Robert William Jones (born 3 November 1979) is an English football coach and former 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, rugb ...

. Jones played as a defender having started his career with

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

, before playing as a semi-professional for

Whitby Town Whitby Town Football Club is an English football club based in Whitby, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Northern Premier League, the seventh tier of English football. Founded in 1880, Whitby are one of the oldest clubs from the Nor ...

, Northallerton Town,

Spennymoor United Spennymoor United Association Football Club was an association football club based in Spennymoor, County Durham, England. History Spennymoor United Association Football Club was formed in 1904 as an amalgamation of Spennymoor Town and Weardale ...

and

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Millennium Bridge, The Sage, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary ...

, he soon moved into

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

in 2003 with

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional 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 were renamed Stockport Co ...

. After a brief loan spell with

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and ...

, Jones joined

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

, where his performances in the 2005–06 season earned him a move to

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

club Hibernian. Jones captained Hibs as the club won the 2007 Scottish League Cup Final, in which he scored the opening goal. He moved to

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The te ...

in 2009 for a club record fee, before signing for Sheffield Wednesday in 2011. Jones won promotion with Wednesday in 2011–12, but signed for

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

on 31 July 2012. He was appointed to a player/coach role with Doncaster in January 2013.

Playing career

Early career

Born in

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimat ...

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary author ...

, Jones began his career with

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

as a schoolboy, where he played initially as a striker before being moved to play at

left-back 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 ...

. After becoming disillusioned he gave up professional football and became a teacher, while playing

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is s ...

with

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

side

. He then went to Northallerton Town of the

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

for the 1999–2000 season, before moving back to the Northern Premier League with

towards the end of the season. Jones then moved on to

at the beginning of the 2001–02 season. During his spell with the

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as publishe ...

club he made 87 appearances, scoring 19 goals from the centre of defence.

Stockport County

On 29 March 2003, Jones was signed by

for a fee of £5,000. Jones made his professional debut on 9 August 2003 in a 1–0 defeat against

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

. Originally signed as cover, Jones struggled to break into the first team both under Carlton Palmer and his replacement

Sammy McIlroy Samuel Baxter McIlroy (born 2 August 1954) is a Northern Irish retired footballer who played for Manchester United, Stoke City, Manchester City, Örgryte (Sweden), Bury, VfB Mödling (Austria), Preston North End and the Northern Ireland nat ...

. By the end of the season Jones had only managed 16 appearances, scoring two goals against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

and

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 ...

. During his spell with County he had a spell on loan with

where he played one match, a 2–2 away draw against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

Grimsby Town

Jones signed on a free transfer for

Russell Slade Russell Mark Slade (born 10 October 1960) is an English professional football manager, who was most recently managerial consultant of League Two club Stevenage. Having had an extended career at reserve team level, Slade entered professional ...

in July 2004 after impressing on trial. During the 2004–05 season, his first year at

Blundell Park Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9,05 ...

Jones struggled to cement his place in the first team, and was often overlooked in favour of Terrell Forbes and Justin Whittle. Jones made his debut on the opening day of the season in a 1–0 away defeat against

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underw ...

. During the 2005–06 season Jones moved on to play a central role in the team in his second season. The club made a strong start to the season in both league and cup which included a 1–0 victory over

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

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

second round during September 2005. It was following this match that Jones who impressed at centre half was carried off the pitch by Grimsby fans. The club failed to gain automatic promotion from League Two on the final day of the season and had to settle for the play-offs. Despite beating local rivals Lincoln City in the semi-final Grimsby lost the final 1–0 to

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

. Following the club's failure to secure promotion Jones was one of several key players who departed the club in the summer of 2006 with the club agreeing a deal to sell Jones to

club Hibernian.

Hibernian

Jones signed for Hibernian on a four-year contract in June 2006. He was very well received by Hibs supporters, who created his own individual song to the tune of "

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

" by

Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet () were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids, playing "European D ...

. Jones was made captain of Hibernian in January 2007, replacing

Kevin Thomson Kevin Thomson (born 14 October 1984) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. Thomson played as a midfielder for Hibernian (three spells), Rangers, Middlesbrough and Dundee and represented Scotland. Thomson began his care ...

. Jones went on to captain Hibs to their first piece of silverware in 16 years by beating

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

5–1 in the 2007 Scottish League Cup Final. He opened the scoring in that match with a header from a

corner kick A corner kick is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defending team. The kick is take ...

. Due to his height, Jones is effective in the air both defensively and at attacking set pieces. As of January 2009, Jones has scored ten goals in

matches.

