Jacobs reveals he turned down new Portsmouth contract to join Cobblers two years ago - only for the move to collapse

After coming through the academy at Sixfields in the late noughties, Jacobs went on to enjoy several successful spells at some of the EFL’s biggest clubs, but there was always a sense that he was eager to return to where it all began, and in the summer of 2023 that very nearly happened.

He decided to leave Pompey and had talks with Colin Calderwood about heading back to Sixfields, but for a ‘combination of reasons’, the move fell through and he ended up reuniting with Paul Cook at Chesterfield.

"I’ve been speaking to Colin about coming back for the last couple of years but it’s never really materialised,” Jacobs confirmed after scoring on his second debut against Chelsea Under-21s in midweek. “But I’m here now and the staff have been great and I’ve got an opportunity and hopefully I can take it and help the squad.

"I remember, at the start of my career, a few people said to me, including Sammo (Ian Sampson) that your career will fly by and he's right. It's been 15 years or so and it's gone by so quickly.”

Speaking to the Cobblers Show on BBC Radio Northampton on Thursday, Jacobs went into more detail, explaining: “I’ve always had a strong affiliation to the club and I turned down a new contract at Portsmouth because I had a conversation with Colin and Jon (Brady) about coming back.

"It felt like it was written in the stars because my family had moved back here and I had two young children. I turned down four or five good offers from elsewhere because I thought it would happen but it didn’t and looking back, I was probably a bit naive to just expect it to happen. Things change quickly in football and I ended up going to Chesterfield.

“I had it in my head that I was coming back two years before I did but I’ve always followed the club and always will and it only took one conversation with Sammo at the end of last season and that was pretty much it. I was always coming back.”

Cobblers were at a low ebb when Jacobs left in 2012 having just finished down in 20th in League Two, but he returns with the club in a much better position.

"The club feels in a really good place and it’s in good hands,” Jacobs added. “You never know what to expect when you come back after so long away, the club was in a tough place when I left, but the stadium looks great, the owners are really good and the staff have been brilliant. There’s still a lot of the same faces around and that’s a sign of a good football club when people don’t want to leave.

"It could have been difficult coming back in but there's such a good spirit among all the players and they're a very good group and that's made it so easy for me to come back in. Everyone has made me feel so welcome and I've enjoyed every minute. Apart from the injury, it's been great so far.

"If I get the opportunity to play, I’m always going to give as much as I can, especially for my hometown club, and just to be back out there again (on Tuesday) was a great experience for me.”