The Championship:
Jacobson would renew his contract with the Chairboys just days after the Wembley final, signing a multi-year deal. After a history making year, he was awarded PFA fan’s player of the year award and PFA team of the season for League 1 in the summer following the season’s conclusion. He would also sweep Wycombe’s player of the season award for his incredible 11 league goals scored from left-back. Heading into 2020-21, Jacobson had only made a single Championship appearance in his career which came with Cardiff City in the 2005-06 season, his first ever season as a professional footballer.
It would be interesting to see if Jacobson could continue his incredible goal contributing in the division above, especially since the Welshman’s delivery was crucial to Wycombe’s style of play. Normally as players age you’d see them decline in performances and ability, Jacobson would however age like fine wine and he was just getting better and better with each year that passed.
Manager Gareth Ainsworth would move to strengthen the squad in the summer and gear it up for Championship survival, bringing across Uche Ikpeazu, Daryl Horgan, Jason McCarthy, Dennis Adeniran, Josh Knight, Garath McCleary and Ryan Tafazolli. A good mix of young, hungry talent and experienced Championship players who would give everything they had to remain in the second tier.
The season got off to a rough start though, Wycombe lost their opening 7 games and only scored twice during this time, neither of which were Jacobson. After a 5-0 thumping by Blackburn Rovers on the second week of the season, Wanderers would start being more competitive in games and scored their first goal of the season in a 2-1 home defeat to Millwall. Jacobson would be robbed of his first Championship goal in this game, as he scored a trademark goal directly from a corner but many Wycombe fans were left dumbfounded after the referee ruled out the goal for the faintest of contact between Kashket and the Millwall goalkeeper. Poor refereeing decisions would become all too familiar in the season, with Wycombe being costed points that in hindsight would’ve kept them up.
Finally points would be recorded, a 1-1 draw at home to Watford followed up with 2 successive victories over Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham City. Jacobson assisted in the Watford and Sheffield Wednesday games which saw Wycombe pick up their first 4 points of the season, proving that even at a higher level the Welshman’s delivery was top notch. He would open his account for the season on matchday 17 with a penalty in a 2-1 loss to Barnsley at Oakwell, his first ever goal in the second tier. His second would come just 3 days later in identical circumstances, another penalty in a 2-1 defeat, this time at home to Coventry City.
Wycombe finished 2020 with just 3 league wins and were struggling for consistency, which was to be expected. Jacobson didn’t score again in 2020 after the Coventry match but he chipped in with another 2 assists which took his tally to 4 so far for the season.
At the end of January, Wycombe faced Tottenham Hotspur in an FA Cup fourth round tie. After 33 minutes with the Chairboys leading 1-0, Jacobson was forced off with an injury which was a heartbreaking setback for the Welshman as he was unable to continue his faultless run of playing every minute in the season thus far. Left-back Jordan Obita was added to the squad in January to provide competition and cover for Jacobson, who had played every minute of league action so far.
He would return on 13th February when Wycombe travelled to Huddersfield Town. The Chairboys found themselves 2-0 down heading towards half-time with another defeat on the cards, but Anis Mehmeti would give his side a lifeline in first half stoppage time, netting his second goal of the season. Wycombe would receive a penalty when Uche Ikpeazu was bundled over in the box, Jacobson stepped up and slotted home to level the game before Josh Knight’s 87th minute winner claimed the Blues their first away win since November.
The victory left Wycombe 10 points away from safety with 18 games left to play. The Chairboys would have to conjure up a consistent string of results if they wanted to preserve their second tier status. A draw away to Millwall and a narrow win at home against Reading gave them a solid foundation to build on, but 4 successive defeats followed and the hope of staying in the division was fading quickly.
Ainsworth decided to roll the dice and experiment with his squad, this saw the conventional back 4 swapped to a back 5 with wing-backs for the first time in his managerial tenure. Jacobson would also change position from this, being moved into left-center-back rather than left-wing-back which was filled by Fred Onyedinma. The change of shape would work wonders instantly, as Wycombe won their first 2 games in the new formation and kept clean sheets in both.
A red card would throw a spanner in the works the following game, as Wycombe led Luton Town by 1 goal to nil. Josh Knight was given his marching orders in the 57th minute, leaving the Chairboys down to 10 men for the final 30 minutes. Blues fought valiantly but were ultimately undone by 3 goals in 8 minutes which gave the Hatters a 3-1 victory and pushed Wycombe further towards a return to League 1.
Wycombe were undeterred by this setback and the following game they gave themselves a 2-0 lead away to Swansea. Once again, it was late goals undoing the Chairboys as in the space of 3 minutes Swansea found 2 goals which pegged the game back to 2-2, which is how it finished and those 2 points dropped would prove costly when all was said and done.
A late Akinfenwa penalty to beat Bristol City kept Wanderers mathematically alive heading into the 3 games of the season. Wycombe travelled to Jacobson’s boyhood club, Cardiff City, in search of a massive 3 points but knew anything less could spell the end. After Kieffer Moore opened the scoring early on, Jacobson would level on the stroke of half time against the club where it all started from the penalty spot. Sadly for the Blues, Kieffer Moore found the net 20 minutes from the end and that would prove to be the decisive goal. It wasn’t officially curtains for Wycombe, they could still stay up but they needed 6 points and a swing of 13 goals, whilst also hoping that Derby in 21st didn’t score any points in their last 2 games.
Wycombe’s task was improbable, but not impossible. They would go on to get the 6 points, with 2 clean sheets to round out the season but the swing of goals needed was just too much. Wycombe managed to swing 4 goals in their favour but it wasn’t enough to get them out of the danger zone as they were relegated by a single point on the final day of the season, following Derby’s draw on the final day.
The Buckinghamshire club finished 22nd above Sheffield Wednesday and Rotherham, who would join them in League 1 next season. From the position they had found themselves in at the start of 2021, it was an outstanding effort from Wycombe to take their fate to the final day but agonizingly they were just a point shy of safety.
Jacobson once again stole the show, scoring 4 league goals and 6 assists. It wasn’t numerically his best season to date but once again he’d managed to hit double figures for goal contributions, made even more impressive considering it was his first full stint in the Championship. Jacobson scooped Wycombe’s player of the season award for the second consecutive season, as he was once again recognized for his standout performances.