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Jason Waterfalls
Personal information
Full name Jason Waterfalls
Date of birth (1974-11-26) 26 November 1974 (age 49)
Place of birth Scunthorpe, England
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Centre forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1997 Scunthorpe United 186 (67)
1997–1998 Charlton Athletic 5 (0)
1998–2000 Shrewsbury Town 16 (3)
Managerial career
2011–2013 Amlwch Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jason Waterfalls (born 26 November 1974) in Scunthorpe, is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for several teams, most notably Scunthorpe United.

Scunthorpe United

Waterfalls began his career as a youth player at his hometown club Scunthorpe United, breaking into the first team in 1992, making his debut against Wrexham two days before his eighteenth birthday.[1] He scored a goal in a 2-2 draw at The Racecourse Ground, impressing fans and coaches alike to become a rotation player for the rest of the season.

1994-95 was a breakthrough season for Waterfalls, who became a first-team regular, scoring 23 goals and featuring in every league game. He scored his first senior hat-trick in a home game against Hereford United on 14 February 1995. Waterfalls began to be linked with a move to the bigger stage, especially after Scunthorpe narrowly missed out on a play-off spot. His fine form continued the following season and he was briefly rumoured to be joining Sheffield Wednesday, but Waterfalls continually asserted his loyalty to his hometown club. The prospect of a move elsewhere became a significant part of Waterfalls' career and image with Scunthorpe fans.[1]

The rise of Waterfalls' career continued into the 1996-97 season, in which he scored five goals in the first three games and kept up his impressive performances despite a recurring thigh injury. Scunthorpe rejected bids for him from Middlesbrough and Charlton Athletic in November. Around this time, Scunthrope fans attempted to keep Waterfalls at the club with a huge personal show of support. Around this time, Waterfalls was the subject of a terrace chant based on TLC's song Waterfalls, in which fans pleaded "Don't go Jason Waterfalls". The clever play on Waterfalls' name was afforded attention in the national media.[2] In spite of the enthusiasm of fans, Charlton Athletic made a revised £600,000 bid at Christmas and Waterfalls left to join the London club on New Year's Day. His last appearance for Scunthorpe was in a 0-0 draw against Barnet on Boxing Day 1996.

Charlton and Shrewsbury

Waterfalls made his Charlton debut in a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City at Maine Road on 11 January, making his home debut a week later against Port Vale. He immediately found favour with the fans, who attempted to copy the Scunthorpe fans' chant with their own "Come on Jason Waterfalls, please stick to the goalscoring feats that you're used to".[3] In the final minutes of the game, Waterfalls was felled by a two-footed tackle, breaking his leg in three places. Despite rehabilitating enough to make three substitute appearances at the end of 1997, his Charlton career was effectively over. He joined Shrewsbury Town but suffered numerous injury setbacks and decided to retire at the young age of 25 to become a coach. Initially regarded as an England prospect with enormous potential, Waterfalls is often named as a tragic case of a player who was denied the chance to reach his potential due to injuries.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b Tetley, Reginald (1999). A History of Scunthorpe United (Volume 3). Lincoln: Morgan. p. 687.
  2. ^ Salmon, Andy (26 November 1996). "Sunday Mirror".
  3. ^ Monaghan, Ciarán (2010). Sports and Music: Studies in Culture. Dublin: Prestige. p. 59.
  4. ^ Murray, Scott (2014). English Football in the 90s. London: Guardian Publishing. p. 258.


[[Category:1974 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People from Scunthorpe]] [[Category:English footballers]] [[Category:Black English sportspeople]] [[Category:Association football forwards]] [[Category:Scunthorpe United F.C. players]] [[Category:Charlton Athletic F.C. players]] [[Category:Shrewsbury Town F.C. players]]