Need a little spice in your life? Look no further than Jason Cummings.
The flamboyant striker and wannabe Socceroo has swapped Scottish Premiership strugglers Dundee for Isuzu UTE A-League outfit Central Coast Mariners on an 18-month deal.
A move has been on the cards for a couple of weeks now, but Nick Montgomery’s FFA Cup finalists have now landed the 26-year-old maverick.
Cummings brings goals to Gosford but also a unique character set to light up the A-Leagues.
“I am not taking this opportunity lightly and want to reward the Central Coast Mariners,” Cummings, who landed in Australia on Sunday, said.
“Being an Australian citizen, I knew it was only a matter of time until I came out here and I am ready to make an instant impact and show people what I can do.”
Montgomery said: “As always, we did our due diligence and spoke to numerous people who know Jason personally and the feedback was that he is a very talented player who has not reached his undoubted potential,” Montgomery said.
“But a fresh start here in the right environment can be the making of him.
“We fought off interest from numerous clubs vying for his services and after speaking with Jason many times via zoom and on the phone, I am in no doubt he will be a massive asset to the club.”
The two-time Scotland international, who still harbours ambitions to represent the Green and Gold due to his Australian mother, is a renowned joker.
He likes impersonating Batman villain ‘The Joker’, so much so he even even has the character’s smile tattooed on his hands, while Cummings did the famous “why so serious” speech in a viral social media video in 2016.
“It’s all about having a good laugh isn’t it? This isn’t a dress rehearsal; it’s life – Paul Heffernan just taught me that one,” Cummings said previously.
“You have just got to try to enjoy life and that’s what I am doing.
“I take my football very seriously. I try to eat well and not go out and drink at the weekend, I want to do those things right. I go to the gym and all that but after the game I like to have a laugh.”
Cummings, who was rejected by Scottish giants Celtic in his youth, enjoyed success with boyhood club Hibernian, where he won the Scottish Cup (2015-16) and Scottish Championship (2016-17).
The 26-year-old scored 71 goals in 150 appearances but it’s his larger-than-life personality that has endeared himself to so many.
Cummings went on to spend a brief loan spell at Scottish powerhouse Rangers in 2018 but prior to his temporary move to Ibrox, he helped take down the Gers four years earlier.
“We had just beaten Rangers 3-1 and you can certainly have a laugh then,” he joked after the 3-1 victory in 2014. “During the game I don’t do that, I know you can’t muck about. But if I didn’t enjoy football I wouldn’t play and I want to keep enjoying it. The boys in the dressing room have a bit of banter with me.
“Someone just called me Angel Gabriel before I came out here. I love it. I get all sorts, that’s what it’s all about. This is the job I have always wanted to do and it’s the best job in the world. It’s a short career so you need to enjoy it when it’s happening.”
After stints at Nottingham Forest, Peterborough United and Luton Town, Cummings went mainstream with Shrewsbury Town.
In January 2020, Cummings came off the bench and scored twice in a dramatic 2-2 draw against Liverpool in the FA Cup fourth round.
After leading Shrewsbury’s famous comeback to force an unlikely replay, Arsenal great Ian Wright – a contestant on ‘I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!’ at the time – had backed the Scotsman to come off the bench and score.
In reply, Cummings replied: “Wrighty knows his stuff. I called I’m A Celebrity every week to get him into the final.”
Before that blockbuster showdown, he walked out wearing nothing but his underwear as his Shrewsbury team-mate Dave Edwards gave an interview.
If his past is anything to go by, Mariners and A-Leagues fans are in for a run ride!
