Born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire,[2] and educated at Belvidere School,[4] Jones joined Crewe as a trainee following a recommendation to then manager Dario Gradi from former Crewe centre half Dave Walton. Jones worked his way through the Crewe Academy ranks, and in 2003 signed his first professional contract for the club.
The English defender made his debut for the club aged 16 against Derby County on 18 October 2003, coming on as an 89th-minute substitute for Justin Cochrane.[5] Jones went on to play a further 26 league games, which also included his first goal for the club against Wigan Athletic (on 20 December 2003),[5] which later won Crewe's Goal of the Season award. Jones also won Crewe's Young Player of the Year award.
Jones played 20 league and two League Cup games during the 2004–05 season,[6] but cemented his place as a first-team regular in the 2005–06 season, making 46 appearances and scoring seven goals[7] as Crewe were relegated from the Football League Championship. Jones played in central midfield for most of the season before moving to a left-back role following the signing of midfielder Tony Grant during the January transfer window. His goal tally made him the club's top goalscorer, and he later won Crewe's Player of the Year award.
Jones was joined by more experienced defenders for the 2006–07 season: ex-Aston Villa player Neil Cox and former Notts County centre-half Julien Baudet. Jones played his 100th league game for the club ten games into the season against Millwall. In October 2006, Jones rejected an extension to his Crewe contract,[8] and a week later, Crewe put Jones on the transfer list.[9] Several clubs were linked with a move for the young defender, most notably Premiership club Manchester City,[10] who were, according to the Daily Mirror, lining up a £1.5million offer for him.[11]
While Jones was later joined by Jon Otsemobor and Luke Rodgers on the Crewe transfer list,[12][13] he was in a different position because of his age. Crewe manager Dario Gradi said that he would take a chance on a tribunal,[14] meaning that Jones would stay at Crewe until the end of his contract and the club would still get a fee for his transfer. Before the end of a season in which Jones made 47 appearances, scoring once,[15] Crewe rejected offers from Stoke City[16] and Everton for the 20-year-old defender.[17]
On 11 June 2007, after much deliberation over which Football League Championship side he was going to join after leaving Crewe, Jones joined Preston North End on a four-year contract.[18]
On 24 August 2007, the Football League tribunal considered Jones's transfer from Crewe to Preston and decided Preston had to pay Crewe an additional £50,000 on top of the original £200,000 transfer fee, making the first payment £250,000 overall. Additional clauses were also introduced, with Preston to pay Crewe £200,000 at the start of the 2008–09 season, and £62,500 when Jones reached his 15th, 30th, 45th and 60th first team appearances. The Lancashire club would also have to pay Crewe another £250,000 if The Lilywhites were promoted to the Premier League, if Jones was still at the club, and, if Preston were to sell Jones, 20% of the transfer fee would to paid to Crewe. Overall, if all the criteria were fulfilled, Preston would have to pay Crewe at least £1million.[19] Ultimately, however, Preston were not promoted, and Jones eventually left Preston on a free transfer.
After the sale of Graham Alexander to Burnley, Jones became Preston's first choice right-back, but also played occasionally in midfield roles. On 22 February 2011, as Preston fought to avoid relegation, Jones headed in a 96th-minute equaliser against Nottingham Forest to rescue a point at the City Ground. He was also appointed club captain, succeeding Sean St Ledger. With around 10 games of the season yet to be played and the 'Lilywhites' more than 10 points from safety, Jones announced that he would not sign a new contract if Preston failed to remain in the Championship. Despite a short surge towards the end of the season, Preston North End were relegated after a 1–0 home defeat to Cardiff City, with a further 2 games still remaining. Jones was awarded with the Player of the Year for 2010–11 before his final game at Deepdale, mainly because he had been played out of position for a lot of games, due to Preston's lack of choice at the Left-Back Position. Jones captained Preston in their final game of the 2010–11 season: a 3–1 home victory against Watford.
Jones made 17 Premier League appearances in his debut top-flight season. The former Preston full-back provided cover for Steven Reid, who was ruled out for the season, after picking up an ankle injury against Chelsea in March 2012.
Jones was involved in six of Albion's ten Premier League clean sheets in his first season, including a 0–0 draw with future champions Manchester City on Boxing Day and a historic 1–0 triumph at Liverpool in April 2012.
