William John Jones (6 March 1876 – 25 September 1959) was an

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

international

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 le ...

who played as a

right half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Jones made over 180

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 prior to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Career

Jones was born in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

and earned one cap for

in a 3–0 win v Ireland at the Dell on 9 March 1901. while playing professionally for

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. Jones began his football career with Long Eaton Rangers before joining Wellington Athletic. He moved into the Second Division of

the 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 ...

when he joined

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

and was top scorer in 1896–97. Jones was the first player signed for

by new manager

Sam Hollis Sam Hollis (1866 – 17 April 1942) was an English football trainer and manager. Born in Nottingham as Samuel Woodroffe Moore, he had comparatively little football experience, having previously worked in the local registry and as a landlord i ...

in 1897. Jones made 8 appearances scoring 2 goals in 1897–98 when Bristol City finished runners up in the

Southern Football League The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English fo ...

, he also made 9 appearances and scored 6 goals in the Western League championship winning side. Jones scored 4 goals in the 14–1 win v Eastleigh on 26 January 1898. Jones was the regular right half in 1898–99 making 23 appearances when City again finished as runners up in the Southern League. Jones missed only one match in 1899–1900, he began as right half but moved to centre forward when

Alex Caie Alexander Caie (25 June 1877 – 17 November 1914), sometimes known as Sandy Caie, was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a right half and centre forward in the Football League for Newcastle United and Woolwich Arsenal. He also pl ...

was transferred to Millwall. Jones made 31 appearances and scored 15 goals including 4 goals in the 5–1 win v Sheppey United on 3 March 1900. The following season Bristol City were runners up again in the Southern League with Jones making 28 appearances and scoring 1 goal. When Bristol City made their Football League debut in the Second Division on 7 September 1901 Jones played right half. Jones was ever present with 35 appearances in 1901–02. Jones made 32 appearances scoring 2 goals missing only 2 matches as "the Babes" rose to 4th place in 1902–03. City repeated the 4th-place finish in the following season when Jones made 32 appearances scoring 4 goals from the right half position. Jones made 32 appearances scoring 3 goals as City completed a trio of 4th-place finishes in 1904–05. When Bristol City won the Second Division championship in 1905–06 the injury prone Jones made 18 appearances playing in all of the record sequence of 14 successive wins early in the season. Jones moved to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

in the summer of 1906. Jones moved to

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

in the summer of 1907. After retiring from football Jones was landlord of the "Barley Mow" in Bedminster and died in 1959 at Snowdon Road Hospital, Bristol.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, William 1876 births 1959 deaths Footballers from Brighton English men's footballers England men's international footballers Men's association football wing halves Long Eaton Rangers F.C. players Loughborough F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players