A FAMILY AFFAIR

Growing up with three brothers was a memorable time for Keaghan Jacobs, with the four boys very active and sporty while all sharing a love for football. “It was amazing,” Jacobs says of his childhood. “It was great, like growing up with your best friends, playing football every day.” Four years after joining the Livingston youth structures, brothers Devon, Kyle and Sheldon – who are all two years younger – followed suit in 2006, making it a royal family affair at the club, with mother Irene working two jobs and sacrificing a lot to ensure her sons’ happiness. “My mom and dad split up, and after a couple of years my dad moved back to South Africa, where a lot of his family were,” Jacobs says. “So it was just us four and my mom. She just wanted the best upbringing for us, so she gave up a lot to bring us up.” As fate would have it, the Jacobs brothers set a unique record on 27 April 2010 in a League Two match against Albion Rovers, with Sheldon joining his three brothers off the bench for the last 19 minutes as all four siblings featured in the 2-0 league victory, and the only known professional match to feature four members of the same family. “Growing up, my brothers and I always played football together anyway, so it was a very proud moment to be able to play a professional football game with all four of us, and it’s a moment I’ll remember forever,” Jacobs says of the game, before insisting it didn’t feel any different to any other game. “There wasn’t anything in it – it was just like playing another game with my brothers. It felt so natural, and didn’t feel like there was any pressure.” All three younger brothers are still in Scotland, with Kyle the only one still playing professional football with Scottish Championship side Queen of the South.