Career
He lives in Quorn, near Loughborough, Leicestershire, and works as a referee assessor. He would then go on to officiate in the North Leicestershire League, Midland Intermediate League (dissolved 1988) and eventually the Southern League. He was promoted to the Football League list of referees in 1988, and he progressed to the FA Premier League list of referees in 1994.
In 1996 Jones became a Fédération internationale de football association referee, where he gained wide international experience.
At the end of the same season, he was appointed to control the Football League Cup Final between Chelsea and Middlesbrough on 29 March 1998, also at Wembley, the "Blues" being victorious by 2 goals to nil (Frank Sinclair and Roberto Di Matteo both scoring in extra time). On 13 February 1999, Jones was involved in an incident which caused an unprecedented decision to be taken, regarding the ordering of a match to be replayed in its entirety.
He was officiating in the FA Cup fifth round tie involving Arsenal and Sheffield United at Highbury. The score was locked at 1-1 when an away team player was injured, and a team-mate kicked the ball out of play (as is an accepted convention) for a throw-in to Arsenal.
Overmars promptly scored, to make the final result 2-1 to the home side.
He was also the referee for the competition Final of the same year, where Manchester United defeated Newcastle United 2-0, the goals coming from Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes. In the year 2000, he accepted a Master of Arts, honoris causa (Honorary Graduand), degree from Professor John Dawkins at Loughborough University. On 19 April 2001, he began to help promote the Scout Survival Skills Badge, in conjunction with a leading sports whistle manufacturer.
He is a former Cub Scout himself.
On 27 April 2002, he took charge of his final game on the Premiership referees" list, between Tottenham and Liverpool, which ended 1-0 to "Spurs" courtesy of a goal by Gus Poyet. In the same year, he travelled with other officials to Kabul, Afghanistan, to referee an ISAF team versus an Afghan Representative team, named "Kabul United", on 15 February, after cessation of hostilities.
Since the year 2003, he has officiated in the national six-a-side tournaments called Masters Football, referees for which are FA endorsed. This competition features ex-professional football players chosen by the PFA, and is televised on Sky television In his working capacity with Leicester City Football Club, he has been involved in the "Foxes Against Racism" Campaign 2003-2004, and the "National Literacy Trust" since 2006.
