114: Jamie Pollock, Bolton Wanderers, Merlin’s Premier League 98 Official Sticker Collection

It might be a bit too early to be consigning the events of the recently completed European Championships into pub quiz rounds but I’d wager that there will be a few question setters smugly adding in “Who scored the first goal of Euro 2020?” You might remember that Italy ran out 3-0 winners in Rome against Turkey. You might remember that, despite playing at home, the Azzurri were technically the away side and therefore forced to endure the awful Puma change kit template inflicted upon the tournament. You might have been more moved by Andrea Bocelli evoking memories of Italia 90 with a rousing rendition of Puccini’s Nessun Dorma and/or the bizarre little car that delivered the match ball. But did you remember that Turkey’s Merih Demiral’s botched attempt to cut out Domenico Berardi’s cross provided the tournament with its opening goal? Sadly for Turkey it provided something of a metaphor for their performance in the competition.

Despite his nation’s disappointing performances at Euro 2020 Merih Demiral should not be too hard on himself. By the end of the group stages a further seven own goals had been scored with Portugal and Slovakia managing two each in their respective defeats to Germany and Spain. The fact that only nine had been scored in the entire history of European Championship finals prior to this perhaps speaks volumes for the exhaustion experienced by those taking part with Martin Dubravka’s bizarre punch into his own net either evidence of a man in need of a rest or the pressure of being managed by a crime novelist at club level. Sadly for the Newcastle United man it’s far more likely that this moment will be the one endlessly brought up rather than his excellent save from Alvaro Morata’s penalty fifteen minutes earlier.

The same is true for Jamie Pollock. It would take a decent amount of YouTube trawling to find video evidence of any of his 32 goals in 305 appearances for Middlesbrough, Osasuna, Bolton Wanderers, Manchester City, Crystal Palace or Birmingham City. However, it would merely take a search for “best own goal ever” or “funniest own goal” to take you back to the penultimate round of the 1997/98 First Division season and a crunch relegation decider between Manchester City and Queen’s Park Rangers. Rangers’ Mike Sheron had already cancelled out Georgi Kinkladze’s first minute free kick when Pollock swooped in to intercept a through ball. Having flicked the ball over Sheron’s head he looked to calmly nod the ball back to City keeper Martyn Margetson only to see his header loop over the Welshman’s outstretched arms into the back of the net. While City drew level through Lee Bradbury later in the game a point was not enough and they were relegated into the third tier of English football.

Pollock had been brought to Maine Road to provide leadership in a struggling City side and his CV boasted successful promotion campaigns with both Middlesbrough and Bolton Wanderers from whom he was snapped up by City manager Joe Royle in March 1998. In eight games he managed one goal at the right end of the pitch against Wolverhampton Wanderers but it’s fair to say the writing was already on the wall for the Cityzens’ tenure in the second tier despite beginning the 1997/98 campaign as 6/1 outsiders to win the First Division. To give Pollock his due he stayed with City and helped them make an immediate return to the second tier via a dramatic play-off final victory against Gillingham. They went one better the next season finishing second in the First Division with Pollock once again chipping in throughout the campaign. City returned to the Premier League but the midfielder did not join them and instead headed south to Crystal Palace, a decision Pollock would later describe as the “worst mistake” of his life. Considering he was the architect of THAT own goal this seems a fairly significant statement but Palace at the turn of the twenty-first century was not the easiest of places to be. With twins due and his family back in Middlesbrough the distance took its toll on Pollock and at the age of 29 he called time on his playing career.

He made the move into management in 2003 with Spennymoor United and, when the club folded in 2005, moved to Spennymoor Town. Alongside his work in his family’s glass-making business Pollock helped the club to a league title before standing aside in 2007. After some years away from the game he returned to the dugout with Billingham Synthonia in 2018 before moving into the boardroom as the club’s chairman a year later. In the meantime his progeny have gone on to forge careers in the beautiful game with son Ben plying his trade with Hereford and Mattie on the verge of a Premier League journey of his own with recently promoted Watford. 

With the never-ending cycle of league, cup, continental and international football a lot of things go under the radar. I bet you have to scroll back to the top of this post to remember who scored the first goal of Euro 2020 for example. However, certain moments live long in the memory and, unfortunately for the players involved, it is often the more absurd that stay with us. In the same way that Ronny Rosenthal will always be remembered for THAT miss against Aston Villa back in 1992, Jamie Pollock will always be remembered for the fateful moment when he emulated Paul Gascoigne’s moment of genius at Euro 96 albeit in the wrong direction. To be fair it doesn’t seem to bother him too much. After all he is the first man to win QPR’s prestigious Player of the Year award without ever representing the club and he received over 2,000 Christmas cards from Hoops’ fans in the winter following his own goal. If that wasn’t enough, thanks to the gratitude and organisation of the QPR faithful, Pollock was voted as “the most influential man of the last 2000 years” in an internet poll. In second place was some fella called Jesus Christ. He may have fed the five thousand and cured the sick but clearly his failure to make a hash of his defensive duties in a First Division relegation battle understandably saw him miss out on the crown.