Murray Jones

Murray Jones
Personal information
Full nameMurray Lee Jones[1]
Date of birth7 October 1964
Place of birthBexley, England
Playing positionStriker
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
Southend United
1986–1987Croydon
1987–1989Carshalton Athletic
1989–1990Crystal Palace0(0)
Bristol City0(0)
1990→ Doncaster Rovers (loan)5(0)
Exeter City20(3)
1991–1992Grimsby Town28(3)
1992–1993Brentford16(0)
1993–1994Sittingbourne
1994Guangdong Hongyuan12(3)
1994–1995Farnborough Town19(2)
1995–1996Frankwell
1996–1997Welling United4(0)
1997–1998Sutton United
Teams managed
Crystal Palace (reserves)
2005Crawley Town (reserves)
2005Crawley Town (caretaker)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Murray Jones is a retired English professional football striker, coach and manager who played in the Football League for Grimsby Town, Exeter City, Brentford and Doncaster Rovers.[1] He is currently Queens Park Rangers U15 assistant coach.

Playing career

Early years

Jones began his career in the youth system at Football League club Southend United, but was released without making an appearance.[1] He dropped into non-league football and starred for Isthmian League Premier Division sides Croydon and Carshalton Athletic.

Crystal Palace

Jones signed for Division One club Crystal Palace during the 1989/90 season, but failed to make an appearance before departing at the end of the season.

Bristol City

Jones dropped down to Division Two to sign for Bristol City in 1990. He failed to make a first team appearance while at Ashton Gate and departed the club during the 1990/91 season.

Doncaster Rovers (loan)

Jones finally made his professional debut while on loan at Division Four club Doncaster Rovers in October 1990.[2] He made five appearances during his spell.

Exeter City

Jones moved to join Division Three side Exeter City during the 1990/91 season and scored three goals in 20 league appearances before departing at the end of the campaign.

Grimsby Town

Jones impressed newly promoted Division Two club Grimsby Town sufficiently for the Mariners to pay £50000 for his services in the summer of 1991. Jones failed to deliver, scoring only three goals in 28 league appearances during the 1991/92 season.

Brentford

Jones signed for newly promoted Division One club Brentford in a £75000 deal in July 1992,[3] as a replacement for the departed Dean Holdsworth.[1] He struggled to hold down a place in the team and failed to score in 20 appearances before being released after the Bees' relegation back to Division Two was confirmed at the end of the 1992/93 season.[1] Jones' failure to replace Dean Holdsworth's goals in Brentford's only season in the second tier between 1954 and 2013 has seen him named as the club's worst-ever signing.[4][5]

Sittingbourne

Jones signed for Southern League Premier Division side Sittingbourne during the 1993/94 season.[1]

Guangdong Hongyuan

Jones was one of five English players to move to China to sign for Jia-A League side Guangdong Hongyuan for the 1994 season, the inaugural campaign of professional football in the country.[1] He appeared in 12 of the side's 22 league matches, scoring three goals.

Farnborough Town

Jones returned to England to sign for Conference club Farnborough Town in late 1994. He made 19 appearances and scored two goals during the 1994/95 season.

Frankwell

Jones returned to the Far East to sign for Hong Kong First Division League side Frankwell for the 1995/96 season.[6] He failed to inspire the team to more than a mid-table finish.

Return to non-league football

Jones closed out his career back in non-league football in England with Welling United and Sutton United.

Management and coaching career

Crystal Palace

Jones returned to Crystal Palace as a member of the club's academy staff in 1998. He held the positions of U17, U19 and reserve team manager before departing in 2005.

Crawley Town

Jones joined Conference side Crawley Town as first team coach and reserve team manager prior to the start of the 2005/06 season. He was promoted to assistant manager in September 2005, after the sacking of Dave Swindlehurst.[7] The sacking of first team manager Francis Vines the following month saw Jones named as caretaker manager, but he departed the club by mutual consent on 26 October, having yet to preside over a match.[7]

Reading

Jones coached at Championship side Reading's academy during the 2005/06 season.

Fulham

Jones joined Premier League side Fulham as an academy coach in June 2006. He served in the U12, U13 and U14 managerial positions before leaving at the end of the 2010/11 season.

Bromley

In tandem with his role at Fulham, Jones was academy manager at Conference South side Bromley between July 2007 and June 2012. He was also first team boss Mark Goldberg's assistant manager during the 2011/12 season.[8]

Brighton & Hove Albion

Between June and December 2012, Jones coaching Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion's U12, U13, U14 and U15 academy players and held the role of U16 manager.

Queens Park Rangers

Jones joined Premier League club Queens Park Rangers as an academy coach in February 2013, assisting U15 coach Fitzroy Lewinson.[9]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920-2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 89. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  2. ↑ "Murray Jones profile". Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  3. ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/sport-in-short-football-1535003.html
  4. ↑ "Football Club History Database - Brentford". Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Nat backs Ladies' Day". SkySports. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "Season of promise looks good for fans". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "BBC SPORT - Football - My Club - Crawley Town - Jones makes mutual Crawley exit". Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  8. ↑ Paul Green. "Goldberg excited by Bromley return". News Shopper. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "QPR Contacts and Directory". Retrieved 2 January 2015.