John Merfyn Jones (sometimes spelt as Mervyn) (30 April 1931 – 4 October 2016) was a Welsh professional footballer who played for, among others,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

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' ...

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

, Lincoln City and

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the English Football League, Football League i ...

. Jones was born in

Bangor, Gwynedd Bangor (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, north Wales. It is the oldest city in Wales. Historic counties of Wales, Historically part of Caernarfonshire, the community had a ...

, and as a left-winger was signed by Liverpool from his home-town club. He played three league games for Liverpool in the 1951–52 season, and another in November 1953. Five feet four inches (162 cm) tall, Jones was described as "one of the smallest men ever to feature at Liverpool" and made a "lively, almost cheeky" first team debut against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

in March 1952. Jones also played in Liverpool's infamous

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 ...

third round defeat at

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

in January 1953. After several seasons at Scunthorpe, he joined Crewe and famously scored one of lowly Crewe's two goals in a historic 2–2

Fourth Round tie against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

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 ...

on 30 January 1960. After retiring from football, he worked for 31 years as an estimator with Lincolnshire-based contractor

Clugston Group The Clugston Group was a privately owned business involved in construction and civil engineering, property development and logistics. It was based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. On 5 December 2019, the group and its construction busi ...

. His death, aged 85, was announced in October 2016.

References

External links

Mervyn Jones (1931–2016)
Bangor City FC * 1931 births 2016 deaths Footballers from Bangor, Gwynedd Men's association football wingers Welsh men's footballers Liverpool F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players English Football League players Bangor City F.C. players {{Wales-footy-midfielder-stub