Di Jones

Di Jones
Personal information
Full nameDavid Jones
Date of birth1867
Place of birthTrefonen, Shropshire, England
Date of death27 August 1902
Place of deathEngland
Playing positionFull back
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
Chirk
1888Newton Heath0(0)
1888–1898Bolton Wanderers228(4)
1898–1902Manchester City114(1)
National team
1888–1900Wales14(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

David "Di" Jones (1867 – 27 August 1902) was a Welsh footballer who played as a full-back for Chirk, Bolton Wanderers and Manchester City in the late 19th century. He also won 14 caps for the Welsh national team.[1]

Career

Club career

Jones was born in Trefonen, Shropshire to Lot Jones, a coal miner[2] and labourer.[3] His nephew was the footballer, Lot Jones. He began his career with Chirk, with whom he won the Welsh Cup in 1887 and 1888, the latter as captain.[4][5] He was then persuaded to join Newton Heath.[1] However, he soon moved on to Bolton Wanderers in March 1889 after just two friendly appearances for the Heathens.[1] At Bolton, he captained the side in the 1894 FA Cup Final,[4] but finished on the losing side as Notts County defeated Wanderers 4–1. In ten years at Bolton, Jones made a total of 228 appearances and scored four goals, before moving to Manchester City, where his former Chirk team-mate Billy Meredith was a player.[1] He made his Manchester City debut against Luton Town on 8 October 1898.[6] In his first season at City the club won promotion to the First Division, the highest level of English football. He scored one goal in 114 appearances for City.

On 17 August 1902, Jones was playing in a pre-season practice match when he suffered a cut to his knee after falling on a piece of glass.[7] The wound became infected, and Jones died of blood poisoning and lockjaw on 27 August.[8]

International career

Jones made his debut for the Wales national team on 3 March 1888, playing at right-half in an 11–0 victory over Ireland at Wrexham. In a 12-year international career, Jones made a total of 16 appearances, but two, against Canada in 1891, were uncapped. His final Wales appearance came on 26 March 1900, a 1–1 draw with England in which he played at right-back.[9]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Shury, Alan; Landamore, Brian (2005). The Definitive Newton Heath F.C. SoccerData. p. 68. ISBN 1-899468-16-1.
  2. British Census 1881 RG11; Piece: 2661; Folio: 85; Page: 18; GSU roll: 1341639.
  3. British Census 1891 RG12; Piece: 2118; Folio: 176; Page: 27; GSU roll: 6097228.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Ward, Andrew (1984). The Manchester City Story. Derby: Breedon. p. 9. ISBN 0-907969-05-4.
  5. "Welsh Cup Final 1886/87". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  6. James, Gary (2006). Manchester City - The Complete Record. Derby: Breedon. p. 282. ISBN 1-85983-512-0.
  7. James, Gary (2008). Manchester – A Football History. Halifax: James Ward. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-9558127-0-5.
  8. Manchester Courier (28 August 1902). "The Death Of Di Jones". Manchester Courier, & Lancashire General Advertiser via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  9. Davies, Gareth (1995). Robinson, Michael, ed. Soccer: The International Line-ups & Statistics Series – Wales 1876-1960. Cleethorpes: Soccer Book Publishing. pp. 8–16. ISBN 0-947808-66-3.