Michael Jones (24 March 1947 – 9 August 2022) was an English professional

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 ...

and coach.

Playing career

Jones started his career as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

, then managed by

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Engl ...

, and moved on to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

in 1969. Having played a key part in County's promotions in 1971 and 1973 he then moved on to

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

later that year and helped the club to the Division Four championship in his first season, before leaving the country.

Managerial career

Jones spent a brief spell as player-coach at now defunct Canadian outfit Ottawa Tigers in the National Soccer League, before he returned to England in 1976 to fill the manager's role at

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

, initially as player-manager. A successful spell at Kettering saw them in the FA Trophy final in 1979 and after losing the final to Stafford Rangers, he had his first taste of league management at

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

. Jones spent two seasons at Mansfield before joining his former teammate

Roy McFarland Roy Leslie McFarland (born 5 April 1948) is an English former football manager and former player. With Derby County, he played 442 league games, helping him to earn 28 caps for England. Playing career Born in Liverpool, McFarland was a player f ...

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

as assistant manager. After a brief spell at Derby County together the two men went their separate ways, and after Jones had two years in charge of

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

he then joined Peterborough, initially as

Noel Cantwell Noel Euchuria Cornelius Cantwell (28 February 1932 – 8 September 2005) was an Irish footballer player and sometime cricketer. Club career Cantwell was born in Cork, Ireland, and was educated at the Roman Catholic Presentation Brothers College ...

's assistant, before taking over as manager in 1988. It was at Peterborough that Jones met Neil Warnock whom he would go on to assist at

from 1989 to 1993, and

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

from 1993 to 1995, before joining Plymouth Argyle in 1995, once again as Warnock's assistant. After Warnock left Argyle in 1997 Jones had a short, unsuccessful spell as manager at

Home Park Home Park is a football stadium in Plymouth, England. The ground has been the home of Football League One club Plymouth Argyle since 1901.Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

national team, performing an amazing feat in getting the tiny

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

province to their first ever Malaysia Cup final in 1999, beating

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

by two goals to one to collect the trophy. Jones remained with Brunei until 2002, returning to England for spells as assistant manager at

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton t ...

, and then manager of Telford United before financial problems led to the collapse of the club. In 2005, Jones resumed his partnership with Warnock at

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

. The club was promoted to the Premiership at the end of Jones' first season at the Blades, but was relegated again twelve months later, with both Warnock and Jones stepping down. After this the two men spent a short period out of football before joining

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

in October 2007, with the Eagles turning from relegation battlers to play-off semi-finalists under Warnock and Jones' stewardship. On 1 March 2010. Jones joined Neil Warnock at London rivals

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

, as assistant manager. However, on 8 January 2012, Warnock was sacked as manager of QPR. Jones and

Keith Curle Keith Curle (born 14 November 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player, who is the current manager of League Two side Hartlepool United. He played as a centre back from 1981 to 2005, notably in the Premier League for ...

were also reported to have left the club. On 19 February 2012, new

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 ...

manager, Neil Warnock confirmed Jones would be his assistant manager. On 1 April 2013 When Warnock was sacked as manager of Leeds United Jones left the club. On 21 June 2013, Jones was appointed assistant manager at Notts County. He left the club following Chris Kiwomya's departure.

Later life and death

Jones acted as a director of the fine jewellery brand MJ Jones from 2016 to 2021, founded by Jones's son, Matthew J. Jones, in 2012. Jones died in August 2022, at the age of 75.

References