Wembley Again:
The 2021-22 season would prove to be the final season where Jacobson would start week in week out for Wanderers. He found strength in his new role as a left-sided center-back, starting out the season in that role. Whilst this meant he couldn’t get as far forward in comparison to playing left-back, he still managed to chip in with 3 assists and a goal in his opening 10 League games as Wycombe looked to return to the Championship at the first time of asking.
A couple of appearances at his natural left-back position would happen sporadically, but for the vast majority of 2021, Jacobson would spend his time playing on the left side of Gareth Ainsworth’s favoured back 3. He ended the year in his usual classy form, having notched up 3 goals and 4 assists in all competitions, with the Chairboys rounding out the year in 6th place and well in the promotion hunt.
Jacobson scored a crucial stoppage time equalizer against promotion rivals Sunderland just a week after the turn of the year, this time he was the one to scramble the ball home inside the box, rather than assuming his usual position whipping the ball in, this would prove to be his final goal of the season.
Wycombe’s form in the back 3 began to falter though, a run of 7 games without victory dumped the Chairboys outside the play-offs and Gareth Ainsworth had to switch things up. Jacobson was once again placed back into his natural position at left-back. This culminated in an upturn in form for the Wanderers as they tried to repair the damage of the poor run they’d endured. The Welshman contributed with another 2 assists as the Blues won 8 and drew 4 of their last 12 games, sneaking into 6th place and securing a date in the play-offs against county rivals MK Dons.
The first leg of the tie would be held at Adams Park, as the Chairboys hoped to take the advantage into the second leg at Stadium MK. Wanderers started strongly and managed to take the lead in the 30th minute when Jacobson’s perfect corner was met at the back post by the head of Ryan Tafazolli. Minutes later, Wycombe thought they had a second when Sam Vokes turned in a loose ball but he was judged to be marginally offside. It was an ideal half for Wycombe, as they had the all important first goal but a second would be needed if they wanted to make life even more difficult for their county rivals.
A pivotal moment came in the second half when MK Dons midfielder Josh McEachern was dismissed for a bad challenge on Josh Scowen, leaving MK down to 10 for the last 20 minutes and bringing his paly-off semi final campaign to an end. Wycombe pressed on for the second goal, knowing that with the numerical advantage they had the chance to make it count. That goal would eventually come after relentless pressure, Sam Vokes heading home Garath McCleary’s cross. The whistle went and Wycombe had the upper hand heading into the reverse fixture, at the time a two goal deficit had never been overturned in play-off history but Wycombe would have their work cut out for them.
Dons had nothing to lose, so they came out of the blocks firing and it looked like Wanderers would spend the majority of the 90 minutes keeping MK at bay. Troy Parrott would put nerves on a knife-edge when he looped in a header after 25 minutes to half the deficit. However, heroic defending from Wycombe Wanderers kept the charging Dons from finding the second goal to get back into the tie, with an incredible last ditch tackle from Jacobson to deny Parrott who was clean through on goal proving a decisive moment. Full-time came and Wycombe were heading back to Wembley for the second time in 3 years as they looked for an instant return to the Championship.
Sunderland were the opponents standing in their way at Wembley, an enormous club with one of the largest fanbases in the country, it was sure to be a special atmosphere. Jacobson had scored against the Black Cats earlier in the season and hoped to help inspire his team to glory, with his third goal under the arch. With over 72,000 people in attendance, the biggest game of Jacobson’s career was upon him, starting at left-back as Jordan Obita was moved up to the wing.
Sunderland heaped on the pressure early, looking to take control of the game in front of their 47,000 fans who made the trip down from the north east. This pressure would be rewarded when a string of errors from Wycombe allowed Elliot Embleton to unleash a powerful drive at David Stockdale, who somehow let the ball past him in bizarre fashion. An uncharacteristic error from the goalkeeper who had been exceptional throughout the season.
Wycombe weren’t down and out though, with the score remaining 1-0 until half-time it was far from game over. They re-emerged from the changing room looking to get back on level terms early. Wanderers did take the game to Sunderland and had chances to level the scoring through Vokes and Hanlan. These chances would be rued as 10 minutes from the end, Ross Stewart put the final nail in the coffin and gave Sunderland a 2-0 advantage, which sent the Black Cats back to the Championship. Wembley heartache again for Jacobson but the might of Sunderland proved to be just too much for Wycombe on the day.
Jacobson scored 3 times in the league and assisted 7, hitting double figures for the fifth season in a row.