Gary Jones (footballer, born 1977)

Gary Jones

Personal information
Full name	Gary Roy Jones [1]
Date of birth	(1977-06-03) 3 June 1977 (age 48) [1]
Place of birth	Birkenhead, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) [1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
0000	Liverpool
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1996–1997	Caernarfon Town	24	(1)
1997–1998	Swansea City	7	(0)
1998	→ Rochdale (loan)	4	(0)
1998–2001	Rochdale	136	(22)
2001–2004	Barnsley	56	(2)
2003	→ Rochdale (loan)	10	(2)
2004–2012	Rochdale	318	(50)
2012–2014	Bradford City	84	(8)
2014–2015	Notts County	43	(3)
2015–2017	Southport	55	(5)
2016–2017	→ Altrincham (loan)	15	(1)
2022–2023	Ashville
Total		760	(93)
Managerial career
2023–2024	Ashville
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gary Roy Jones (born 3 June 1977) is an English football coach and former player and former manager of Ashville. He resigned from Ashville in May 2024.

He played as a central midfielder. He made 716 league appearances, including 464 for Rochdale, for whom he holds the all-time record for the most appearances. ^[2]

Playing career

Caernarfon Town

Born in Birkenhead, Merseyside, ^[1] Jones started his career with Caernarfon Town in the 1996–97 season before moving to Swansea City.

Swansea City

He stayed at Swansea City for one season but during the second half of the season he was loaned to Rochdale.

Rochdale

While on loan Jones made his Rochdale debut on 17 January 1998, in a 3–1 defeat against Peterborough United. Jones signed a permanent deal with Rochdale after the end of the season. Jones spent three years in his first stint with the Lancashire club.

Barnsley

In 2001, Jones was transferred to Barnsley, joining up with former Rochdale manager Steve Parkin. Jones stayed at Barnsley for three seasons without making many appearances and in 2003 he went back on loan to his former club Rochdale.

Rochdale return

In 2004, he re-joined Rochdale on a permanent deal and went on to become the club captain. Jones holds the record for most appearances for Rochdale and is regarded by the fans as a true Rochdale A.F.C. legend due to his long tenure with the club, his commitment and determined style of play, and his leadership on the pitch. His qualities within the Rochdale squad during the 2009–10 season played a large part in helping the club to earn promotion into League One. Jones scored a brilliant long-range strike at St Mary's against managerless Southampton on 4 September 2010, which he described as "the best I've ever struck". ^[3] Jones was Rochdale's top scorer in the 2010–11 season, Rochdale's first season in the third tier of English football for 36 years, and was praised by manager Keith Hill for his outstanding contributions.

Bradford City

On 22 June 2012, it was announced that Jones would sign for Bradford City on a one-year contract. ^[4] On 11 August 2012, he made his Bradford debut in the League Cup in a 1–0 win against Notts County. ^[5] He made his league debut a week later against Gillingham. ^[6] He made his home debut on 21 August in a 1–0 win against Fleetwood Town, providing the assist for the only goal of the game, taking the corner that James Hanson scored from. ^[7] On 25 August, he was named man of the match in a 5–1 win against AFC Wimbledon. ^[8] He scored his first goal for the club on 18 September 2012, scoring a free-kick in a 3–1 win against Morecambe, ^[9] and in the process helped Bradford to their best start to a season at home since 1957. ^[10] He scored his second goal for the club in a 1–0 win against Plymouth Argyle on 20 November. ^[11] On 11 December 2012, Jones captained Bradford in a historic win over Premier League side Arsenal in the League Cup. ^[12] He then led the team to a 4–3 victory over two legs against Aston Villa in the semi-finals. ^[13] It was only the second time the team have played at Wembley, the last time being in 1996 when Bradford won the Second Division play-off final. Bradford were the first team from the fourth-tier of English football to reach a major Wembley cup final and only the second team from the fourth-tier to reach a major final, the only other team to achieve this feat is Jones' former club Rochdale who reached the League Cup final in 1962. ^[14] Bradford lost the final to Jones' former club Swansea City. ^[15] Jones was voted player of the year for the 2012–13 season. ^[16] On 9 May 2014 it was announced that Jones would not be offered a new contract at the club and would leave at the end of the 13/14 season.

Notts County

He moved to Notts County on 7 August 2014, signing a one-year contract. Jones made his County debut only two days later on 9 August 2014, in a 1–1 draw against Preston North End. ^[17] He made his home debut on 16 August in a 0–1 defeat against Fleetwood Town. ^[18] He scored his first goal for the club on 23 August 2015 in a 0–2 win against Port Vale. ^[19] He scored his second goal for the club in a 5–3 win against Crawley Town on 18 October. ^[20] He played 42 times for County in the league that season, scoring three goals as they finished twenty-first behind Crewe Alexandra by two points, and were relegated to League Two.

Southport

On 6 August 2015, Jones agreed to join National League side Southport. ^[21] After a successful first season with the club, he signed on to stay with the club for the 2016/17 season and was appointed club captain by manager Andy Bishop.

Altrincham

On 9 December 2016, Jones signed a month-long loan deal with Altrincham. ^[22]

Post retirement and coaching career

Following his retirement from football, Jones took a job as a care worker. ^[23]

In August 2022 he became a youth coach at former club Bradford City. ^[24]

Following a spell playing with Ashville F.C., he became the club's manager in 2023. ^[25] He would then go on to resign from Ashville later that year.

