| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael David Jones | ||
| Date of birth | (1945-04-24)24 April 1945 (age 80) | ||
| Place of birth | Shireoaks,Nottinghamshire, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft10+1⁄4 in (1.78 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Centre forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1962–1963 | Sheffield United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1963–1967 | Sheffield United | 149 | (63) |
| 1967–1975 | Leeds United | 220 | (77) |
| Total | 369 | (140) | |
| International career | |||
| 1965–1970 | England | 3 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Michael David Jones (born 24 April 1945) is an English formerfootballer who played ascentre forward withLeeds United during the 1960s and 1970s. He was alsocapped forEngland.
Jones was spotted playing local league football forDinnington Miners' Welfare, from where he went on to become an apprentice atSheffield United in 1961.[2] He graduated from the intermediate side through the Central League side before making his debut in a 1–1 draw againstManchester United atOld Trafford on 20 April 1963.[2] He scored his first two league goals in the next fixture, a 3–1 victory againstManchester City atMaine Road four days later, on his 18th birthday.[2] He made hisEngland debut in 1965 againstWest Germany atcentre forward.[2]
Jones scored 63 goals in 149 appearances for the Blades,[2] and had earned twocaps for England when he joinedLeeds United in September 1967 for £100,000,[3] prompting the Sheffield United manager,John Harris, to remark "it would be the biggest mistake the club had ever made".[2][3]
Leeds won theLeague Cup in his first season, although Jones did not feature in the campaign because he was cup-tied. Leeds also won theFairs Cup, with Jones scoring twice during the competition, including what turned out to be the winner in the final againstFerencvaros.[3] The first leg finished 1–0 thanks to Jones' goal and the second leg remained goalless to give Leeds the cup.[3]
The following season Leeds won theLeague championship with Jones scoring 14 goals, and then joined by fellow strikerAllan Clarke in 1969 to forge a strike partnership with Jones.[2]
Leeds pursued a possible "treble" of League title,FA Cup andEuropean Cup.Everton beat Leeds to the League title, andCeltic F.C. beat Leeds home and away in the European Cup semi-finals. In the FA Cup final againstChelsea atWembley, the game was 1–1 on a bumpy, sandy pitch (due to theHorse of the Year show being held there the previous week). with fewer than ten minutes to play. Jones fired a left foot shot into the net beyond Peter Bonetti.[3] Chelsea, however, equalised quickly so the contest went to a replay atOld Trafford. Leeds took the lead in the first half, when a run by Clarke set Jones on his way towards goal, and he hit right foot shot past Bonetti.[3] Chelsea, however, ended up winning after extra time and Leeds ended the season trophyless.[3]
In 1972, Leeds beat Arsenal 1–0 in the Centenary FA Cup Final with Jones setting up Clarke for the only goal of the game.[3] However, Jones suffered adislocatedelbow in the last minute of the game after landing awkwardly from an innocuous and accidental clash with the Arsenal goalkeeper, Geoff Barnett.[3] Jones was assisted by Norman Hunter, up to the Royal Box to collect his F.A. Cup winners medal.[3] The injury however, meant Jones missed the League title decider away toWolves just two days later which Wolves won 2–1. The defeat cost Leeds the Division 1 championship title toDerby County by a single point. Perhaps his finest performance of the1971–72 season came on 19 February 1972, when he scored a hat-trick againstManchester United in a 5–1 league win atElland Road.[4]
In a 29-match unbeaten run at the start of the next season, Jones bagged 14 goals as Leeds won the title, but he was now beginning to have problems with one of his knees and spent the summer of 1974 having intensivephysiotherapy. In early 1975, he began playing reserve football again, but in constant pain.Joe Jordan took the number nine shirt. The team (despite Revie's departure in the summer to take over theEngland job) reached its first European Cup final, Jones was a spectator who did not figure in the team all season. He watched as Leeds lost the European Cup final toBayern Munich and then retired at the age of 30, unable to beat his knee problem.[2] His Leeds career ended with 111 goals from 312 appearances. Allan Clarke, Jones' strike partner, admitted that it was never the same for him after Jones retired.[5]
Jones played three matches as acentre forward forEngland, all friendlies, between 1965 and 1970.[6] He played his international debut on 12 May 1965, when he was aged 20, England beating West Germany 1–0.[6] He played his second game for his country whilst still atSheffield United in a 2–1 victory for England over Sweden at theUllevi Stadium,Gothenburg on 16th May 1965.[6] His third and last match for the Three Lions was on 14 January 1970, whilst atLeeds United, in a 0–0 draw with the Netherlands.[6]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Sheffield United | 1962–63 | First Division | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 6 | 4 | ||
| 1963–64 | First Division | 23 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | 28 | 8 | ||
| 1964–65 | First Division | 39 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 43 | 17 | |||
| 1965–66 | First Division | 40 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 1 | 1 | 43 | 22 | ||
| 1966–67 | First Division | 33 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | – | 2 | 2 | 43 | 21 | ||
| 1967–68 | First Division | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 9 | 4 | |||
| Total | 149 | 63 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 1 | – | 5 | 3 | 172 | 76 | |||
| Leeds United | 1967–68[7] | First Division | 25 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8[a] | 2 | – | 38 | 12 | |
| 1968–69[7] | First Division | 40 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8[a] | 1 | – | 53 | 17 | ||
| 1969–70[7] | First Division | 32 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8[b] | 8 | 1[c] | 0 | 53 | 26 | |
| 1970–71[7] | First Division | 40 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9[a] | 1 | – | 53 | 10 | ||
| 1971–72[7] | First Division | 24 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 30 | 13 | ||
| 1972–73[7] | First Division | 28 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6[d] | 3 | – | 46 | 16 | ||
| 1973–74[7] | First Division | 31 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3[e] | 2 | – | 39 | 17 | ||
| Total[8] | 220 | 77 | 36 | 12 | 14 | 5 | 42 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 313 | 111 | ||
| Total | 369 | 140 | 47 | 21 | 21 | 6 | 42 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 485 | 187 | ||
Leeds United
Individual
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)