Jamie Pollock (born 16 February 1974) is an English former football club chairman,

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and professional player. As a player he was a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

from 1990 to 2002. He played

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

football for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

and

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two ...

. He also more than 300 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

also appearing for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

and

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

as well as a short spell in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

with

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...

. From 2003 to 2007 he managed both

Spennymoor United Spennymoor United Association Football Club was an association football club based in Spennymoor, County Durham, England. History Spennymoor United Association Football Club was formed in 1904 as an amalgamation of Spennymoor Town and Weardale ...

and

Spennymoor Town Spennymoor Town Football Club is a football club based in Spennymoor, County Durham, in the North East of England. They currently compete in and currently play their home matches at The Brewery Field. The club began playing in the Northern L ...

Playing career

His career began at

where he played as a defensive midfielder. He left Middlesbrough in 1996 joining Spanish side

. After failing to make an impression in Spain he returned to England, signing for

. He later played for

, a team which then fell into what was then Division Two. Pollock scored an own goal in the penultimate game of the season, against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus ...

, where he flicked the ball over an opposing player before sending a looping header over his own goalkeeper. The own goal condemned Manchester City to relegation to the third tier for the first time, whilst keeping QPR in the division. As a result, a group of QPR fans thanked him by voting him the "most influential man of the past 2,000 years" in an internet poll, where "Jesus came second, apparently." He was transferred to

and later spent a spell on loan to

. On 1 March 2002, Pollock announced his retirement from professional football. He had been without a club since he left Crystal Palace by mutual consent. He was training with

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

but opted instead to play

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is s ...

and become a director in his family's glass-making business.

Managerial career

Pollock was the manager of non-League club

until 2007, after his previous club

folded in 2005. His Spennymoor side won the

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

Division 2 title in 2007. He also coaches a Polton Allstars team that plays in the Teesside Junior Alliance – North Riding League. Pollock took over as

Billingham Synthonia Billingham Synthonia Football Club is a football club based in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, England. Nicknamed the "Synners", they are currently members of the and play at the Stokesley Sports Complex in Stokesley, North Yorkshire. History T ...

manager at the start of the 2018–19 season. Synthonia finished 10th at the end of season. He stepped down as manager in August 2019 to focus more on his chairman role.

Personal life

In April 2018, Pollock became the chairman of

Division 2 side

and also took over as manager. In 2019 he set up Billingham Synthonia Football Academy, and also stepped down as manager to oversee the newly formed academy, and focus on his role as director of football and chairman. He stepped down as chairman of the club in July 2021. His sons

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( ...

and Mattie also became professional footballers.

Honours

As a player

Middlesbrough * First Division: 1994–95 Bolton Wanderers * First Division: 1996–97 Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premi ...

: 1994–95 First Division

As a manager

Spennymoor Town *

Division Two: 2006–07

References

External links

*
England profile
at

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollock, Jamie 1974 births Living people English footballers English football managers England under-21 international footballers Premier League players Middlesbrough F.C. players La Liga players CA Osasuna players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players England youth international footballers Association football midfielders Spennymoor United F.C. managers Spennymoor Town F.C. managers Billingham Synthonia F.C. managers