Neil Warren Jones (born 16 February 1982) is a New Zealand collegiate soccer coach and former professional footballer. Jones is the current head coach of the

Wisconsin Badgers men's soccer The Wisconsin Badgers men's soccer team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of University of Wisconsin–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate ...

team at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

Early life and education

Jones was born 16 February 1982 in

Takapuna Takapuna is a suburb located on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is situated at the beginning of a south-east-facing peninsula forming the northern side of the Waitematā Harbour. While very small in terms of population, it ...

, New Zealand, to parents Fran and Barry Jones. Growing up in New Zealand, he spent time with many football clubs, among them Rangitoto (Juniors),

East Coast Bays AFC East Coast Bays is a football club located on Auckland's North Shore. The club has won the Chatham Cup and the NRFL Premier Division three times. History East Coast Bays were founded following a public meeting held at the Progressive Hall (si ...

Dunedin Technical Dunedin Technical (known locally as Tech) is a semi-professional association football club in Dunedin, New Zealand. They compete in the ODT FootballSouth Premier League and were the 2018 ODT FootballSouth Premier League champions. Club history ...

, Waitakere City F.C., and

Westlake Boys High School Westlake Boys High School is a state secondary school for boys located in Forrest Hill, Auckland, New Zealand. The school opened in 1962, when Westlake High School (opened 1958) split into Westlake Girls High School on the existing site and We ...

. He would later attend the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate ...

briefly before transferring to the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

. While at UCSB, Jones was a student-athlete on the

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer team is an NCAA Division I college soccer team composed of student-athletes attending the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Gauchos play their home matches at Harder Stadium. Like most of the ...

team, studying in the nationally-ranked UCSB Geography Program. Alongside fellow Kiwi freshman defender Tony Lochhead, Jones appeared in 14 games, scoring 3 goals and adding an assist. He was moved in his second year from defense to forward by coach Tim Vom Steeg. As a forward, Jones led the attack for the Gauchos and culminated in an appearance of the

2004 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship The 2004 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament was a tournament of 48 teams from NCAA Division I. This year's College Cup Final Four was held at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. All the other games were played at the home field of t ...

final match, losing on penalties. For his UCSB career, Jones appeared in 75 games and scored 36 goals with 15 assists.

Professional playing career

While enrolled at UCSB, Jones appeared for

Cape Cod Crusaders Cape Cod Crusaders were an American soccer team based in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1994, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2008, when ...

of the

USL PDL USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

. In 2004 alongside Gaucho teammate Drew McAthy, Jones appeared in 9 games and scored 3 goals. After leaving Santa Barbara, Jones went on trial with European clubs, including Atlético Madrid and

Aalesunds FK Aalesunds Fotballklubb, commonly known as Aalesund or AaFK, is a Norwegian football club from the town of Ålesund, that competes in the Eliteserien, the first tier of the Norwegian football league system. The club was founded on 25 June 1914. ...

, in hopes of securing a professional contract. While with Aalesunds FK, the training staff were impressed with his play and wanted Jones to play in front of manager Ivar Morten Normark, who had been out on holiday. He appeared in a friendly match for Aalesunds against

IL Hødd Idrottslaget Hødd is a multi-sports club from Ulsteinvik in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. Founded in 1919, it has sections for team handball, gymnastics and football. It is best known for their men's football team, which since 2015 plays at Høddv ...

, but he was forced to leave just minutes from the start after fracturing his leg, ending his trial with the club. After rehabbing from his injury, Jones spent time with

. He later signed a short-term contract with

Queensland Roar FC Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisb ...

of the A-League. Jones was unable to find his way on to the opening day roster and never competed in a league game for Queensland. He spent time with

Kuala Lumpur FA Kuala Lumpur City Football Club, known simply as KL City FC, is a Malaysian professional football club based in Kuala Lumpur. The club competes in the Malaysia Super League, the top level of Malaysian football, and was founded in 1974 as Feder ...

of the

Malaysia Premier League The Malaysia Premier League ( ms, Liga Premier) was the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia. The league replaced the former second-tier league, Liga Perdana 2 in the Malaysian football league system. The Malaysia Premier Leag ...

before ending his playing career in 2005.

International playing career

Neil has represented New Zealand at the U17, U20, U23, and Senior International squads. As a member of the New Zealand U17 "dream team", Jones competed in the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship held in New Zealand. He appeared in all three of New Zealand's Group A games, but New Zealand failed to advance. Jones was named to the New Zealand senior international team for the

2004 OFC Nations Cup The 2004 OFC Nations Cup was the edition of the tournament for the OFC Nations Cup and doubled as the qualification tournament to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, except the two-legged final. A separate playoff between Australia and Solomon Islands w ...

for

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America) ...

. He made his debut on 4 June 2004 against

Tahiti national football team The Tahiti national football team ( French: ''Équipe de football de Tahiti'') represents French Polynesia and is controlled by the Fédération Tahitienne de Football. The team consists of a selection of players from French Polynesia, not jus ...

and scored a goal. His last appearance was two days later on 6 June against Fiji.

Coaching career

It was announced in March 2006 that Jones was added to the

team coaching staff by Tim Vom Steeg as an assistant coach. The team would go on to win the

2006 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship The 2006 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament was a tournament of 48 teams from NCAA Division I who played for the NCAA Championship in soccer. The College Cup Final Four was held at Hermann Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. All the other games ...

. After four seasons at his alma mater, Jones moved on to be an assistant coach at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in Evanston, Illinois, under

Tim Lenahan Tim Lenahan is a retired soccer coach known for his 20-year tenure as the head men's soccer coach at Northwestern University starting with the 2001 season. He is widely regarded as one of the top program builders in NCAA soccer, as he rebuilt the ...

. Ahead of the 2012 season, Jones was promoted to associate head coach. On 20 December 2012, Jones was introduced as the head coach of Loyola University Chicago's men's soccer team. On 10 January 2022, Jones was hired as the head coach of the

team, replacing John Trask.

Record by year

''Source:''

Notes

References

External links

*
Loyola coaching profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Neil 1982 births Living people Association footballers from Auckland New Zealand association footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football forwards UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer players Cape Cod Crusaders players New Zealand men's international footballers Brisbane Roar FC players East Coast Bays AFC players Kuala Lumpur City F.C. players Men's association football utility players People educated at Westlake Boys High School USL League Two players 2004 OFC Nations Cup players UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer coaches New Zealand association football managers Wisconsin Badgers men's soccer coaches People from Takapuna Loyola Ramblers men's soccer coaches