Thomas George Jones (12 October 1917 – 3 January 2004) was a Welsh

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 ...

most notable for his career with Everton and

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 ...

Biography

Born in Queensferry and raised in

Connah's Quay Connah's Quay ( cy, Cei Connah), known locally as "The Quay" and formerly known as Wepre, is a town and community in Flintshire, lying within the Deeside conurbation along the River Dee, near the border with England. It is the largest town in ...

, Tommy (T.G.) Jones started his professional career with

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 ...

. He signed for Everton for £3,000 in 1936. He won a Football League First Division champions medal in only his second full season at Everton in 1938–39, before his career was interrupted by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Jones served as a sergeant PT Instructor in the RAF during the war, but he resumed his career for Everton in 1946.

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

successfully bid £15,000 for him, a large sum in those days, but foreign exchange regulations stopped the transfer. After the war Everton transferred

Tommy Lawton Thomas Lawton (6 October 1919 – 6 November 1996) was an English football player and manager. A strong centre-forward with excellent all-round attacking skills, he was able to head the ball with tremendous power and accuracy. Born in F ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and

Joe Mercer Joseph Mercer, OBE (9 August 1914 – 9 August 1990) was an English football player and manager. Mercer, who played as a defender for Everton and Arsenal in his footballing career, also went on to manage Aston Villa, Manchester City and Engl ...

to Arsenal. These deals were not only blows to the Everton team, but to him personally, he had been

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony and performs the first speech at the wedding. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be ...

at Joe Mercer's wedding. A club director falsely accused Jones of feigning injury in a wartime match and his senior appearances thereafter were sporadic. Jones's injury was actually severe enough to put him in hospital for four months. Once the relations with the manager

Cliff Britton Clifford Samuel Britton (29 August 1909 – 1 December 1975) was an English football player and manager. Playing career After playing amateur football for a number of teams in the Bristol area, his professional playing career began when he sig ...

became so bad that he was even not picked for the reserve team, and played secretly for Hawarden Grammar Old Boys. Jones became club captain in 1949 but after falling out of favour, in January 1950, he accepted an offer to leave Everton for Pwllheli. In all he made 178 peacetime appearances for Everton, scoring five goals. Jones won 17 caps for

and eleven caps in wartime internationals. After Jones left Everton he played non-league football for Pwllheli and became their part-time manager, as well as running a hotel in the town. In 1957 he became manager of Bangor City. In 1962, after winning the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the mos ...

, the team beat

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

2–0 in the home leg in the

European Cup Winners Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourna ...

but lost 1–3 in Italy. With no away-goal rule, Bangor lost the replay 3–1. In 1963, he was named the head coach for

Toronto Italia The National Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada that existed from 1926 to 1997. Teams were primarily based in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The league was renamed to Canadian National Soccer League in 1993 following the folding ...

in the

Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League The Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada. The league operated for six seasons from 1961 to 1966 across four cities in two Canadian provinces and one American state. In the 1960s, the Eastern Canada Professional ...

. He ended his managerial career at Rhyl followed by a brief stint as advisor to Bethesda. In later life Jones ran a newsagent's shop in north Wales. He was elected a 'Millennium Giant' by Everton in 2000, one of the first eleven from the club's long history to be so honoured. The panel of assessors described him as an apparently effortless, skilful and assured footballer. He passed the ball from his position at centre-half in the same way that Franz Beckenbauer would do later. He was renowned for his sporting behaviour.

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while sti ...

and Dixie Dean each cited Jones as the greatest player that they ever saw. Former Liverpool star of the same era, Cyril Done, said that "T. G. was a gentleman off the field, and a gentleman on the field". In addition to his playing career, Tommy was instrumental in re-establishing senior football in his home town after the collapse of Connah's Quay and Shotton United in 1927, just six months after they had won the Welsh Cup and beating the previous season's FA Cup winners Cardiff City in the final. Though junior clubs, notable Connah's Quay Albion played in the town it was not until Tommy's intervention in July 1946 that Connah's Quay Juniors, the fore-runner of the present-day Nomads club was formed. Attracted by the reputation of the famous international, youngsters from Connah's Quay and its surrounding towns and villages flocked to join the new team which quickly became a major force in North Wales youth soccer, winning the Welsh Youth Cup in 1948. By natural progression a senior team was formed and joined the Flintshire League in 1948. Success soon followed and Connah's Quay Juniors reached the final of the Welsh Amateur Cup in 1950/51. Prior to the 1952/53 season, the suffix Nomads was adopted and the team ventured into the Welsh League (North).

Personal life

His wife Joyce died in 2003. He was survived by his two daughters, Jane.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, T. G. 1917 births 2004 deaths Welsh footballers Wales international footballers Wrexham A.F.C. players Everton F.C. players Welsh football managers Bangor City F.C. managers Rhyl F.C. managers Pwllheli F.C. players Association football defenders People from Connah's Quay Sportspeople from Flintshire People from Queensferry, Flintshire Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force Physical Training instructors Pwllheli F.C. managers Bethesda Athletic F.C. managers