Jacob Townsend (born 20 June 1993) is an Australian rules footballer who currently plays for the Southport Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He previously played professionally for Greater Western Sydney, Richmond, Essendon and the Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League (AFL).

He won an AFL premiership with Richmond in 2017 while also winning the VFL's J. J. Liston Trophy in the same year during matches played with Richmond's reserves side, before winning a VFL premiership with the same reserves side in 2019.

Townsend was born to mother, Denise and father, Peter in Leeton, a small town outside Wagga Wagga in the Riverina region of country New South Wales. He played junior football in the area, with the local Leeton-Whitton Football Club in the Riverina Football League. He first took up the sport at age 13, after playing junior rugby union for a number of years with the Leeton Phantoms. He attended St Francis de Sales Regional College in Leeton.

Townsend represented his state under the banner of NSW/ACT Rams at national carnivals at under 16 level.

In 2010 he played with the GWS side competing in the TAC Cup for under 18 players in Victoria. Townsend was runner-up in the club's best and fairest count that season.

He was a strong performer when he represented the NSW/ACT Rams at the 2010 AFL Under 18 Championships.

Ahead of the 2011 underage season, Townsend was selected to join the AFL/AIS Academy program. As part of the program he would train with an AFL club over the summer and travel with the Academy group on an overseas trip to Europe. He was the only NSW player to earn selection that year. He moved to Sydney in October 2010 and completed his schooling there through the end of 2011.

Townsend was recruited to the GWS Giants through zoning concessions and signed his first contract while still in high school in 2010, opting out of a potential nomination in for the AFL draft in the process.