Keith Aubrey Jones (born 14 October 1965) is an English 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 ...

, best remembered for his time as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

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 ...

with

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 ...

and

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

. He also played for

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

, Chelsea,

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and was capped by England at

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

level. He later became a youth and women's coach.

Club career

Chelsea and Brentford (1983–1991)

, Jones began his career in the Chelsea

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 ...

and made his senior debut in a 3–0

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 ...

defeat to

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

on 26 March 1983. After one further appearance late in the 1982–83 season, he returned to the youth team and would not appear again until 1984–85, by which time the Blues had been promoted to the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

. Injuries allowed Jones to break through into the team in September 1984 and he remained a squad player until September 1987, when he dropped down to the Third Division to join

for a tribunal-fixed fee of £40,000. By the beginning of the 1988–89 season, Jones had been appointed club

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and was a part of the Bees teams which reached the sixth round of the 1988–89

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

and the 1991 Third Division play-off semi-finals. His efforts during the 1990–91 season were recognised with his inclusion in the Third Division

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

. In October 1991, a contract dispute with manager

Phil Holder Philip Holder (born 19 January 1952) is an English former association football player and manager. As player, he made more than 150 appearances in the Football League representing Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace and AFC Bournemouth, and play ...

saw Jones transfer to Second Division

for a tribunal-fixed fee of £175,000.

Southend United, Charlton Athletic and Reading (1991–2002)

Despite making over 100 appearances for the club, Jones' four years with Southend United yielded little success on the pitch and he transferred to First Division rivals

for a £150,000 fee in September 1994. In just under six years at The Valley, he was a part of two teams which won promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

– the first in 1998 after victory in the First Division play-off final and the second two years later, when the club won the First Division title. Jones was transfer-listed in May 2000 and signed a two-year contract with Second Division club

on a free transfer on 1 July 2000. Now the twilight years of his career, Jones was utilised as a squad player and was a part of the team which won automatic promotion to the First Division on the final day of the 2001–02 season. He was released in May 2002 and retired from football.

International career

Jones was capped by England at schoolboy and

U17 U17 or U-17 may refer to: Naval vessels * * , various vessels * , a submarine of the Austro-Hungarian Navy Other uses * Cessna U-17 Skywagon, an American utility aircraft * Nonconvex great rhombicuboctahedron In geometry, the nonconvex g ...

level.

Coaching career

Jones began his coaching career in 2000, while still a player. He coached at Chelsea and

Tooting & Mitcham United Tooting & Mitcham United Football Club is an association football club based in the London Borough of Merton. They are currently members of the and play at Imperial Fields in Morden. Their nickname is "the Terrors" or "the Stripes". History ...

, before moving to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 2006 to coach

Atlanta Silverbacks Women Atlanta Silverbacks Women was an American women's soccer team that played from 2005 until 2016. The team played in the USL W-League from 2005 until the league folded after the 2015 season. For the 2016 season they played in the Women's Premier S ...

. Jones moved to

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youth club SC del Sol in 2009.

Career statistics

Honours

As a player

Charlton Athletic *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

: 1999–2000 *

Football League First Division play-offs The English Football League (EFL) Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-of ...

: 1997–98 Reading *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

second-place promotion: 2001–02 Individual * PFA Football League Third Division Team of the Year: 1990–91 * Football League Young Eagle of the Month: December 1984

As a manager

Atlanta Silverbacks Women *

USL W-League USL W-League may refer to: * USL W League * USL W-League (1995–2015) The USL W-League was a North American amateur women's soccer developmental organization. The league was a semi-professional, open league, giving college players the oppor ...

Central Conference:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

* USL W-League Atlantic Division: 2007

As an individual

* USL W-League Coach of the Year: 2007

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Keith 1965 births Living people Brentford F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Chelsea F.C. non-playing staff English men's footballers Footballers from the London Borough of Southwark People from Dulwich Premier League players Reading F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Men's association football midfielders English Football League players England men's youth international footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer coaches in the United States English women's football managers Black British sportsmen English expatriate football managers English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States