414: Paul Jones, Southampton, Merlin’s Premier League 98 Official Sticker Collection

Emlyn Jones takes us through the career of another Welsh goalkeeping great today. The more eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed that we’ve got into the habit of making links back to earlier posts at any given opportunity. It’s almost as if our admiration for the song writing of Craig Finn and Dan Campbell has leaked into our blogging. Emlyn comfortably takes this self-referencing to new heights below. Enjoy.

 

“No matter how good you are at something, there's always about a million people better than you.” Homer Simpson.

 

There are plenty of players that played surprisingly few international games; we've written previously about the likes of Gary Charles and Matt Le Tissier, who struggled with playing at the same time as Paul Parker and Lee Dixon in Charles' case and, er... Carlton Palmer in Le Tissier's. After all, you can always transfer to another club, but your choice of international team is usually limited to your place of birth, or questionable relatives; whether that means representing Ireland despite being from Kent, or having the opportunity to play for Ghana - even if you've never visited.

 

It's hard enough for strikers or midfielders to break into the side, but vying for a single spot on the pitch makes being a goalkeeper all the tougher. Rich has already written about Mark Crossley having spent a number of years playing during the career of Neville Southall, and today I want to discuss another man who had to wait for his opportunity for Wales; Paul Jones.

Jones eventually made his Wales debut in 1997, having recently turned 30; although not his debut, he also replaced Southall at half-time in the great man's final game, a genuine passing of the torch moment. Jones would go on to play until age 39 for Wales, winning 50 caps. He marked the occasion of his fiftieth, and final, cap with a Welsh Dragon and '50' shaved into his hair. Unfortunately, Wales lost 5-1 to Slovakia in this game, but it did look snazzy.

 

The biggest game of his international career came when Wales were drawn against Russia in the play-offs for Euro 2004, and a first leg goalless draw in Moscow meant a win in Cardiff would see Wales qualify. Sadly, a 1-0 loss put paid to this. It later transpired that Russian midfielder, Igor Titov, had failed a drugs test after the first game, but was retained in the side for the second. He subsequently received a one-year ban, but despite a complaint lodged by the FAW to have the result annulled, the response mirrored that which followed Thierry Henry's handball six years later. It would be another twelve years until Wales were finally able to grace an international tournament.

 

Jones' club career began with stints at Bridgnorth Town and Kidderminster Harriers, which led to a move to Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he stayed for five years. Desire for first team football resulted in a move to Stockport County, before he followed manager Dave Jones to Southampton. He was named player of the season in his first year and retained the no.1 jersey until the arrival of Antti Niemi. From then on, Jones was often a substitute, becoming the first 'keeper to be subbed on in an FA Cup final. However, in 2004, a goalkeeping emergency occurred at Liverpool. With Jerzy Dudek and Chris Kirkland injured, boss Gerard Houllier decided to take the then 36-year-old Jones on loan. Although only at the club for 21 days, Jones looks back fondly on his time with a club he had admired from over the border in his Chirk youth. After starting two games, and with the injury crisis over, the offer of a permanent contract at Wolves saw Jones move back to his former club. He subsequently played in further loan spells with Watford and Millwall before a successful year at QPR, before retiring at Bognor Regis. He no doubt looks back proudly on his 50 caps, and a dream spell at Liverpool – even if he did have to wait a while for both.