Kenny Jackett, the former Watford, Millwall and Portsmouth figure who turned a playing career into a long managerial spell, has died at 64, only 18 months after leaving Gillingham as director of football on medical grounds.
Kenny Jackett’s name carried weight in the English Football League long before it became a headline again. At 64, the former Watford, Millwall and Portsmouth manager has died after stepping down from Gillingham’s director of football role for medical reasons just 18 months ago.
Jackett was a boyhood Watford supporter who joined the club at the age of 12 and made his first-team debut six years later. Between 1980 and 1990, he went on to turn out 337 times for the Hornets, becoming the club’s sixth highest appearance maker. His playing career ended at 28 after a series of knee operations.
After a 10-year playing career, he turned to management and took charge of Watford in 1996. After one season, he was demoted from manager to assistant when Graham Taylor returned to the club. Together, they delivered successive promotions, with Watford moving from the third division to the Premier League.
In 2010, Jackett earned promotion to the Championship with Millwall via the play-offs. Four years later, he repeated the feat in a different way—winning League One at Wolverhampton Wanderers. His record of getting teams over the line shaped how many in the game remembered him: work done quietly. with results that followed.
When Taylor left Watford, Jackett left too. He then spent time as an assistant to Ian Holloway at QPR, before stepping up to take a full-time managerial role at Swansea City. He stayed at Swansea for three years, achieving promotion from League Two in his first season.
For a further two decades in the dugout across six clubs, Jackett continued to collect promotions, again reaching the Championship twice through play-offs at Millwall in 2010 and through the League One title at Wolves four years later.
His final managerial job came at Leyton Orient. where he was sacked after less than a year in charge. following an 11-game winless run in 2022. Three months later. he was named director of football at Gillingham after a takeover by American businessman Brad Galinson. but left on medical grounds after less than two years in the role.
League Managers Association chief executive Richard Bevan paid tribute. saying: “Kenny stands as one of the most respected managers to have plied their trade in the EFL. a hugely capable leader whose work across four decades has left a lasting influence on the many players. coaches and colleagues who benefitted from his guidance.” Bevan added: “He embodied everything we like to see in a manager. humility. professionalism and a deep care for his players and staff. He improved every club he served and did so with quiet dignity throughout his career.”.
Bevan also described Jackett’s sense of responsibility “to his teams and to the game itself,” saying: “Kenny is a huge loss to all that knew and loved him. Our thoughts are with his wife Samantha, sons David and Ryan, and all of his family and friends, who join us in mourning.”
Gillingham owner Brad Galinson said: “Everyone at Gillingham FC is saddened to learn that Kenny has passed away. Kenny was a man of great integrity. In our early days in English football his knowledge of the game. his vast contacts within it and his willingness to share his wisdom with us was invaluable to us.”.
Galinson added: “He was loved and respected across the game. not only for his achievements. but the manner in which he carried out his work. He really is a legend of the EFL and Football in general. Our thoughts are with Kenny’s family at this sad time. but we hope the inevitable outpouring of love. affection and respect for Kenny will provide some comfort to them during this difficult time.”.
Watford chairman Scott Duxbury added: “There is a deep and profound sense of loss at the football club following the sad news Kenny Jackett has passed away.” He said Jackett “holds legend status here” and that “the club has truly lost one of its own. ” before sending condolences to Jackett’s wife Samantha and sons David and Ryan—“the latter of whom is working with us today.”.
Tributes also came from across the wider game. Wolves, Portsmouth, Millwall and Swansea City were among the clubs to post condolences on their websites, along with Watford. Wolves, Portsmouth and Swansea City added their messages as well.
It has been 18 months since Jackett stepped away from his role at Gillingham on medical grounds. but the loss now lands with full force again—on the clubs he shaped. and on the people who carried his standards into their own work. He leaves behind a family at the centre of the tributes: Samantha. David and Ryan. alongside all of his wider network of friends and colleagues.
Kenny Jackett Watford Millwall Portsmouth Gillingham Swansea City QPR Ian Holloway Graham Taylor League One Championship promotion Leyton Orient