David "Di" Jones (1867 – 27 August 1902) was a Welsh

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 le ...

who played as a full-back for

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads. The town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of ...

Chirk Chirk ( cy, Y Waun) is a town and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, south of Wrexham, between it and Oswestry. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 4,468. Historically in the traditional county of Denbighshire, and later Clwy ...

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

and

Manchester City 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 Salford to the west. The tw ...

in the late 19th century. He also won 14 caps for the

Welsh national team ) , Association = Football Association of Wales (FAW) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , Coach = Rob Page , Captain = Gareth Bale , Most caps = Gareth Bale (111) , Top scorer = Gareth ...

Career

Club career

Jones was born in

Trefonen Trefonen is a small village located approximately south-west of Oswestry, and three miles east of the England-Wales border, in Shropshire, England. The name translates into "village of the ash trees" in English. In 2001, the total population ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

to Lot Jones, a coal miner and labourer. His nephew was the footballer, Lot Jones. He began his career with Oswestry in 1882 and helped them win the Shropshire Cup. (registration & fee required) Jones moved to Chirk, with whom he won the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...

in 1887 and 1888, the latter as captain. He was then persuaded to join

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial Re ...

. However, he soon moved on to Bolton Wanderers in March 1888 after just two friendly appearances for the Heathens. Jones was noted for his strong tackling and ability to kick with either foot, and he was capable of plying in either full–back position, though he normally appeared at left–back. Di Jones, playing as a full–back, made his League and Bolton Wanderers debut on 22 September 1888 at

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested". History ...

, the home of

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

. Bolton Wanderers were defeated by the home team 3–1. Di Jones appeared in 12 of the 22 League matches played by Bolton Wanderers in season 1888–89. With Jones in the team, Bolton kept one clean sheet and conceded a single goal on 11 occasions. At Bolton, he captained the side in the

1894 FA Cup Final The 1894 FA Cup Final was contested by Notts County and Bolton Wanderers at Goodison Park. Notts County won 4–1, with goals by James Logan (3) and Arthur Watson. Jim Cassidy scored for Bolton. Notts County became the first team from outside ...

, but finished on the losing side as

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

defeated Wanderers 4–1. In ten years at Bolton, Jones made a total of 228 appearances and scored four goals, before moving to Manchester City, where his former Chirk teammate

Billy Meredith William Henry Meredith (30 July 1874 – 19 April 1958) was a Welsh professional footballer. He was considered one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United. He won each ...

was a player. He made his Manchester City debut against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

on 8 October 1898. In his first season at City the club won

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to the First Division, the highest level of English football. He scored one goal in 114 appearances for City.

International career

Jones made his debut for the Wales national team on 3 March 1888, playing at right-half in an 11–0 victory over

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

. In a 12-year international career, Jones made a total of 16 appearances, but two, against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1891, were uncapped. His final Wales appearance came on 26 March 1900, a 1–1 draw with

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 ...

in which he played at right-back.

Personal life and death

On 17 August 1902, Jones was playing in a pre-season practice match when he suffered a cut to his knee after falling on a piece of glass. The wound became infected, and Jones died of blood poisoning and lockjaw on 27 August.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Di 1867 births 1902 deaths Welsh footballers Association football fullbacks Manchester United F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Chirk AAA F.C. players Wales international footballers Sportspeople from Oswestry People from Chirk Sportspeople from Wrexham County Borough Deaths from tetanus Deaths from sepsis FA Cup Final players Association football players who died while playing Sport deaths in England