Cliff Jones (Welsh footballer)
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Clifford William Jones (born 7 February 1935) is a Welsh former
footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
. During his career, he played as a winger and was capped 59 times for Wales national team. He was also a crucial member of
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
's 1960–61 double-winning side.


Early life

Jones was born on 7 February 1935 in
Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
,
Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...
, to a footballing family. His father Ivor; uncles Shoni,
Emlyn Emlyn was one of the seven cantrefi of Dyfed, an ancient district of Wales, which became part of Deheubarth in around 950. It consisted of the northern part of Dyfed bordering on the River Teifi. Its southern boundary followed the ridge of the ...
, Bryn and
Bert Bert or BERT may refer to: Persons, characters, or animals known as Bert *Bert (name), commonly an abbreviated forename and sometimes a surname *Bert, a character in the poem "Bert the Wombat" by The Wiggles; from their 1992 album Here Comes a Son ...
; brother Bryn; and cousin
Ken Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in ...
were also all players. He was also a schoolboy friend of
Terry Medwin Terence Cameron Medwin (born 25 September 1932 in Swansea, Glamorgan) is a Welsh former international footballer who played as a winger. Club career Medwin made his debut for his 'home town' team Swansea Town in 1951–52 and went on to make ...
, who would later become his teammate at Tottenham Hotspur. He was brought up in the Sandfields area of Swansea, and attended St. Helens Mixed Junior School. When he was eleven, he attended Oxford Street Secondary Modern, where he joined the school's football team. When he was twelve, he was selected for the Swansea Schoolboys team, which he captained in 1950 and won the Welsh Shield and English Schools Trophy.


Club career


Swansea Town

Jones was signed to
Billy McCandless William McCandless (20 December 1893 – 18 July 1955) was an Ireland national football team (IFA), Irish international football player and manager. As a player McCandless normally played at left-back, most notably at Rangers F.C., Rangers where ...
' Swansea Town in 1952 when he was 17, joining his brother Bryn who also played for the club. For a time at Swansea he also worked as an apprentice sheet metal worker in The Prince of Wales Dry Dock. He made his debut in the League match against
Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
in October 1952. He scored his first goal in the match against
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
two games later. He started off as an inside forward, but moved to the left wing in the 1953–54 season. He scored 47 goals in 168 league appearances for the club. and 54 goal in 193 appearances in all competitions.


Tottenham Hotspur

Jones joined
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
in February 1958 for a record £35,000 ().Soccer Who's Who compiled by Maurice Golesworthy, the Sportsmans Book Club London 1965 He made his debut for the club on 22 February 1958 in the away match against
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
at Highbury. For a while Jones didn't play at his best at Spurs, and he then broke a leg in a tackle with Peter Baker during pre-season training in the summer of 1958. He returned to the team after his recovery in December 1958. He became a prolific goalscorer for the club, scoring 25 goals in all appearances in the 1959–60 season. Jones was a key member of the double-winning team of the 1960–61 season, scoring 19 goals that season. He was also part of the successful Spurs sides in the 1962 FA Cup Final and 1963 European Cup Winners Cup Final, and he also won a further medal as a non-playing substitute in the
1967 FA Cup Final The 1967 FA Cup Final was the 86th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 20 May 1967 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. It was the first FA Cup Final to be contested between two teams from London, and is t ...
. In 1962,
Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
offered a world-record fee of £125,000 () to sign him but the offer was turned down. Jones played on both wings at Tottenham; he played on the right wing in the Double-winning season, and on the left in the subsequent seasons. He made his final appearance and scored his last goal for Tottenham in the match against
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
on 9 October 1968. He remains one of the top scorers in the club's history, scoring 159 goals in 378 games (135 in 318 league games).


Fulham and non-league

Jones finally moved on from
White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...
in 1968 in order to take up a position with
Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
for two seasons. He scored twice in 25 league appearances for Fulham. Afterwards, he played for
King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...
. He made his debut for King's Lynn on 15 August 1970 against
Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...
with his final game for the club against
Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...
making a total of 27 appearances and scoring 13 goals. Jones then moved on and played for Bedford Town,
Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont and Kenton, and east of Headstone. The area accommodates ...
, Cambridge City then
Wingate Wingate may refer to: Places New Zealand * Wingate, New Zealand, a suburb of Lower Hutt United Kingdom * Wingate, County Durham * Wingate Quarry, a Site of Special Scientific Interest in County Durham * Old Wingate, County Durham * Wingat ...
.


International career

Jones was called into the Welsh national side after playing only 25 times as a winger for Swansea. He made his senior debut playing against Austria in May 1954. In his second appearance for the national side, he helped Wales beat
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
2–1 at
Ninian Park Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan and hosted fixtu ...
on 22 October 1955, scoring the winning goal. Jones scored three goals in the
1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil be ...
play-off in February 1958 against Israel to win 4–0 on aggregate, allowing Wales to qualify for the World Cup for the first time. He played in all five of Wales' games at the 1958 World Cup, and helped Wales reach the quarter-final where they lost to Brazil, beaten by a goal from Pelé. He made a total of 11 appearances for them in
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
qualifiers between 1957 and 1968. He played his final game for Wales in October 1968 in the World Cup qualifier against Italy. In total he played 59 times for Wales in 15 years, scoring 16 goals.


Personal life

Jones married his wife Joan in 1955 and they have four children, nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Among Jones' grandsons are footballer
Scott Neilson Scott Steven Neilson (born 15 May 1987) is an English-born Welsh former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Neilson started his career alongside his brother, at first Hertford Town and then Ware, before he earned a move to C ...
and Matt Wells, who is part of the Fulham coaching team. After retiring from football he went on to teach PE and managed the school football team at
Highbury Grove School City of London Academy Highbury Grove (formerly Highbury Grove School) is an 11–18 mixed secondary school with academy status in the London Borough of Islington, England. It is part of the City of London Academies Trust. History Highbury ...
in North London. Jones has been inducted into the Tottenham Hotspur Hall of Fame as well as the National Football Museum's Hall of Fame. He was also inducted onto the Supporters' Trust Wall of Fame outside the
Liberty Stadium The Swansea.com Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Swansea.com; formerly Liberty Stadium) is an all-seated sports stadium and conferencing venue located in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. The stadium opened in 2005 and was named the Liberty Stadium. It ...
. He received an Honorary Fellowship from the
University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff †...
.


References


Further reading

*Jones, Cliff (1962), ''Forward with Spurs'' (London: Stanley Paul) *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Cliff 1935 births Living people Footballers from Swansea Welsh footballers Wales international footballers Wales under-23 international footballers Association football wingers English Football League players English Football Hall of Fame inductees Swansea City A.F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Fulham F.C. players King's Lynn F.C. players Bedford Town F.C. players Cambridge City F.C. players Wealdstone F.C. players 1958 FIFA World Cup players Leyton F.C. players English Football League representative players FA Cup Final players