David Willmott Llewellyn Jones (9 April 1940 – 12 December 2013) was an English 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, rugby lea ...

who scored 72 goals in 184 appearances in

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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

playing for

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

and

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

, where he spent the majority of his career. He is Millwall's seventh all-time leading scorer, with 74 goals.

Playing career

Jones was born in

Kingsley, Cheshire Kingsley is a civil parishes in England, civil parish and a village in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is approximately 5 miles south east of the town of Frodsham. The villag ...

. He began his football career as a youngster with

, and was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

at youth level. An

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

, Jones became Crewe's youngest goalscorer, aged 16 years 144 days, in a match against

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

on 10 September 1956, a record which as of March 2009 he still holds. At the end of the 1956–57 season, Jones turned professional with

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

club

. He was integrated gradually into the first team, deputising occasionally for experienced forwards Peter Murphy and Bryan Orritt, and had played nine games in the top flight when his progress was disrupted by a leg injury. In December 1959, Jones moved to

of the Fourth Division. His first full season brought Jones 23 goals; in the next, 1961–62, he was Millwall's joint top scorer alongside Peter Burridge with 22 goals apiece as the club won the Fourth Division title. They promptly sold Burridge, and despite Jones's contributions, two years later they were

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

back to the Fourth Division. Following their relegation, the size of the squad was halved; Jones was among those cut. After 71 goals in 165 league games, he moved to South Africa where he played for

Rangers Johannesburg Graneker Rangers FC was a South African football (soccer) club based in Johannesburg. Rangers FC won the Castle Cup in 1959 and played the final in 1967. Their best season in the National Football League was the inaugural season in 1959, when th ...

. Jones died in South Africa on 12 December 2013.

Honours

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier ...

champions: 1961–62 with Millwall.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, David 1940 births 2013 deaths People from Cheshire West and Chester English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Rangers F.C. (South Africa) players Durban City F.C. players English Football League players Footballers from Cheshire 20th-century English sportsmen