Gary Jones (footballer, born 1977)

Gary Jones
Personal information
Full name Gary Roy Jones[1]
Date of birth (1977-06-03) 3 June 1977[1]
Place of birth Birkenhead, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1]
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Southport
Number 18
Youth career
0000 Liverpool
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1997 Caernarfon Town 24 (1)
1997–1998 Swansea City 8 (0)
1998 → Rochdale (loan) 4 (0)
1998–2001 Rochdale 138 (22)
2001–2004 Barnsley 56 (2)
2003 → Rochdale (loan) 10 (2)
2004–2012 Rochdale 325 (50)
2012–2014 Bradford City 84 (8)
2014–2015 Notts County 43 (3)
2015– Southport 55 (5)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:37, 10 November 2016 (UTC).


Gary Roy Jones (born 3 June 1977) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Southport. He has made 632 appearances in the Football League, including 464 for Rochdale, for whom he holds the all-time record for the most appearances.[2]

In his 20-year-long playing career, Jones has previously played for Caernarfon Town, Swansea City, Barnsley, Bradford City and Notts County.

Club 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 volley at St Mary's against managerless Southampton on 4 September 2010, which he described as "the best I've ever struck". 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.[3] On 11 August 2012, he made his Bradford debut in the League Cup in a 1–0 win against Notts County.[4] He made his league debut a week later against Gillingham.[5] 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.[6] On 25 August, he was named man of the match in a 5–1 win against AFC Wimbledon.[7] He scored his first goal for the club on 18 September 2012, scoring a free-kick in a 3–1 win against Morecambe,[8] and in the process helped Bradford to their best start to a season at home since 1957.[9] He scored his second goal for the club in a 1–0 win against Plymouth Argyle on 20 November.[10] On 11 December 2012, Jones captained Bradford in a historic win over Premier League side Arsenal in the League Cup.[11] He then lead the team to a 4–3 victory over two legs against Aston Villa in the semi-finals.[12] 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 Wembley 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.[13] Bradford lost the final to Jones' former club Swansea City.[14] Jones was voted player of the year for the 2012–13 season.[15] 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.[16] He made his home debut on 16 August in a 0–1 defeat against Fleetwood Town.[17] He scored his first goal for the club on 23 August 2015 in a 0–2 win against Port Vale.[18] He scored his second goal for the club in a 5–3 win against Crawley Town on 18 October.[19] 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.[20] 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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 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. ↑ "Jones joins up" Bradford City F.C. 22 June 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  4. ↑ "Notts County 0–1 Bradford" BBC Sport. 11 August 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  5. ↑ "Gillingham 3–1 Bradford" BBC Sport. 18 August 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "Bradford 1–0 Fleetwood" BBC Sport. 21 August 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "Bradford 5–1 AFC Wimbledon" BBC Sport. 25 August 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  8. ↑ "Bradford 3–1 Morecambe" BBC Sport. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  9. ↑ "Bradford City 3–1 Morecambe" Bradford City F.C. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  10. ↑ "Bradford 1–0 Plymouth" BBC Sport. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  11. ↑ "Bradford 1–1 Arsenal (3–2 pens)" BBC Sport. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  12. ↑ "Aston Villa 2–1 Bradford (3–4)" BBC Sport. 22 January 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  13. ↑ "Bradford City's historic win 'worth £1m'" BBC Leeds & West Yorkshire. 23 January 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  14. ↑ "Bradford 0–5 Swansea" BBC Sport. 24 February 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  15. ↑ "Jones wins Player of the Year title". Bradford City A.F.C. 8 May 2013.
  16. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28646628
  17. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28716646
  18. ↑ http://www.nottscountyfc.co.uk/fixtures-results/match-report/?matchid=3733699&tcmuri=1655508
  19. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29579655
  20. ↑ "Southport secure signing of experienced midfielder Gary Jones". Non-League Paper. 6 August 2015.
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