When Martyn Jackson walked off the pitch after Ramsbottom United's 2-1 win over Cheadle Town in October 2024, it never crossed his mind that one day he could be a World Cup winner. In fact, in the days after that match, his goal was just staying alive. Just a couple of days after the final whistle, Jackson started to feel unwell during the night.
He went into hospital and was diagnosed with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart usually caused by an infection. Within weeks, he was placed on the super urgent waiting list for a transplant. His life was saved when a donor heart became available, and on 28 November 2024, he had successful surgery at Wythenshawe Hospital in Greater Manchester.
Fast forward to September 2026, and Jackson scored for England in their 5-1 win over Spain in the final of the Transplant Football World Cup. His team-mates and opponents were, like him, all recipients of a donor organ. "Obviously, when you've had a transplant, you don't think you're ever going to play again.
That's what I thought anyway," Jackson tells BBC Sport. "I'll be forever grateful to my donor and the family for what they've given me. They've given me the gift of life and the opportunity to live my life to the fullest." Football at the Transplant World Cup is not quite the same as the game played at the Fifa World Cup.
Instead, it reflects how delicate each player's body is having been through life-altering surgery. Matches are seven-a-side and played over 20-minute halves. Contact is "not as aggressive as I was used to", Jackson says.
Having played 11-a-side football in the ninth tier of English football before his surgery, he became a game-changing new addition to the national transplant team when he joined up with the squad in January 2026. Jackson spent his youth career in the academy at Manchester United, before spells at Blackburn Rovers, Preston North End and Burnley. He eventually stopped pursuing a career as a professional and spent 13 years with clubs across the non-league pyramid.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
