 Jones at AFC Bournemouth in 2020 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Graeme Anthony Jones[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1970-03-13)13 March 1970 (age 55)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Gateshead, England | ||
| Position | Forward[1] | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Newcastle United (Assistant Manager) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1991–1992 | North Shields | ? | |
| 1992–1993 | Bridlington Town | 67 | (21) |
| 1993–1996 | Doncaster Rovers | 92 | (26) |
| 1996–1999 | Wigan Athletic | 96 | (44) |
| 1999–2002 | St Johnstone | 41 | (7) |
| 2002–2003 | Southend United | 21 | (2) |
| 2003–2004 | Boston United | 36 | (7) |
| 2004–2005 | Bury | 3 | (1) |
| 2005 | Clyde | 13 | (2) |
| 2005–2006 | Hamilton Academical | 13 | (3) |
| Total | 315 | (113) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2019–2020 | Luton Town | ||
| 2021 | Newcastle United (caretaker) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Graeme Anthony Jones (born 13 March 1970) is an English professionalfootball manager and former player who works as the joint assistant atNewcastle United along withJason Tindall.
His playing career, which spanned the years 1991 to 2006, included spells as aforward atNorth Shields,Bridlington Town,Doncaster Rovers,Wigan Athletic,St Johnstone,Southend United,Boston United,Bury,Clyde andHamilton Academical.
He went into coaching in 2007, when he became the assistant manager ofSwansea City. Jones is notable as being the assistant toRoberto Martínez between 2007 and 2018, with spells at Swansea,Wigan Athletic,Everton and theBelgium national team. After leaving Belgium in 2018, he worked as assistant manager toDarren Moore atWest Bromwich Albion, a role he held until March 2019. Jones was appointed to his first managerial position at newly promoted Championship clubLuton Town in May 2019. He left the position in April 2020, going on to serve in assistant coaching roles atBournemouth andNewcastle United.
Born inGateshead,[1] Jones, a lifelong Newcastle United fan began his career in 1991 withNorth Shields, moving toBridlington Town in 1992, before earning a £10,000 move toDoncaster Rovers. He then joinedWigan Athletic in 1996, after scoring 30 goals in three years at Doncaster. He became an instant success with the Latics, scoring 31 league goals in his first season, which remains a Wigan record to this day. He also got a total of four hat-tricks this season. Jones went on to score 18 goals in the next two seasons, before joining Scottish sideSt Johnstone, on a £100,000 deal. Whilst at Wigan, he also helped them win the1998–99 Football League Trophy, for the final of which he was an unused substitute.[2]
Jones scored on his debut for St Johnstone, but his time with Saints was disrupted by injury. He returned to England in 2002 to sign forSouthend United.[3] He joinedBoston United in 2003,[4] before signing forBury in 2004,[5] where he scored on his debut againstYeovil Town.[6] He also had injury problems at Bury, and after only three appearances in six months, he returned to Scotland to joinClyde.[7] After scoring the winning goal on his debut, he found the net on one more occasion for the Bully Wee, before he joinedHamilton Academical in July 2006. Jones was forced to retire in March 2006 due to injury, and became assistant manager at Accies.[8]
In March 2007, Jones joined the coaching staff of then-League One sideSwansea City, becoming the new assistant manager of recently appointed head coachRoberto Martínez.[9] He followed Martínez toWigan Athletic in June 2009, where he spent a period of four seasons working alongside Martínez, during which time Wigan Athletic won the 2013 FA Cup.[10]
2012 saw Jones linked to the vacant managerial position at former side Swansea City after the departure ofBrendan Rodgers, who left to take charge ofLiverpool.[11] However, talks between Jones and the club broke down, withMichael Laudrup subsequently taking over at theLiberty Stadium.[11]Championship clubBurnley later expressed their interest in appointing Jones as their new manager as successor toEddie Howe, in which Martínez admitted he was "not worried" with the recent speculation; no move was materialised and the job went toSean Dyche.[12]
In July 2013, Jones relocated once again toEverton, continuing as assistant manager to Martínez, after Wigan were relegated from thePremier League.[10] He left upon Martínez's sacking in May 2016,[13] before being announced as Martínez's assistant coach of theBelgium national team in August,[14] working alongside formerArsenal playerThierry Henry.[15]
After huge speculation regarding Jones' future as Belgium coach, having been linked with various managerial positions within previous months, on 1 August 2018, it was announced that Jones would join newly relegatedChampionship clubWest Bromwich Albion as assistant coach to recently appointed head coachDarren Moore, which resulted in him leaving his position with Belgium, after a two-year spell, with this move meaning that this was the first time that Jones had not coached alongside Martínez for the first time since the beginning of his coaching career in 2007.[16] On 10 March 2019, he was relieved from his duties with immediate effect, shortly following the dismissal of Moore, after a negative run of results.[17]
On 2 May 2019, it was confirmed that Jones had agreed to become the new permanent manager of newly promotedChampionship clubLuton Town, signing onto a three-year contract, taking effect from 7 May.[18] Jones replacedcaretaker managerMick Harford,[19] who had been in charge of the club from January whilst they were inLeague One,[20] going on to finish as divisional champions,[21] after their previous managerNathan Jones left to take charge ofStoke City in the Championship.[22] During the off-season, Jones brought in six new additions to his squad, includingMartin Cranie,Callum McManaman,Ryan Tunnicliffe,Brendan Galloway,Simon Sluga andJacob Butterfield.[23][24][25][26][27][28] His first game as a manager came on 2 August, a 3–3 thriller againstMiddlesbrough.[29] However, by the end of 2019, Luton were sat 23rd in the Championship, sitting in the relegation zone.[30] On 24 April 2020, with football suspended due to theCOVID-19 pandemic and having achieved only 10 league wins all season, leaving the club lying in 23rd and in the relegation zone, Jones left his post by mutual consent.[31]
In August 2020, Jones returned to assistant coaching, when he was appointed as a first-team coach atAFC Bournemouth under newly appointed managerJason Tindall.[32] He left in January 2021 in order to take up the same role atPremier League sideNewcastle United as part ofSteve Bruce's backroom staff.[33] On 25 May 2021, it was confirmed that Jones would joinGareth Southgate'sEngland coaching staff for the duration ofUEFA Euro 2020.[34]
Newcastle weretaken over by a new Saudi-led consortium in October 2021, and on 20 October Bruce left his position by mutual consent. Jones was subsequently appointed as interim head coach for the following match againstCrystal Palace and remained in charge for the next two fixtures against Chelsea and Brighton.[35]Eddie Howe was subsequently appointed as the club's new permanent head coach, with Jones returning to his previous role as a first-team coach.[36]
Jones' wife, Debbie, is fromStockton-on-Tees; she and her family support local football teamMiddlesbrough.[37]
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Luton Town | 7 May 2019 | 24 April 2020 | 41 | 12 | 5 | 24 | 029.3 |
| Newcastle United (interim) | 20 October 2021 | 8 November 2021 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 000.0 |
| Total | 44 | 12 | 7 | 25 | 027.3 | ||
Individual
