Paul Steven Jones (born 18 April 1967) 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 ...

international football

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. During his playing career, he played for several clubs, including

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Career history

Club career

Born in

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 ...

near

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 ...

, Jones started his career at

Bridgnorth Town AFC Bridgnorth is a association football, football club based in the town of Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Crown Meadow. The club badge depicts the town hall in Bridgnorth's high town. History ...

, joining

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...

in 1986 and then moved to

for a fee of £60,000 in 1991. He only managed to play 44 games before moving on to

in 1996 where he was ever present in the 1996–97 season. When Stockport County manager Dave Jones joined

as manager, he signed Jones. He won Southampton player of the season in 1998 and earned a call up to

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 ...

and became the number one goalkeeper. He played for Southampton in the

2003 FA Cup final The 2003 FA Cup Final was the 122nd final of the FA Cup, the world's oldest domestic football cup competition. The final took place on Saturday 17 May 2003 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, in front of a crowd of 73,726. It was the third co ...

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 ...

(which was lost 1–0) coming on as substitute for the injured Antti Niemi. He was the first ever goalkeeper to make a substitute appearance in an FA Cup final. He left Southampton in 2004, but not before joining

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

on loan during a goalkeeping injury crisis, thus becoming the club's oldest post-

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

debutant. Jones re-joined Wolverhampton Wanderers in January 2004, but was loaned out to

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

in December of that year. In January 2006, Wolves cancelled Jones' contract by mutual consent. In February 2006, he joined

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 ...

for the rest of the 2005–06 season. Due to his success at the club he was given a one-year extension to his contract that would last up until May 2007. When this contract expired Jones was released by the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

club and later signed for non-league

Bognor Regis Town Bognor Regis Town Football Club is an English football club based in Bognor Regis, West Sussex. Nicknamed 'The Rocks',the club is an FA Chartered Standard Community club affiliated to the Sussex County Football Association. They currently compe ...

International career

Jones made his international debut against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on 27 May 1997, coming on as a half-time substitute for

Andy Marriott Andrew Marriott (born 11 October 1970) is an English-born Welsh professional footballer, who played as a goalkeeper. He is a journeyman player, having represented various clubs, and has also played for the Welsh national team. Football career Ma ...

. Jones won his 50th Welsh cap against

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

on 7 October 2006 but had a match to forget. Wales were beaten 5–1, their worst home result for 98 years and he was beaten from long range on three occasions. He marked the occasion with 50 shaved in his hair.

Honours

Southampton *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

runner up -

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

Kidderminster Harriers *

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

Winner - 1987 Stockport County * Division 2 runner up (promotion to Division 1) - 1996–97 Individual *

Welsh Footballer of the Year The Welsh Footballer of the Year is an annual award chosen by the FAW, to determine the best player in Wales. Winners Men Women See also * List of sports awards honoring women This list of sports awards honoring women is an index to arti ...

: 1999

References

External links

Paul Jones career profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Paul Living people 1967 births People from Chirk Sportspeople from Wrexham County Borough Welsh footballers Wales international footballers Association football goalkeepers Premier League players English Football League players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Watford F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Wales national football team non-playing staff FA Cup Final players