Raymond Jaravaza
Chicken Inn defender Moses Jackson and Zimbabwe have one thing in common.
Both man and country are 42 years old and one might add that they are both still going strong.
In the same year that Independent Zimbabwe was born from the clutches of Rhodesian colonial rule in 1980, Jackson’s mother also gave birth to the man that many football fans have fallen in love with, watching him do what he knows best in a career spanning over 25 years.
This year marks exactly 10 years since Jackson joined Chicken Inn in 2012.
His football career makes for good reading.
Jackson grew up in the Caps United junior ranks with the likes of Raymond Undi, Brian Badza and Ashley Rambanapasi.
“I arrived at CAPS United I think in 1997 thereabout from Zimphos Juniors and I graduated into the senior team two years later,” recalls Jackson.
Somehow the defender quit football for a couple of years and he explained why: “One weekend I decided to travel to Gweru and coincidentally, I was offered a job by a flower company and the offer was too attractive to turn down.
“After all, my family wasn’t really interested in me playing football even as I was growing up in Epworth, so when I decided to look for a job, they were happy.”
But seeing some of his teammates at junior level making it big in the game had him thinking again.
The likes of Undi, Rambanapasi and other players he had rubbed shoulders with at junior level were soaring high in their football careers.
Luckily, he was spotted by Hardbody — a Gweru professional football team — while playing social soccer and the team offered him a contract.
After a few years at Hardbody, an ambitious Chicken Inn came knocking in 2012.
“Chicken Inn was the ideal home; they were ambitious with two years’ experience in the top-flight.”
He would establish himself as one of the best players at Chicken Inn and in 2015 he helped the Joey Antipas-coached side win the Premiership title.
A year later he was appointed the captain following the departure of Danny Phiri to South Africa.
Today, at 42 years old, he says only time will tell if he will hang his boots at the end of the 2022 season.
Just like his country — Zimbabwe — Jackson is still going strong and taking valuable life lessons along the way.
