Johnnie Jackson is just 31 but the Charlton captain is already thinking about life beyond football.
The midfielder has no plans to call time on his playing career but he is preparing for his retirement by getting into coaching.
Jackson, who will start taking his coaching badges after Christmas, said: “I want to do all that before I stop playing so, when the time comes to hang my boots up, I am qualified to take a job if there is one available. Once you turn 30, it would be a little bit foolish not to look that far ahead.
“I still feel I have got a lot to give and I want to play for as long as I can but you have to be a realist and it is not going to last forever. I do not want to be in a position where I stop playing and I am stuck scratching my head wondering what I am going to do now.
“Hopefully that is a long way off but I definitely see myself staying in the game. The older I have got the more I have thought about it and going into management possibly. I am trying to keep all of my options open.”
He recently founded the Johnnie Jackson Academy for boys and girls aged between 5-14. Jackson set up the project with his former Tottenham youth team-mate Mark Hughes, now at Chelmsford City, and Jody Brown, a UEFA A license coach who has been around the non-League for years. The Academy opened its doors at the Meridian Sports and Social Club in the borough of Greenwich, five minutes from The Valley, during the October half-term.
“We have been thinking about it for a long time and I wanted to do it while I was still here and captain,” said Jackson, who took an active part in the coaching sessions. “A few of the kids had some ability but it was more aimed at being a fun session and it went well.
“The feedback we got was good so we want to build on that. We will probably look to do another one in February.”
Jackson has been trying to learn from Charlton boss Chris Powell, who has successfully made the transition from player to manager. He added: “I keep a close eye on how he does things, the sessions he puts on and think about how I would do things if I was a coach.”
Jackson, who will captain Charlton against Queens Park Rangers tomorrow, added: “When I was younger I did not take too much notice of how managers did things but now I look at things differently. Now and again I speak to the manager and the coaches here about the courses they have done.”
Jackson is out of contract at the end of the season but he wants to stay at The Valley. He added: “If I was to see out my career here as captain and there was something [a coaching job] here for me, that would be brilliant.”
