Rob Jones
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| Rob Jones | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Marc Jones | |
| Date of birth | November 5, 1971 (age 35) | |
| Place of birth | Wrexham, Wales | |
| Playing position | Defender | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1987-1991 1991-1999 1999 |
Crewe Alexandra Liverpool West Ham |
75 (2) 215 (0) 0 (0) |
| National team | ||
| 1992-1995 | England | 8 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Robert Marc Jones (born November 5, 1971 in Wrexham, Wales) was an English international footballer who made his name whilst he was with Liverpool.
Contents |
[edit] Playing career
Rob began his career with Crewe Alexandra, the club that has produced the likes of Dean Ashton, Seth Johnson, Robbie Savage (Crewe had him until Manchester United offered him a chance to join their academy), and Danny Murphy and changed the careers of David Platt,Geoff Thomas, Neil Lennon, Bruce Grobbelaar, Craig Hignett, Ashley Ward and Stan Bowles.
Jones signed professional forms at the age of 17 on the 20th December 1988 whilst Crewe were in Barclays Division 4 but by the end of the season Crewe had finished 3rd gaining promotion to Division 3.
The right-back settled quickly, quietly going about his defensive duties until being spotted during the 1991/92 season , accidently, by Liverpool manager Graeme Souness who was at Gresty Road looking at a diferent player. Jones' performance was so good that it prompted Souness to act straight away, he put in an offer of £300,000 which was accepted, so on the 4th October 1991, a month before his 20th birthday, he became a Liverpool player.
Rob had grown up a Liverpool supporter mainly due to the fact that his grandfather, Bill Jones had played for the Reds between 1938 and 1954 and was part of the squad that won the first post-war championship in 1947, so the chance to play for his boyhood heroes was a dream come true.
Jones could not have asked for a more intense debut for the Reds which came on the 6th October '91 just 48 hours after he had signed on at Anfield. Bitter rivals Man United were playing host to the Reds at Old Trafford with the exciting young talent Ryan Giggs on the left flank in outstanding form. No matter what Giggs tried Jones had the answer and totally marked the Welshman out of the game, earning plaudits from everyone within the football world at the same time.
His dream move to Liverpool just kept on getting better as by the end of the season he had gained his first international cap and had helped the Reds to the final of the FA Cup at Wembley, a final that saw Liverpool beat Sunderland 2-0.
At Liverpool, he was nicknamed Trigger, after the dim-witted Only Fools and Horses character and over the next 4 seasons Trigger was a regular member of the Liverpool starting line-up, he was also in the sides that beat Bolton Wanderers 2-1 in the 1995 Coca-Cola League Cup final and that lost 1-0 to Man United in the 1996 FA Cup final. During this period he established himself as one of the best full-backs in the country, alongside United's Gary Neville the man he was in direct competition with for the full-back berth at international level.
Liverpool then signed midfielder Jason McAteer who arrived in 1995, Roy Evans then converted McAteer to full-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. Liverpool produced some great football during this time, but were always in the role of nearly men. 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 February 1998 he played what was to be his last game for Liverpool. An injury in his left knee couldn't be fixed, despite three operations, and at the end of the 1998-99 season, in which he hadn't played a game, he was released on a free transfer. he had played 243 times for the Reds but never scored a goal, a fact that didn't go unnoticed as Sky Sports saturday morning football fanzine programme Soccer am kept pointing it out
He joined West Ham United, on non-contract terms, on the 17th July 1999, and featured for them in a single Intertoto Cup game, but it was clear that the knee injury had left him unable to play and he retired on the 28th August 1999 aged just 27.
At international level Jones could have played for Wales, as he had been born in Wrexham, but it was Graham Taylor who selected him and gave him his International debut for England in the 2-0 win over France at Wembley on the 19th February 1992. Injury forced Rob to miss the 1992 European Championships when many thought he would be the first choice right-back. Jones went on to win 8 international caps, a tally that would have been much greater but for the injuries. He never featured in the finals of an international tournament.
Currently running a children's nursery in Warrington, Cheshire Trigger will always have a soft spot in many Liverpool supporters hearts, this was confirmed during the summer of 2006 he was voted in at No.60 in the poll 100 Players Who Shook The Kop. The poll, which was conducted by the official Liverpool Football Club web site, saw more than 110,000 Reds worldwide vote for their top 10 favourite Liverpool players of all time.
[edit] Career Honours
[edit] Honours As Player
[edit] 
Crewe Alexandra
Third Place (Promotion)
- 1988-1989 Football League Fourth Division (Level 4)
[edit] Liverpool
Winner
- 1991-92 FA Cup
- 1994-95 League Cup
Runner Up
- 1995-96 FA Cup
