It’s Jack Harrison’s 21st birthday and NYCFC.com has got the cake and party poppers out all day long…
Check out his top five goals of 2017, take the Jumpin’ Jack quiz and view his gallery if you haven’t already, or join us for this rundown of 21 facts about everyone’s’ favorite English wing wizard.
How many of these are new to you?
- Jack was born in Stoke-on Trent in England – a city famous for its pottery, its football team Stoke City (nicknamed the Potters) and, of course, for providing Guns and Roses guitarist Slash with his childhood home.
- NYCFC’s no.11 shares a birthday with Beastie Boys rapper Mike D, movie director Terrence Malick and former U.S politician Robert F. Kennedy.
- He was raised in Bolton, a town close to Manchester which counts Lord of the Rings star Ian McKellen (Gandalf) among its famous sons.
- Growing up, his favorite TV show was Spongebob Squarepants.
- Harrison was a boyhood fan of Premier League giants Liverpool FC.
- Despite this (and a brief spell on trial with the Reds), Jack joined Manchester United’s academy in 2003.
- At Manchester United, Jack was teammates with current Red Devils’ favorite Marcus Rashford, who has also represented England at international level.
- Jack’s favorite cuisine is Italian food.
- His hero growing up was FC Barcelona and Brazil legend, Ronaldinho.
- Jack’s Mum took him out of the academy system at the age of 14, moving over to the United States where he schooled in Massachusetts.
- Between 2013 and 2015, Jack represented Manhattan Soccer Club, which is now an NYCFC Youth Affiliate Team.
- He spent one year in the college soccer system, playing for Wake Forest where he was an NSCAA First Team All-American, ACC Offensive Player of the Year and ACC Freshman of the Year.
- Other MLS players to come through the Wake Forest college program include Ike Opara, Ugo Okoli and Michael Parkhurst.
- Harrison’s name continued to rise in the U.S game when he was named Gatorade National Player of the Year in 2015.
- Jack considers the cheetah as his favorite animal because of their speed and would go for superspeed if he could choose any superpower – there you go, two facts for the price of one!
- Jack was first pick overall in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft and NYCFC traded allocation money and their fourth pick to Chicago in order to bring Harrison in.
- A pelvic injury disrupted Jack’s start to life at his new club but gave him the opportunity to rehabilitate alongside Frank Lampard, who would go on to have a huge influence on his compatriot.
- Jack scored his first professional goal vs. Real Salt Lake in June 2016 after making his debut vs. Red Bulls.
- If he wasn’t a soccer player, Jack has said he would have liked to have played cricket professionally.
- Harrison was nominated for the MLS Rookie of the Year award in 2016 and only lost out to Jordan Morris.
- He followed it up in his Sophomore season by hitting double figures for goals and is currently NYCFC’s third top scorer of all-time.
