Ray Jones (4 June 1944 – July 2007) was an English professional footballer who played as a full back. He was born and died in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, made 170

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

appearances for

, and also played and managed in non-league football.

Playing and Managerial Career

Jones joined Chester as a schoolboy, making his first-team debut in a 1–0 win over

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

on 7 December 1962 in the number 2 shirt. By the 1964–65 season Jones was a regular in the side, performing well when asked to mark

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest pla ...

in an

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 ...

tie against

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

in January 1965. Unfortunately, Jones and his namesake and fellow full-back Bryn Jones suffered fractured legs in a match against

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

twelve months later. The pair missed the remainder of the season as Chester fell out of promotion contention, with Ray not returning to action until October. He remained at the club until the end of the 1968–69 season, with his final game being a 1–0 home defeat to Exeter City on 19 April 1969. That was to be the last

match played by Jones, as he joined non–league side Runcorn. He followed it up by playing for

Oswestry Town Oswestry Town Football Club was a football club from Shropshire, playing at Victoria Road. They joined the Birmingham League in 1924 and switched to the Cheshire County League in 1959. In 1975 they made the move to the Southern League before ...

, Bethesda Athletic and Colwyn Bay, where he became player–manager. He went on to have spells as manager of Rhyl, where he achieved three promotions, and Connah's Quay Nomads. Away from football he worked as an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

. Jones died in July 2007 at the Hospice of the Good Shepherd near

References

External links

Chester City obituaryRhyl Journal obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Ray (Footballer Born 1944) 1944 births 2007 deaths Footballers from Chester English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks English Football League players Chester City F.C. players Runcorn F.C. Halton players Oswestry Town F.C. players Bethesda Athletic F.C. players Colwyn Bay F.C. players Colwyn Bay F.C. managers Rhyl F.C. managers Connah's Quay Nomads F.C. managers English football managers