It may not have been a good day for Hassocks away at Little Common last Saturday, but it was a milestone afternoon for Dan Jacques.
The fans favourite played his 200th game for the Robins in the 4-2 defeat at the Oval, becoming only the 21st player to reach a double century of appearances spanning 12 years for the club in senior football.
In over a decade of service, the enigmatic Jacques has never given less than 100%, has provided some moments of real quality on the pitch, collected an impressive medical collection and offered some much needed comedy respite at times.
A product of the club’s youth team system, Jacques was a regular in the Under 18s and Third teams between 2003 and 2005, where he gained a reputation as a dependable player with a penchant for having to be sick on the side lines at least once a game.
He made the step up to the reserves for the 2006-07 season and ended the campaign as top scorer, netting 14 goals while playing as a striker as Phil Wickwar and Mickey Jewell’s side lifted the Reserve Section Cup for the first time in the club’s history with a 2-0 win over Shoreham in the final.
That form was enough to earn him three appearances from the substitutes bench for the first team in that season, but he had to wait until the arrival as John Suter as Hassocks boss at the start of the 2008-09 campaign to become a first team regular.
Despite having netted 26 goals over the past two seasons for the reserves, his big break in the first team came at right back where he played 35 times, firstly under Suter and then Dave John when he returned to the dugout a few months into the campaign.
Jacques made 35 appearances in 2009-10, netting his first senior goal in a 3-1 FA Vase win over Sevenoaks Town in October. He added his second with the opener in a stunning 4-1 victory away at Arundel towards the end of a season in which John put his versatility to good use with Jacques appearing at right back, left back, central defence and even as an emergency striker at one point.
Jewell’s promotion to first team boss in the summer of 2010 coincided with an injury-hit campaign for Jacques in which he only managed two appearances for the first team, both from the bench.
With the Robins about to embark on their best ever season in 2011-12 and competition at right back fierce, Jacques dropped back to the reserves and became one of Roy Staughton’s most trusted players, winning both his and Hassocks’ second Reserve Section Cup thanks to a 2-1 victory over Selsey.
Jacques inherited the reserve’s captains armband for 2012-13 and ended the season lifting three trophies as Staughton’s side completed an historic treble by retaining the Reserve Section Cup and winning the Reserve Section Premier title and the Mid Sussex Senior Cup.
He scored nine times in 36 appearances from central midfield that season and that form couldn’t be ignored by Jewell with Jacques returning to the first team squad for the 2013-14 season as a winger, playing 38 times and passing the 100 appearances make for the club in the process.
John’s return for a third spell in the dugout in 2014-15 saw Jacques hit his best form for the club, scoring two stunning goals in pre-season including a 30-yard volley in the Ann John Memorial Trophy game with Burgess Hill Town which was followed by his famous high-pitched dog squeal.
He took that form into the new season and was at one point Hassocks’ top scorer with three goals from the opening nine fixtures before moving back into the defensive berth in which he began his career.
Jacques remained a regular until towards the end of the 2015-16 season when he moved to Mid Sussex Premier Division side Lindfield. In two-and-a-bit seasons with the Swans, he added virtually every trophy available in the Mid Sussex League to his collection, winning two Mid Sussex Premier Division titles and a Montgomery Cup.
Jacques returned to the Beacon this summer to much fanfare and has played 10 times this campaign, mainly as a centre back, to reach the 200-appearance mark.
It’s a fantastic achievement for a man who turned up to Ringmer away once with a shamrock tattooed on his chest and no recollection of where it had come from and who has secured his legacy as one of the most popular players with the faithful in the Maurice Boxall Stand.