Jones scored his first goal for West Brom in a 1–1 draw against Newcastle United on 20 April 2013.[21]
Sunderland
On 28 May 2014, Jones joined Sunderland on a free transfer after he rejected a new contract at West Bromwich Albion. He said "I'm really happy to be here and I'm looking forward to getting back for pre-season and kicking on, I've played at the Stadium of Light a number of times so I know what great backing the club has. I knew I was signing for a massive club with everything in place to kick on up the league and carry on moving forward".[22] Jones scored his first goal for Sunderland on 25 October 2015 in the derby match against Newcastle.[23]
At the end of the 2017–18 season, following Sunderland's relegation, he was released by the club.[24]
Rotherham United
Jones signed for Rotherham United on a two-year deal on 20 July 2018. In July 2020, he signed a new one-year contract extension.[25]
Return to Crewe
With only six months left on his contract, Jones rejoined Crewe Alexandra on loan on 21 January 2021.[26] On 17 May 2021, Rotherham United published their retained list, and confirmed Jones would be leaving the club at the end of his contract.[27]
International career
While Jones was playing for the Crewe youth team, he played in England's youth set-up as well. The defender has captained all levels up to Under-20 level.
Lee Michael John Camp is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently a youth coach at Blackpool.
Stephen William Elliott is an Irish retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He played for Manchester City, Sunderland, Wolves, Preston North End, Heart of Midlothian, Coventry City Carlisle United, Shelbourne, Drogheda United and Morpeth Town, and had a loan spell at Norwich City.
Christopher Alan Brown is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward.
Darren Anthony Carter is an English football coach and former professional player. Primarily a central midfielder, Carter made more than 300 appearances in the Premier League and Football League over a 14-year career, and then spent a further six seasons playing in the National League. He was appointed interim head coach of FA WSL club Birmingham City Women in November 2021 before becoming permanent in May 2022 after relegation to the FA Women's Championship.
Kieran Edward Richardson is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger, left-back, or central midfielder.
David Frank Llwyd Jones is an English professional football coach and former player who is currently the first team coach at Welsh club Wrexham. Jones began his playing career at Manchester United, but struggled to get into the first team and spent loan spells at Preston North End, NEC and Derby County, before joining Derby on a permanent basis in 2007. However, he left Derby after just one season to join Wolverhampton Wanderers. He spent three years with Wolves before joining Wigan Athletic. At the end of his second season there, he went on a brief loan spell with Blackburn Rovers, before joining Burnley. After three years with Burnley, he left for Sheffield Wednesday, where he spent another three years before being released at the end of the 2018–19 season. He joined Oldham Athletic on a free transfer but was released in January 2020. He was without a club while football was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but in August 2021, he signed for Wrexham as a player-coach. In June 2022, he retired from football to become a coach full-time at Wrexham.
Nicholas Brett Hunt is an English former footballer. He is currently a coach for Warrington Rylands 1906. He is best known for his spell at Bolton Wanderers at the beginning of his career. Originally a right-back, he converted to centre-back in 2016 in order to extend his playing career.
Martin Paul Woods is a Scottish footballer who plays as a midfielder for National League North club Boston United.
Gregory Halford is an English footballer who plays for Isthmian League Premier Division club Hashtag United. He is naturally a right-back or centre-back but can play in numerous positions including central midfield, right midfield and even as a striker.
Jon Harley is an English former professional footballer.
Peter Osaze Odemwingie is a former Nigerian professional footballer who played as a forward.
Joseph Peter Skarz is an English professional footballer who was most recently the player-coach at Golcar United. He plays as a left-back.
Joseph William Mattock is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for National League club Hartlepool United on loan from EFL League Two club Harrogate Town.
Alexander Francis Neil is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently the manager of EFL Championship club Stoke City.
Jamie Jones is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Middlesbrough.
David Robert Edmund Button is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL League One club Reading.
Rhys Francis Taylor is a Welsh professional footballer who last played as a goalkeeper for Bradford. He has played for Wales up to under-21 level.
David Owen Vaughan is a Welsh former footballer who is manager of Crewe Alexandra's under-18 team.
Jordan Thomas Hugill is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL Championship club Rotherham United.
Rekeem Jordan Harper is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Burton Albion.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
