Mark Alan Jones (born 15 August 1984) is a retired

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

footballer.

Club career

Wrexham

He joined

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 ...

as a trainee on 1 August 2002. He made his debut on 17 September 2002 in a 4–0 win over Exeter City, but only became an established player two seasons later. He has become particularly popular at the club as one of the most talented local players, and as a scorer of some spectacular long-range goals. Despite being a midfielder, he was one of the club's most regular goalscorers, with a ratio of 0.2 goals per game as of the end of the 2005–06 season. Following Wrexham's relegation from

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

, Jones, who had already declared his intention to leave the club, was released at the end of the 2007–08 season.

Rochdale

After a successful trial at the club,

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

announced on 15 August 2008 that they were seeking international clearance to complete the signing of Jones. On 14 May 2009, it was announced that Mark Jones would leave Rochdale, along with 10 other players, after making 13 appearances for the club in all competitions.

Return to Wrexham

In June 2009, Jones returned to Wrexham, signing a one-year deal. Placed straight into the first-team on his return, Jones scored his first goal since moving back to Wrexham in a 3–0 win over Luton Town on 22 September. At the end of the year, Jones was released by Wrexham for a second time.

Bala Town

Following his release from Wrexham, Jones signed for Welsh Premier League side

Bala Town Bala Town Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed y Bala) is a Welsh football team from Bala, Gwynedd, who play in the Cymru Premier. They play their home games at Maes Tegid. History For a full history see; '' List of Bala Town FC seasons'' Al ...

. In doing so he rejected offers from other Conference National sides in order not to move away from his home and also in the hope of enjoying playing football again, stating "''I'm not enjoying playing football full-time at all and have not for a few years. ..I began playing football as a youngster for the love of it, not for money, and I want to feel that way about football again.''"

Airbus UK Broughton

Jones left Bala in 2017, joining Airbus UK Broughton. In his first season, he made twelve league appearances, scoring once.

International career

As well as making several appearances for Wales under-21s, he has been called up to the senior

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

squad on two occasions. He made his international debut in a friendly against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...

on 14 November 2006. Jones was named in the Wales squad ahead of more experienced players, such as

Robert Earnshaw Robert Earnshaw (born 6 April 1981) is a Welsh former international footballer who played as a forward. He is the only player to have scored a hat-trick in the Premier League, all three divisions of the English Football League, the League Cup, ...

, for games against

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in the summer of 2008.

Statistics

Honours

Wrexham *

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

: 2004–05 Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 2005–06 Football League Two * Welsh Premier League Player of the Season: 2011–12 *Welsh Premier League Team of the Year:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2011–12,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

References

External links

*
Footballer Player Profiles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Mark 1984 births Living people Welsh footballers Wrexham A.F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Wales international footballers Wales under-21 international footballers English Football League players National League (English football) players Bala Town F.C. players Airbus UK Broughton F.C. players Cymru Premier players Association football midfielders Cymru Alliance players