Ashley Jackson: “That Will Forever Be One Of My Greatest Memories"

Ashley Jackson’s return to international hockey was an emotional moment for many last year, most of all for the player himself.

He made his return to the Great Britain fold in a thrilling 2-2 draw with The Netherlands last June, having not pulled on an international shirt since the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Despite having played more than 230 times for England and GB at the time, the midfielder admitted being overcome by a wave of feelings as he sang the national anthem for the first time in nearly three years. 

Speaking to the Ian Sloan Hockey Podcast about the game, the 32-year-old said: “That is right up there with one of my favourite memories. 

“Once the anthem started and we were in our line I got very emotional and I did not expect that to happen. The last time it happened was before the EuroHockey final in 2009 [England won gold that day]. 

“I was excited and happy to be there and I wanted to play but to have that emotion come over you and for it to be unexpected was really powerful for me and showed that I did love what I was doing and that I wanted to be great at doing it. 

“That will forever be one of my greatest memories. 

“Going into the game, it felt a little bit like my first cap. There was a lot going on, people all over the place, it was very fast. A remember doing a couple of pitch lengths and was basically knackered. But before long it felt comfortable again. Once I got past the first couple of minutes of the game it felt very comfortable and just felt like another game. 

“If I was not supposed to be there to do what I could do then I wouldn’t have been there. It was a case of just delivering my game and enjoying myself while I was doing it. 

“It was a great game to be part of, against the Dutch and it was nice that Seve van Ass was on the other team. It was good fun.”

Since then Jackson had played every game for Great Britain as they continued preparations towards the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, only for the Games to be pushed back by a year due to Covid-19.

As well as using the break to look after his body, Jackson has also watched the hit Netflix series ‘The Last Dance’ which followed legendary basketball player Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls team during the 1997/98 season.

Not only did he find it a great watch, Jackson admitted that it has made him look forward to eventually getting back on the training pitch once it is safe to do so.

“That is really inspirational and really does motivate you,” he said about the programme. 

“It’s a shame we can’t be on the pitch. Say we didn’t train for a week, everyone went away and watched it and then came back to training I think there would be a noticeable difference. It would be really interesting to see, as most will have watched it, how the group are when we get back together and when training looks. 

“I love training when it gets to around selection time. It gets feisty, it gets hot under the collar, emotions start to come out, passion starts to come out and the hockey gets better. It starts to become more like the big, important games. 

“As long as you have the respect for each other and recognise that everyone is trying to make themselves better and everyone around them better and the team better, they’re moments that you can’t recreate. They just have to happen organically and, ultimately, I believe they bring everyone together. 

“One of the quotes from The Last Dance from Michael Jordan is that if you can’t accept his challenge in training, how can you accept the challenge of the opposing team in a play-off game? I think that’s gold.”

With the prospect of appearing at a fourth Olympics on the horizon, Jackson is also determined to combine the inspiration from the programme with the disappointment of Rio 2016 to ensure it’s his best Games yet.

Having finished fourth at London 2012 – GB’s best result since winning gold in 1988 – the team could only finish ninth in Rio four years later and England and GB’s record goalscorer is determined to avoid any sort of repeat.

“I do not wish to go to another Olympics Games and do what happened in Rio,” he said. 

“I’m not back playing international hockey because I want to experience that again. And if I thought that that was going to happen or if I thought I couldn’t have any influence on that happening or our results I absolutely wouldn’t be back.”