El Presidente - A Tribute

There are no words to be able to describe what Amy Jackson means to me, but I’ll give it a go. When I first got involved in Woso I was hoping to make new friends and watch football with them. What I wasn't prepared for was finding a friend in a player.

What started out as fun banter between a player and a group of fans became a friendship based around football. We would always wave and say hi during the warmup, occasionally getting a fist bump after she broke away from the warmup. During the games I would mostly watch her, and then post-game is when most fun was had. Amy would be the first one over to us and we would chat for ages. We shared funny anecdotes about the game and let her know of our silly plans for future matches. She always encouraged our shenanigans and constantly promoted us as we were growing the group.

Our entire Instagram became devoted to her. She was dubbed the El Presidente (one of many references to The Simpsons we always make) and was from then on considered the leader of the Vikings.

In true Amy fashion she embraced her official title and egged us on with our 'service to El Presidente'. What started as little response to Instagram stories became conversations. Little chats post-game became further conversations.

Amy Jackson was as big a supporter of Victory Vikings as we were of her.

One of my fondest memories is right after the 2021 grand final win. We were at the airport the day after the win, checking in and dropping our bags. As luck would have it the team was checking in at the same time. We glanced at them, and they glanced back and everyone laughed at the chances. Immediately Amy broke ranks and ran over to us enveloping us each in a hug. She dropped what she was doing and left the team to come and chat with us. It was such a wonderful moment.

Following the Dub season, we learned Amy was playing for Alamein in the Vic NPLW. She told us when her first game was, and we hurriedly made our way out to Box Hill on a freezing winters night. True to her sense of humour Amy gave us her away shirt for our mascot Homer to wear. Post match she stood out in the rain, and we talked for a while. We shared the idea of starting an NPL fan group for Alamein (though actually just for her during the NPL season), something she whole heartedly embraced and encouraged. For the rest of the season, we unashamedly followed her and watched nearly all her matches. We had so much fun hanging out with her at NPL matches.

Then came a difficult but ultimately successful dub season for the team. Another grand final with my favourite goal of all time, Amy's header to open the scoring. Needless to say, our phones absolutely lit up after that goal. In the celebrations as the team ran over after the game Amy ran ahead ran straight to a couple of us and hugged us. The euphoria of the win combined with her scoring at our end of the pitch culminated in that hug.

The post-match celebrations kicked on when she invited us back to the team hotel to join the post win party. When we arrived and she spotted us she came over instantly and hugged us and led us to where she was sitting with Casey, Brooke and Zimm. We then spent the next few hours chatting with her and reminiscing like it was the most natural thing in the world.

The final memory I’ll share was at the Afghanistan Women’s Team’s opening match of their season following the Dub conclusion in 2022. We were sitting behind the goals drumming away when halfway through the match she came from the side and embraced us. Then she sat with us for the rest of the game, and we were talking about life and work and the goings on in each other's lives. It was exactly like friends catching up.

Amy Jackson was just that to me. She was a friend. We genuinely enjoyed talking to each other and being around each other. Amy was hope. She was the embodiment of everything we loved about the dub and the team, so much so that egged on by someone who shall remain nameless we started a religion and a cult based around her. She was and always will be so much more than a footballer to me. There will never be another like her and her legacy will live on long after her. Thank you, Amy, for everything you have given me, and the Vikings in general.

Long live El Presidente 💙

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