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Chelsea mascot who humiliated Steven Gerrard played non-league football under ex-Prem star
The Chelsea mascot who humiliated Steven Gerrard 18 years ago had a spell playing under a former Premier League star.
Jake Nickless rose to fame aged just five years old when he humiliated Steven Gerrard in the Stamford Bridge tunnel. In the incident that happened 18 years ago on Thursday, Nickless went to give an unsuspecting Gerrard a handshake before Chelsea faced Liverpool in a crunch Premier League clash.
The youngster, seen in the viral video sporting spray-dyed blue hair, extends his hand to the Liverpool captain. Gerrard goes to give him a high-five but Nickless is too quick, placing the end of the thumb on his nose and wagging his fingers.
England international Gerrard later admitted that had an adult performed the prank, he would have “wanted to wring their neck”. However, he confessed that it was the only time he had smiled in the tunnel before a match.
John Terry gave Nickless a pat on the head and other Chelsea players are seen laughing in the clip, which has been viewed millions of times on social media. However, fans may not know that the now-24-year-old carved a non-league career for himself and impressed former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara.
In 2020, Nickless signed for Billericay Town, who were then managed by O’Hara. After sharing the clip of Nickless as a mascot on social media, the ex-Premier League player said: "He's a good little player. He's decent, left-footed and can score a goal.”
Fantastic young player @JakeNickless1 pictured with @Mrjamieohara1 after signing his @BTFC contract and becoming the latest addition to our 1st team squad. Great signing for Billericay FC. #BTFC #ACommunityClub pic.twitter.com/XymS6FvcW6
— Billericay Town FC Press (@BTFCPress) August 26, 2020
Nickless joked in an interview with Sky Sports that he had wanted to keep his backstory quiet to avoid too much attention.
"I can’t really remember that much about it because I was only five at the time. Looking back I don’t really like to speak about it to be honest and I keep quiet about it really.
“When I saw Jamie O’Hara tweet about it the other day I thought oh god because then everyone is like, ‘oh you’re him, you’re him!’ It’s one of those things and it was just a laugh when I was kid.
“I can’t believe people still mention it really but it would be nice to make my own name and be remembered for that rather than what happened back then.”
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Nickless appears to have only played twice in the National League South for Billericay. It is unclear if he still plays in non-league.
"Me and Gerrard actually didn't speak at all, All I said was 'Gerrard!' to get his attention,” he said of the incident.
"I remember Claude Makelele and Michael Essien laughing as it happened, and John Terry gave me a pat on the head afterwards, when I walked back to hold his hand. I think everyone found it funny...apart from Stevie G."