| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Matthew Graham Jones | ||
| Date of birth | 1 September 1980 | ||
| Place of birth | Llanelli, Wales | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Llanelli | ||
| Number | 27 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997–2000 | Leeds United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1997-2000 | Leeds United | 23 | (0) |
| 2000-2004 | Leicester City | 27 | (1) |
| 2007-2009 | Llanelli | 29 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 1999-2003 | Wales | 13 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Matthew Graham Jones (born September 1, 1980 in Llanelli, Wales) is a former Welsh international football player, who last played for Llanelli in the Welsh Premier League. He has played centre-midfield for most of his career, though sometimes appeared at right back for Llanelli. He formerly played for Leeds United and Leicester City. He married his childhood sweetheart, Sarah, during the summer of 2002.
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Jones was born in Llanelli, Wales and joined the Leeds United Youth Academy in 1997 at the age of 17. Unable to establish himself as a first team regular he transferred to Leicester City in December 2000 for a fee of £3 million. He has scored only one league goal in his career in a 2-1 home defeat to Middlesbrough on September 17, 2001.[1]
Intended to be a replacement for Neil Lennon,[2] his time with Leicester was littered with injuries. He spent a year out with a knee ligament injury[3] received when tackled by Gary McAllister in Liverpool's 1-0 win against Leicester in January 2002. In August 2003 he trained with Nottingham Forest, but on his return to Leicester three weeks later was ruled out, initially for four further months, with a back injury.[4]
After numerous operations in a bid to recover Jones decided to retire in 2004 at the age of 23.[5] His last international game for Wales was a 2-0 away defeat to USA in May 2003, receiving a red card during his 13th appearance.[6][7]
Since his retirement Jones worked within the sports media including appearances for BBC Sport, Sky Sports and John Barnes Soccer Night and has both written a column on the BBC Sport website[8] and been featured as part of the BBC Wales website Raise your game series.[9]
In September 2007, Jones announced he would come out of retirement to play for Llanelli in the Welsh Premier League.[10]
Matt featured sporadically for Llanelli over 2 seasons, making 23 league appearances, scoring one goal. He has also added appearances in the Welsh Cup Final and the Champions League to his CV.