Iorweth Clifford Jenkins (born 11 December 1959) is a Welsh retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a defender in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings w ...

. He later dropped into

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is s ...

and held

managerial Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

roles at a number of clubs and associations in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

Club career

A defender, Jenkins began his career in the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if ...

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament const ...

and signed his first professional contract in 1978. He failed to make a senior appearance at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium) ...

and departed to join Third Division club

in November 1979. Despite being signed by

Bill Dodgin Jr. William Dodgin (4 November 1931 – 17 June 2000) was an English football player and manager. Club career Dodgin was born in Wardley, Gateshead, and was the son of footballer Bill Dodgin Sr. He began his career as an amateur, before signing f ...

, he failed to break into the team until the appointment of

Fred Callaghan Frederick John Callaghan (19 December 1944 – 13 September 2022) was an English professional footballer, who made over 290 appearances in the Football League for Fulham as a left back. After retiring as a player, Callaghan became a manager and ...

in April 1980. Jenkins made 17 appearances and scored one goal before departing

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

in January 1981. He dropped into

and joined

Alliance Premier League The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

club

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts ...

International career

Jenkins represented

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

at schoolboy level.

Coaching & managerial career

Jenkins held managerial roles at

non-League clubs

Rushden Town Rushden is a market town and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England, around east of Northampton. The parish is on the border with Bedfordshire, north of Bedford. The parish of Rushden covers an area of some . The population of Rushde ...

Wellingborough Town Wellingborough Town F.C. is a football club based in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England. They play in the United Counties Premier Division. The club was formed in 2004 after the previous club bearing the name had folded. History The ...

and Stewarts & Lloyds Corby. During the 2003–04 season, he managed the Northamptonshire FA representative youth team, before being appointed assistant manager at

United Counties League The United Counties League (also known after its sponsor as the ''Uhlsport United Counties League'') is an English football league covering Northamptonshire, Rutland and Bedfordshire and most of Leicestershire as well as parts of Buckingham ...

First Division club Irchester United in June 2004. He quickly moved on to join Rothwell Town as

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

manager the following month.

Personal life

When he quit professional football in January 1981, Jenkins joined the

Police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest a ...

. Jenkins' son Callum became a non-League footballer.

Career statistics

References

1959 births Living people Footballers from Neath Welsh men's footballers Brentford F.C. players English Football League players Chelsea F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players National League (English football) players Men's association football defenders Desborough Town F.C. players Rushden Town F.C. managers Wellingborough Town F.C. managers Stewarts & Lloyds Corby A.F.C. managers Welsh football managers Welsh police officers {{Wales-footy-defender-stub