Matthew Robert Jones (born 11 May 1986) is an English former professional
footballer who played as a
goalkeeper. He is the lead assistant
coach of the
Quinnipiac Bobcats.
He spent his entire senior career in the United States and Portugal, where he made 145 appearances for
Santa Clara,
União da Madeira,
Belenenses and
Tondela in the latter's professional leagues. He also played a single
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...
game for the
Philadelphia Union.
Playing career
College and amateur
Born in
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...
, Jones was a member of
Port Vale's academy from the age of nine. He then played for
West Bromwich Albion, making several
reserve team
In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...
appearances from age 17–19.
Jones moved to the United States in 2005, to attend and play
college soccer at
Sacred Heart University in
Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bridgeport and towns of Trumbull, Connecticut, Trumbull, Easton, Connecticut, Easton, Weston, Connecticut, W ...
. He helped the team finish fourth in
regular season of the
Northeast Conference
The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...
, losing in the playoffs to eventual champions
Monmouth University, 1–2.
Jones was selected to the All-Northeast Conference second team, the NSCAA All-New England second team and was voted Male Rookie of the Year as a freshman in 2005, being picked to the All-Northeast Conference first team and the All-Mideast Region second team in 2007 and 2008. In 2009, he was awarded the "All Pioneer" honour on top of being a nominated in the final 30 of the
Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in 2009; additionally, he was named NEC Scholar Athlete of the year in 2009, and graduated ''
magna cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
'' with a GPA of 3.7 and a degree in
Business administration
Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization.
Overview
The administration of a business includes the performance o ...
.
Professional
Jones turned professional in 2009 with the
Western Mass Pioneers. He made his professional debut on 25 April of that year in the side's 1–3 opening day away defeat against the
Harrisburg City Islanders.
Jones was signed by
Portuguese team
C.D. Santa Clara, before the start of the
2009–10 season. He immediately made himself first-choice at the
second division club, going on to appear in 21 matches out of 30 in that first campaign.
In June 2011, Jones went on trial with
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...
side
Aberdeen
Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
. However, nothing came of it, and he continued playing in Portugal's second level, successively representing
Madeira
Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...
's
C.F. União
Clube de Futebol União, commonly known as União da Madeira, was a Portuguese association football, football club based in Funchal, Madeira, notable for its six season in the Portuguese top-flight Primeira Liga, between the 1989–90 Primeira D ...
and
C.F. Os Belenenses.
Jones only missed one league game in 42 for the latter in the
2012–13 campaign, helping it return to the
Primeira Liga
The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...
after three years. He made his debut in the competition on 18 August 2013, in a 0–3 home loss to
Rio Ave FC.
On 30 June 2015, Jones was loaned to top flight newcomers
C.D. Tondela for
the upcoming campaign. He made his competitive debut on 14 August, in a 1–2 home defeat to
Sporting Clube de Portugal
Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries, .
On 9 February 2016, Jones was confirmed as the latest
Philadelphia Union signing, arriving on a
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
-long loan. He made his only
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...
appearance on 1 June in a 3–2 home win over the
Columbus Crew
The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...
as
Andre Blake was away with Jamaica at the
Copa América Centenario; he had become a father days earlier. In April of the following year, he joined
National Premier Soccer League club
Elm City Express. He made his debut on 6 May, in a 2–0 win over
Greater Lowell United FC.
Coaching career
On 30 March 2017, Jones was announced as assistant coach of the
Quinnipiac Bobcats women's soccer team. He joined the staff of the men's team on 12 January 2018.
References
External links
Sacred Heart bio*
*
Quinnipiac profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Matt
1986 births
Living people
Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent
English men's footballers
Men's association football goalkeepers
Sacred Heart University alumni
Major League Soccer players
USL Second Division players
USL Championship players
Western Mass Pioneers players
Philadelphia Union players
Philadelphia Union II players
Primeira Liga players
Liga Portugal 2 players
C.D. Santa Clara players
C.F. União players
C.F. Os Belenenses players
C.D. Tondela players
English expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States
Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal
English expatriate sportspeople in the United States
English expatriate sportspeople in Portugal
Quinnipiac University people
21st-century English sportsmen
Sacred Heart Pioneers athletes
College men's soccer players in the United States
Quinnipiac Bobcats men's soccer coaches
High school soccer coaches in the United States
Quinnipiac Bobcats women's soccer coaches