Leslie Jones (footballer)

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Leslie Jones
Personal information
Full name	Leslie Jenkin Jones
Date of birth	June 1, 1911(1911-06-01)
Place of birth	Aberdare, Wales
Date of death	January 1981
Playing position	Forward
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
?-1929 1929-1934 1934-1937 1937-1946 1946 1946-1948 1948-1949	Aberdare Athletic Cardiff City Coventry City Arsenal Swansea Town Barry Town Brighton & Hove Albion	00? 0(?) 142 (31) 138 (70) 046 0(3) 002 0(0) 00? 0(?) 003 0(0)
National team
	Wales	011 0(?)
Teams managed
1946-1948 1950-1951	Barry Town (player-manager) Scunthorpe United
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Leslie Jenkin Jones (born 1 July 1911 in Aberdare, died January 1981) is a former Welsh professional footballer

[edit] Career

As a youngster Jones began his career at his local side Aberdare Athletic, while also working at his fathers butchers shop, before signing for Cardiff City in 1929, He made his debut in a 1-0 defeat during a South Wales derby against Swansea Town. Despite Cardiff struggling and falling down the league during his time there he scored 31 goals in 142 league games. He eventually moved to Coventry City in January 1934 and went on to score 27 goals in his first full season for the club, which earnt him the first of his eleven caps for Wales. His impressive scoring record at Highfield Road - seventy goals in 138 games - meant Jones attracted interest from various clubs and Coventry managed to resist a £7,000 offer from Tottenham Hotspur but couldnt resist an even higher offer from Arsenal in 1937.

Jones made his Arsenal debut against Grimsby Town on November 6, 1937, scoring in a 2-1 defeat, and he helped the club to a league title in the 1937-38 season;^[1] Jones played as a withdrawn inside forward for Arsenal and consequently scored fewer goals – just three in 31 appearances that season. He won a Charity Shield medal the following season but his career at Arsenal was limited due to the outbreak of World War II; during the war he served in the Royal Air Force but still found time to play 71 wartime games and five wartime internationals for Wales. By the time the war ended, he was 35 and his final game for Arsenal was against West Ham United in the FA Cup on January 9, 1946. In total he played 50 times for the club, scoring three goals.

He was released by Arsenal on a free transfer in 1946 and joined Swansea Town as a player-coach. His stay at the Vetch Field was short and he left to take over as player-manager at non-league side Barry Town before returning to the Football League with his final club, Brighton & Hove Albion, before retiring.

In June 1950 he was appointed manager of Scunthorpe United, becoming the clubs first Football League manager and guided them to a twelfth place finish in their first season in the League. Towards the end of the season his relationship with the board detioriated and he resigned at the end of the season.^[2]

[edit] References

v • d • e Scunthorpe United F.C. – Managers Allcock (1915–36) • Crilly (1936–37) • Allcock (1937–46) • Harper (1946–48) • Allcock (1948–50) • Jones (1950–51) • Corkhill (1952–56) • Suart (1956–58) • McShane (1958–59) • Lambton (1959) • Soo (1959–60) • Duckworth (1960–64) • Goodwin (1964–67) • Ashman (1967–73) • Bradley (1973–74) • Roots (1974–76) • Ashman (1976–81) • Duncan (1981–83) • Clarke (1983–84) • Barlow (1984–87) • Buxton (1987–91) • Green (1991–93) • Money (1993–94) • Moore (1994–96) • Buxton (1996–97) • Laws (1997–2004) • Wilcox (2004) • Laws (2004–06) • Adkins (2006–)