Still Going Strong:
Defeat at Wembley was a massive kick in the teeth for Wycombe, it felt like everything was once again going to fall into place for the Chairboys to return to the Championship, it just wasn’t meant to be this time around. Jacobson penned another contract to keep him at the club for the 2022/23 season, his 9th as a Wanderers player and was closing in on his testimonial year.
The upcoming season saw the highly influential trio of Adebayo Akinfenwa, David Stockdale and Anthony Stewart all depart the club, Stockdale and Stewart sought after a new challenge whilst Akinfenwa brought the curtain down on a special career. Bouncing back from a Wembley defeat is always tough, which would be made even tougher with 3 of the biggest personalities in the dressing room also departing the club.
Jacobson was by now in the twilight of his career, game time would become harder to come by for the Welshman and with Jordan Obita’s stunning form towards the tail end of last season. However, with his newly found versatility in the center-back position he would be a good option across the defensive line.
The Wembley hangover didn’t seem to affect Wycombe at first, as a makeshift side without a senior goalkeeper battered Burton Albion 3-0 on the opening day. Jacobson scored his first goal of the season in his next appearance, a trademark free-kick in a 2-1 away victory against Northampton Town. Despite the comprehensive opening day victory, Wanderers lack of depth began to show and they went on to lose 6 of the opening 11 league matches, which left them in a disappointing 19th place.
Things would eventually begin to click for the Blues after a poor start, by the time Boxing Day came around Wycombe had snuck into 6th place following a win over Bristol Rovers. Jacobson had only featured in 13 of the 24 League games thus far, 12 of which had been starts. He ended 2022 without a single goal contribution in the league, a rare occurrence for the defender.
Despite this, Jacobson would go on to feature more prominently in the second half of the season. Wycombe strung together a run of 5 consecutive wins from the end of January to the middle of February. Jacobson featured in 4 of these 5 matches, scoring his first and only league goal of the season in a 3-0 win over Port Vale, that goal that would prove to be his 44th and final goal in a Wanderers shirt.
After the run of 5 wins, confidence was sky-high in the camp that another play-off campaign could be achieved. This confidence would be shattered in a matter of days, as manager Gareth Ainsworth departed for Queens Park Rangers after over a decade in charge. The man who had brought Jacobson to Adams Park all the way back in 2014 was now gone, it was the day everyone associated with the club dreaded.
Chairman Rob Couhig acted swiftly, appointing Jacobson as interim manager whilst the hunt for Ainsworth’s successor got underway. His tenure as manager would only last 45 minutes, as Couhig went straight after club legend and Colchester United manager Matt Bloomfield as the man for the permanent job.
Following the appointment of Bloomfield, Wanderers were unable to continue their exceptional form and eventually fell out of the play-off race. Jacobson got back-to-back assists against Charlton and MK Dons, taking him up to 99 goal contributions for the Chairboys. The season petered out and Wycombe ended up in 9th place, a disappointing end to a campaign with so much promise. The loss of Ainsworth and key players such as Anis Mehmeti and Alfie Mawson hurting the Chairboys massively, Couhig would later admit in an interview that he felt like he’d underestimated the squad depth required.
Jacobson scored twice and also assisted twice in all competitions, his least productive season in terms of goal contributions but this was understandable as the Welshman was in the twilight of his career, not playing anywhere near the amount of games he had done in previous years.
Over And Out:
At the annual sponsor’s dinner, Jacobson announced that he had extended his contract for another year, meaning the defender would receive his testimonial in the summer. It was to be his final season in the light and dark blue quarters, rounding out 10 successful years at the club which saw 2 promotions and 3 trips to Wembley thus far.
The testimonial would be the first for a Wanderers player since Matt Bloomfield in 2013, who faced Premier League titans Chelsea. The opponent for Jacobson’s big day wasn’t exactly as big as Chelsea but the club selected had sentiment to the Welsh defender, with boyhood club Cardiff City coming to High Wycombe. The game would end scoreless and with just a week to go until the season started, preparations for Matt Bloomfield’s first full season as Wycombe manager was complete.
Jacobson was selected to start the opening game at Adams Park against Exeter City, with plenty of optimism in the air and fans excited to see the new look squad in action. Unfortunately, it was the worst possible start to the season. Wycombe conceded inside 30 seconds and then failed to clear their lines from a corner just 3 minutes later, ending up 2-0 down in 4 minutes. Exeter could’ve rubbed salt into the wounds in the 8th minute when they were awarded a penalty, thankfully Max Stryjek was on hand to bail his team out.
Wycombe went on to concede a third 10 minutes from the end as Exeter ran riot on the opening day. Following this, Jacobson lost his place in the starting squad and wouldn’t feature again in the League until December. He would make 4 appearances in the EFL Trophy as Wanderers progressed through the group stage and had a cup run in their sights.
Jacobson returned to the squad for a 1-0 home defeat to Shrewsbury Town and also made his final ever Chairboys league start on Boxing Day, when Exeter piled more misery onto Wycombe who had failed to win since October.
The defender wouldn’t feature again until April, not playing a single minute when the Blues returned to Wembley and lost the EFL Trophy final. Jacobson was sitting on 397 appearances with 4 games to go, Wycombe were flying and had their eyes on a top half finish. Jacobson made 2 sub appearances in match 43 and 44, taking him up to 399. Manager Matt Bloomfield was desperate for Jacobson to round out his Wycombe career with 400 matches played and 100 goal contributions, he had to score or assist in his final game to make this happen.
Bloomfield opted not to start the Welshman for his swansong, instead Jacobson entered the Adams Park pitch for the final time to a huge reception, after being subbed on in the second half. Wycombe were leading Charlton by a goal to nil with 30 minutes remaining thanks to a Luke Leahy penalty, which Jacobson would’ve undoubtedly taken had he been on the pitch.
The dream of 100 goal contributions wouldn’t come true sadly, however Wanderers held on for the 1-0 victory meaning Jacobson ended off his Wycombe career with a win, clean sheet and the all important top half finish.
He featured 11 times in all competitions for Wycombe, not scoring or assisting but that was irrelevant after the 10 years of incredible service he’d given the club.
As of writing this, it is unknown what Jacobson’s next chapter will be. He hasn’t announced his retirement so there is still a good chance of his wonderful career continuing in a lower league, if he wants to continue playing. There have been rumblings of the Welshman following in the footsteps of Matt Bloomfield, joining the coaching staff at Wycombe with the view of him being a manager one day. This is all just speculation amongst fans though, Jacobson revealed on Sky Sports he was taking some well deserved time off before planning his next steps.
We wish Joe all the best in his next chapter, wherever it might be. 400 Appearances – 44 Goals – 55 Assists – 1 Joe Jacobson. Thank you for everything, the set-piece king.