Keith Jones (23 October 1928 – 25 August 2007) was a Welsh international

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 ...

. A

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

, he made 295 league appearances in a 13-year career 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 ...

and won one

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for

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 ...

in 1949. He spent May 1946 to July 1957 at

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and made 199 appearances in all competitions, though he was usually the club's second-choice goalkeeper. He was sold on to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

for £3,500 and helped the "Valiants" to win the Fourth Division title in 1958–59. He moved on to

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

in April 1959 before leaving the club the following year.

Club career

Jones played for Stourport Swifts,

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

, and

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

, before signing with

in May 1946. As Joe Rutherford's understudy, he did not feature in 1946–47, but made 19 appearances in 1947–48, as the "Villans" posted a sixth-place finish in 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 ...

. He played 13 games in 1948–49 and ten games in 1949–50 as Villa finished 10th and 12th in

manager 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 ...

Alex Massie's last seasons in charge. Jones remained the club's back-up goalkeeper under new boss

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

, playing 15, 11 and 20 matches respectively, as Villa finished 15th in 1950–51, sixth in 1951–52, and 11th in 1952–53. New boss

Eric Houghton William Eric Houghton (29 June 1910 – 1 May 1996) was an English footballer and manager. Eric Houghton was born in Billingborough, Lincolnshire, and educated at Donington Grammar School. Houghton signed for Aston Villa as a seventeen-year- ...

then made Jones the club's regular custodian, as he featured 34, 41 and 35 times respectively as Villa finished 13th in 1953–54, sixth in 1954–55 and 20th in 1955–56. However, he played just the one game in 1956–57 as Villa finished tenth.

Nigel Sims David Nigel Sims (9 August 1931 – 6 January 2018) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa and Peterborough United in the 1950s and 1960s. Sims was born at Coton in ...

was the goalkeeper in the 1957 FA Cup final victory over

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. In eleven years at

Villa Park Villa Park is a association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...

, Jones played 185 league and 14

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 ...

games. He was sold to

in July 1957 for £3,500. He went straight into the first-team, ahead of back-up 'keeper John Poole, and made 46 appearances in 1957–58, the last ever season of

Third Division South The Third Division South of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

football. However, by December 1958 he had lost his place in the team to

Ken Hancock Kenneth Paul Hancock (25 November 1937 – 27 April 2025) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was the younger brother of Ray Hancock, who also played as a goalkeeper. Hancock made 442 league appearances in a 15-year caree ...

, and was transferred to nearby

in April 1959.

Norman Low Norman Harvey Low (23 March 1914 – 21 May 1994) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the son of Scottish international footballer, Wilf Low. A central defender, he played for Newcastle United between 1931 and 1933, before three ...

's "Valiants" went on to finish as champions of the newly created Fourth Division in 1958–59.

Harry Ware Harry Ware (22 October 1911 – 28 October 1970) was an English football player and manager. A forward, he played for Newcastle United, Norwich City, Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke City and managed Crewe Alexandra and Northwich Victoria. Playin ...

's "Railwaymen" struggled near the football of the

in 1958–59 and 1959–60. After that point, Jones departed

Gresty Road Gresty Road or the Alexandra Stadium, currently known as the Mornflake Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The home ground of Crewe Alexandra, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153. History C ...

International career

Jones received his sole

on 9 November 1949, in a 2–0 defeat to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

Career statistics

Honours

Port Vale *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier ...

: 1958–59

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Keith 1928 births 2007 deaths Welsh men's footballers Wales men's international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Stourport Swifts F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players English Football League players 20th-century Welsh sportsmen