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 lea ...

who played as a defender in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

. 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 ...

and held

managerial Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

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 Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

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 if they show en ...

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 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), in ...

and departed to join Third Division club

in November 1979. Despite being signed by Bill Dodgin Jr., 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 association football, 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 was in a predominantly resi ...

in January 1981. He dropped into

and joined

Alliance Premier League The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South. The National League ...

club

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Latimer Park. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in 1976, and have ...

International career

Jenkins represented

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

at schoolboy level.

Coaching & managerial career

Jenkins held managerial roles at

non-League clubs

Rushden Town Rushden Town F.C. was a football club from Rushden, England. Founded in 1889, the club merged with Irthlingborough Diamonds to form Rushden & Diamonds in 1992. Nicknamed "the Russians", the club played at Hayden Road. History The club was foun ...

, Wellingborough Town 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 ''GCE Hire Fleet Ltd. United Counties League'') is an England, English association football, football league covering an area including the English Counties of the United Kingdom, ...

First Division club

Irchester United Irchester United Football Club is a football club based in the village of Irchester, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Alfred Street. History The club was established as Irchester Excelsior in 1883, befo ...

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 who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

manager the following month.

Personal life

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

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

. 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