Career statistics

Sources: ^{[26] [27] [28]}

Club	Season	Division	League		National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Swansea City	1997–98	Third Division	7	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	8	0
Rochdale (loan)	1997–98	Third Division	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
Rochdale	1997–98	Third Division	14	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	2
	1998–99	Third Division	20	0	3	0	1	0	2	1	26	1
	1999–2000	Third Division	39	6	3	0	0	0	5	0	47	6
	2000–01	Third Division	44	8	1	0	2	0	1	1	48	9
	2001–02	Third Division	20	5	2	0	2	0	1	1	25	6
	Total		137	21	9	0	5	0	9	3	160	24
Barnsley	2001–02	First Division	25	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	25	1
	2002–03	Second Division	31	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	32	1
	2003–04	Second Division	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		56	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	57	2
Rochdale (loan)	2003–04	Third Division	10	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	11	2
Rochdale	2003–04	Third Division	16	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	2
	2004–05	League Two	39	8	3	0	1	0	1	0	44	8
	2005–06	League Two	42	4	1	0	1	0	2	0	46	4
	2006–07	League Two	27	3	2	0	0	0	2	0	31	3
	2007–08	League Two	46	7	1	0	2	0	1	0	50	7
	2008–09	League Two	30	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	34	0
	2009–10	League Two	34	4	2	0	1	0	0	0	37	4
	2010–11	League One	46	17	1	0	2	2	0	0	49	19
	2011–12	League One	45	5	1	0	3	1	1	0	50	6
	Total		325	50	13	0	11	3	8	0	357	53
Bradford City	2012–13	League Two	39	2	3	0	8	0	4	0	54	2
	2013–14	League One	45	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	46	6
	Total		84	8	4	0	8	0	4	0	100	8
Notts County	2014–15	League One	43	3	1	0	1	0	2	0	47	3
Southport	2015–16	National League	43	5	1	0	0	0	3	0	47	5
	2016–17	National League	12	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	13	0
	Total		55	5	2	0	0	0	3	0	60	5
Altrincham (loan)	2016–17	National League North	15	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	1
Ashville	2022–23	NWCFL Division One South	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2023–24	NWCFL Division One South	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
Career total			736	92	30	0	27	3	27	3	820	98

Honours

Bradford City

• Football League Two play-offs: 2013 ^[29]
• Football League Cup runner-up: 2012–13 ^[30]

Individual

• PFA Team of the Year: 2009–10 League Two, ^[31] 2012–13 League Two ^[32]

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 225. ISBN   978-1-84596-601-0.
2. ""Gary Jones Gallery"".
3. "Highlights of Southampton 0-2 Rochdale, September 10 2010". 11 January 2011. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – via YouTube.
4. "Jones joins up" Archived 24 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine Bradford City F.C. 22 June 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
5. "Notts County 0–1 Bradford" BBC Sport. 11 August 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
6. "Gillingham 3–1 Bradford" BBC Sport. 18 August 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
7. "Bradford 1–0 Fleetwood" BBC Sport. 21 August 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
8. "Bradford 5–1 AFC Wimbledon" BBC Sport. 25 August 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
9. "Bradford 3–1 Morecambe" BBC Sport. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
10. "Bradford City 3–1 Morecambe" Archived 11 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Bradford City F.C. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
11. "Bradford 1–0 Plymouth" BBC Sport. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
12. "Bradford 1–1 Arsenal (3–2 pens)" BBC Sport. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
13. "Aston Villa 2–1 Bradford (3–4)" BBC Sport. 22 January 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
14. "Bradford City's historic win 'worth £1m'" BBC Leeds & West Yorkshire. 23 January 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
15. "Bradford 0–5 Swansea" BBC Sport. 24 February 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
16. "Jones wins Player of the Year title". Bradford City A.F.C. 8 May 2013. Archived from the original on 13 May 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
17. "Preston North End 1-1 Notts County". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
18. "Notts County 0-1 Fleetwood Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
19. "Match Report". Archived from the original on 25 August 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
20. "Notts County 5-3 Crawley Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
21. "Southport secure signing of experienced midfielder Gary Jones". Non-League Paper. 6 August 2015.
22. "Gary Jones Joins Altrincham in Loan Deal". southportfc.net. 9 December 2016. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
23. "Meet the former professional footballer who now works nights in a care home". inews.co.uk. 4 May 2020.
24. "City legend Jones returns to club in coaching role". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 3 August 2022.
25. title url Bowman, Jamie (25 January 2023). "Football League legend Gary Jones coming full circle with Ashville FC". wirralglobe.co.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
26. "Gary Jones | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2015/2016 | 1996-2017 | Soccer Base".
27. https://uk.soccerway.com/players/gary-jones/50711/ ^{[ bare URL ]}
28. "NWCFL | Gary Jones".
29. "Starting Lineups - Bradford vs Northampton". Sky Sports. 18 May 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
30. "Starting Lineups - Bradford vs Swansea". Sky Sports. 24 February 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
31. "Rooney is PFA player of the year". BBC Sport. 25 April 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
32. "Gareth Bale wins PFA Player of Year and Young Player awards". BBC Sport. 28 April 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2018.

External links

• Gary Jones at Soccerbase