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside f ...

reported in the summer of 2007 that Jones had been angered by Hibs turning down an offer for him from

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 ...

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

were also interested in Jones at the same time.

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

made a "six figure offer" for Jones during January 2009, but this was rejected by Hibs. Hibs also stated their intention to report Colchester to

and

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

because Colchester publicised their offer, even though the offer document stated that it was "confidential". Hibs later rejected a second offer from Colchester for Jones.

Scunthorpe United

The 2009 close season saw Jones linked with several

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

clubs including

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

, Nottingham Forest,

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 ...

and

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the C ...

. He eventually signed for

for an undisclosed "club record" fee.

Sheffield Wednesday

On 17 March 2011, Jones signed an emergency loan deal with

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

until the end of the 2010–11 season. At the end of the season, Wednesday signed Jones on a two-year contract.

Gary Megson Gary John Megson (born 2 May 1959) is an English former football player and manager. He has previously managed Norwich City, Blackpool, Stockport County, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers an ...

then appointed Jones team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

for the 2011–12 season.

Doncaster Rovers

On 31 July 2012, Jones continued his tour of South Yorkshire, leaving recently promoted side Sheffield Wednesday to join League One club

, effectively replacing

George Friend George Andrew Jordan Friend (born 19 October 1987) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a defender (association football), defender for club Birmingham City F.C., Birmingham City. In the 2012–13 season, F ...

, who had just signed for Middlesbrough. Jones scored his first goal for Doncaster in a League Cup win over

on 28 August 2012. Following the departure of manager

Dean Saunders Dean Nicholas Saunders (born 21 June 1964) is a Welsh football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a striker in a career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He played for Liverpool and Aston Villa in the 1990s, and s ...

, Jones and former

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

manager Brian Flynn were put in temporary charge of the squad. After Flynn was appointed manager on a permanent basis, Jones was given a player/coach role to assist Flynn. On the final day of the 2012–13 season Rovers faced title rivals

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings wh ...

away from home and in the final minute conceded a penalty which would have seen Doncaster fall to 3rd and seen the club have to make do with a play-off spot, however Marcello Trotta hit the crossbar and in the resulting scramble Doncaster went on the break to score in the final seconds with

James Coppinger James Coppinger (born 18 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He began his career at Newcastle United, making one appearance in the Premier League, and later spent two years at Exeter ...

's goal not only rescuing them from the play-offs but handing them the

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

title after leaders

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a r ...

could only manage a draw away at

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

. At the end of the season Flynn stood aside and was promoted to Director of Football, where he was replaced by

Paul Dickov Paul may refer to: * Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

. Dickov in turn appointed his own coaching staff and named former

Manchester City 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 Salford to the west. The t ...

manager

Brian Horton Brian "Nobby" Horton (born 4 February 1949) is an English former footballer and manager. He spent 16 years as a professional player and 22 years as a manager, making 689 appearances and managing 1,098 matches. In addition to this he spent four ...

as his assistant resulting in Jones relinquishing his coaching duties and returning to be a full-time member of the playing squad. Jones took over as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a care ...

when Dickov was dismissed on 8 September 2015, and remained in charge until

Darren Ferguson Darren Ferguson (born 9 February 1972) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player, who was most recently the manager of Championship club Peterborough United. In between his stints with Peterborough, he also managed Preston No ...

took over as manager on 18 October. Jones left Doncaster by mutual consent on 1 February 2016.

Hartlepool United

On 3 March 2016, Jones signed for League Two club

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 a contract until the end of 2015–16.

Coaching career

Jones is now a coach at the

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

based soccer academy

RIASA The Richmond International Academic and Soccer Academy (RIASA) is an association football academy based in Leeds, England which was founded in 2010. History RIASA was founded in 2010 and is based at Leeds Beckett University's Headingley campus. It ...

, which brings over players from USA for academic studying and football coaching.

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

Hibernian *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existe ...

: 2006–07 Sheffield Wednesday *

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

runner-up: 2011–12 Doncaster Rovers *Football League One:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premi ...

: 2012–13 League One *

Player of the Year: 2005–06 *

Player of the Year:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Rob 1979 births Living people Footballers from Stockton-on-Tees Footballers from County Durham English footballers Association football defenders York City F.C. players Whitby Town F.C. players Northallerton Town F.C. players Spennymoor United F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Northern Premier League players Northern Football League players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players English football managers Doncaster Rovers F.C. managers English Football League managers Doncaster Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Schoolteachers from County Durham RIASA managers