Robert Marc Jones (born 5 November 1971) is a Welsh-born 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, rugby lea ...

who represented England at International level. As a player he was a defender from 1987 to 1999. After starting his career with

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' ...

, he went on to make a name for himself with

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

where he won both the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

and League Cup before finishing his career with a brief spell with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. He was capped eight times by

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 ...

. In 2013 he turned to coaching and was part of the Liverpool Academy coaching staff for several seasons.

Early life

Jones, who grew up in

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south-eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, on the bank of the Manchester Ship Canal. In the 2021 Unite ...

, Cheshire, is the grandson of former Liverpool player Bill Jones.

Club career

Crewe Alexandra

Jones began his career with

, signing professional forms at the age of 17 on 20 December 1988 when Crewe were in

Division Four 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 L ...

. The right-back settled quickly, quietly going about his defensive duties until being spotted during the 1991–92 season, accidentally, by Liverpool manager

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player, manager and television pundit. A midfielder, Souness achieved his greatest period of success as an integral part of the Liverpool team of the late 19 ...

who was at

Gresty Road Gresty Road or the Alexandra Stadium, currently known as the Mornflake Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The home ground of Crewe Alexandra, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153. History C ...

looking at a different player. Souness put in an offer of £300,000 which was accepted, and on 4 October 1991, a month before his 20th birthday, he became a Liverpool player.

Liverpool

His debut for the Reds came on 6 October 1991, just 48 hours after he had signed on at

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

, with a game at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

, where he excelled against United winger

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; born 29 November 1973) is a Welsh football coach, former player and co-owner of Salford City. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, and one of the best wingers in the history of footba ...

and was named Man Of The Match in a goalless league draw. By the end of the season, Jones had won over the coach, become a regular in the starting line-up, had gained his first international cap, as well as helped the Reds to the final of the

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

– a final that saw Liverpool beat

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

2–0. He was also named in the 1991/92 PFA Team of the Year. However, he was ruled out of England's Euro 92 squad due to shin splints. Over the next four seasons he was a regular member of the Liverpool starting line-up and in the sides that beat

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

2–1 in the 1995 Football League Cup final and lost 1–0 to Man United in the 1996 FA Cup final. He was once more named in the PFA Team of the Year (1994/95). When Liverpool signed midfielder Jason McAteer, who arrived in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

Roy Evans Roy Quentin Echlin Evans (born 4 October 1948) is an English former footballer who played as a defender for Liverpool, where he also had a spell as manager. Aside from his time at Liverpool, he had a short spell in the United States; and also ...

converted McAteer to right-back and employed Jones on the left-side in a wingback role as Liverpool changed from their normal 4–4–2 to an attack-minded 5–3–2 formation. After the 1996 FA Cup final, Jones was advised to take a six-month break from football due to back problems. He returned to action, but the next two seasons were plagued by injuries, and in April 1998 he played what was to be his last game for Liverpool against Chelsea. An injury in his left knee could not be fixed, despite three operations, and at the end of the 1998–99 season, in which he had not played a game, he was released on a free transfer by new coach that year,

Gérard Houllier Gérard Paul Francis Houllier (; 3 September 194714 December 2020) was a French professional football manager and player. Clubs he managed include Paris Saint-Germain, Lens and Liverpool, where he won the FA Cup, League Cup, FA Charity Shield, ...

, who was ushering in a new era at the club to eliminate the club's Spice Boys public image and stereotype.

West Ham United

Jones joined

, on non-contract terms, on 17 July 1999. He was named in the side that began the

Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was discon ...

third round second leg tie against FC Jokerit, but was substituted after the first half as a result of aggravating his knee injury. This proved to be his last senior appearance, as he retired in August 1999.

International career

At international level Jones was eligible to play for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, as he was born in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

, but it was Graham Taylor who selected him and gave him his international debut for

in the 2–0 win over

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

at Wembley on 19 February 1992 – just four months after he had made the move from Fourth Division football to the First Division. Injury forced Jones to miss the

UEFA Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having been inv ...

where he would have been the first choice right-back, but he went on to win eight international caps over the next few years.

Style of play

Jones played 243 times for the Reds, earned several accolades and man of the match awards, although he famously never scored a goal for Liverpool. Teammate Steve McManaman described him to ''

FourFourTwo ''FourFourTwo'' is an association football magazine published by British company Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4–4–2. Future acquired the ...

'' magazine as the best defender he ever played with, naming him in his all time perfect XI alongside the likes of

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; ; ''Zineddin Lyazid Zidan''; ; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as an attacking midfi ...

Luís Figo Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo (; born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a winger for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Inter Milan. He won 127 caps for the Portugal national team, a one-t ...

, and

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), often known as Roberto Carlos and sometimes ''RC3'', is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer. He has been described as the "most offensive-minded left-back in the ...

. Younger teammate Jamie Carragher also once said of Jones: "I played with Rob Jones a few times and he was a bit unfortunate with injuries and his best form was probably before I got into the team, when he was as good as probably anything in Europe at the time ... He was playing out of his skin and I think if he'd have stayed fit he probably would have gone on to win 70 or 80 caps for England instead of

Gary Neville Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975) is an English football pundit, former coach and player, and co-owner of English Football League club Salford City. As a player, Neville was a right-back and spent his entire career with Manches ...

." After failing to get over a knee injury that had severely affected him since late 1996, Jones announced his retirement on 28 August 1999, aged just 27.

Coaching career

In October 2013 it was announced that Jones would be taking up a coaching role with Liverpool F.C. Academy, where his eldest son Declan is a trainee.

Personal life

Jones lives in

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

, with his wife Sue and their three children. In 2012, he released his autobiography, titled ''Robbed''. Since his retirement, Jones and his wife have built-up Kids Academy, a franchise-based business of children's nurseries across the UK, but now called Evolution Childcare which also now extends into the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

Honours

Crewe Alexandra *

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 ...

promotion: 1988–89 Liverpool *

: 1991–92 *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

: 1994–95 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 Football in England, En ...

: 1991–92 First Division, 1994–95 Premier League

References

External links

Profile
a
LFCHistory.netThisisanfield.com Forgotten Heroes

Rob Jones index at Sporting-heroes.net
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Rob 1971 births Living people Footballers from Wrexham Men's association football fullbacks Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Premier League players England men's under-21 international footballers England men's international footballers 21st-century English businesspeople English men's footballers English people of Welsh descent Footballers from Ellesmere Port English autobiographers English Football League players