his diagonal ball to Ben Acquaye who took past his man and crossed forcing the Gloucester defender turning the ball into their own net. Similar to Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jak has the ability to change games in the attacking third through his crossing and his ability to support the attack showing his attacking prowess as a defender. However, Jak works tirelessly in the defensive third where he is tenacious in the tackle and can also defend one v one, something that Trent only can wish for. Linking back to Jak's Bolton days he quoted when he joined that "it was a no brainer because of players who have previously played here” in which one of the most famous players where the streets will never forget is: Jay Jay Ockocha a player so good they named him twice. With this in mind, I feel the Banbury faithful should follow suit and reward our star right back who is so good at football to name him twice – Jak Jak Hickman.
Since his arrival, Jak shared the same views as Aidan Hawtin did in our previous post that he is “really enjoying it here as it is a good environment to be in”. The right-back has put this down to “The staff, the lads. the people who work in around the club are all top people and the fans support has been first class home and away.” The fan's support has tripled over the last 18 months with attendances now surpassing 1000 each week and a solid contingent making all the noise away from home. This has coincided with Andy Whing bringing a winning mentality to the club in which Jak believes that Andy Whings' tactical nouse and passion are a big reason why this club has done so well in the last two years and made a fantastic start to the season in Step 2. Jak has started the season in fine form and believes there is still more to come from him as he has not played as regularly as he has done so far for a couple of seasons and it will take him until Christmas to get up to full match sharpness, which is a scary thought as it proves what a quality signing, we have on our hands. Even though it will take him time to get up to full speed on the pitch it took him no time at all to become a fan's favourite off the pitch as he is an all action player and always interacts with the fans. Overall, this has been a continued factor since joining Bolton, St Pats and Banbury, as all three fanbases have loved Jak being part of their team.
This was Jak Hickman Story: 1 League2 Promotion, 1 professional goal, 7 Football League Appearances and 1 FAI cup Winners Medal.
Thank you for reading and Up the puritans
Spencer Reds
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