Career
Born in Penyard near Merthyr Tydfil, Jones was part of a famous footballing family. He was one of five brothers to play professional football, along with Shoni, Ivor, Emlyn and Bert. He played for a variety of clubs as a youth, including Merthyr Amateurs, Glenavon and Aberaman Athletic, before signing for Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1933 for a fee of £1500.
In five years for Wolves he played 163 league matches.
He also appeared for Wales Amateurs. Jones"s exploits for Wolves earned the attention of George Allison"s, who were looking for a replacement for Alex James". paid a then British record fee of £14,000 to take him to Highbury in August 1938.
The enormous fee (for the time), coupled with the ongoing Great Depression, led to questions about its appropriateness being asked in the House of Commons. Jones got off to a dream start for, scoring on his debut against Portsmouth and then netting two more goals in the next three matches.
Bernard Joy, a team-mate of his and later a sportswriter, wrote in his history Forward !:
Jones served with the Royal Artillery during World World War II, and was aged 34 when competitive football resumed.
He left to become player-coach at Norwich City in 1949. He had played 76 matches for, scoring 8 goals. After his coaching spell at Norwich (1949-1951) he retired, and then ran a newsagents near "s Highbury ground.
He died in October 1985.