He served his apprenticeship with Newcastle United but failed to make the first team and moved on to join Halifax Town in September 1965 for a fee of £1,250.
He was captain of the promotion winning team of 1969 and went on to make a record breaking total of 413 league and cup appearances for the club, including one run of 190 consecutive games.
[1] This achieved a notable family double as his uncle Barry Jackson holds the appearance record for York City.
He spent over ten years coaching with Middlesbrough, initially with the first team before moving to Boro's academy in 1998.
He was caretaker manager of Middlesbrough for the final game of the 1993–94 season, steering the team to a 5–2 victory at Charlton Athletic and his service to Middlesbrough was recognised when Bryan Robson gave him the honour of leading the team out at Wembley for the League Cup final against Chelsea.