New Hythe Town boss Ira Jackson pleasantly surprised to get the job after assuming his age would count against him | ‘I want to prove I’m good at what I do,” says 28-year-old

New Hythe manager Ira Jackson wasn’t convinced he stood much chance of getting the job.

At 28, Jackson felt his age would probably go against him when he applied to be Cannons boss.

But new chairman Andy Nanda looked beyond his birth certificate and entrusted the former Folkestone man with the task of leading the club’s revival following relegation to Southern Counties East.

“To be fair, I kind of applied flippantly,” said Jackson, who ended the season coaching at Sheppey.

“If the chairman wants to do something different, then I might get a call; if he wants to do the usual, then I won’t get a call.

“I had a conversation with him not too long after the season finished and shared my ideas, and he shared that he’d done some background research on myself and my playing history.

“He said he wanted to have a further conversation, which went well, and we took it from there.

“I’m probably going to be the youngest manager in the league and maybe the league above as well.

“But I decided at the start of 2024 that playing football was over for me.

“I didn’t want to do it any more, I wanted to move in a different direction and that was coaching and management.

“I took the leap of faith and carried on working hard and took whatever opportunities I felt would be the best to take my career in the right trajectory.

“That’s why I ended up starting at Corinthian 23s and then Sheppey came in.

“I had a couple of offers and a couple of interviews, Hythe being one of them, and it was the best project for me.”

Jackson is building a new squad at Reachfields, with an emphasis on youth.

Both he and chairman Nanda feel that’s the best way to get the club moving in the right direction again.

“I think the chairman is trying to do something different