Miguel Jones Castillo (; 27 October 1938 – 8 April 2020) was a Spanish

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

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 ...

for

SD Indautxu Sociedad Deportiva Indautxu is a Spanish football club based in Bilbao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1924, it plays in , holding home games at ''Campo Iparralde''. Apart from football, the club also promotes other ...

and

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

during the 1950s and 1960s.

Early life

Although born in

Spanish Guinea Spanish Guinea () was a set of Insular Region (Equatorial Guinea), insular and Río Muni, continental territories controlled by Spain from 1778 in the Gulf of Guinea and on the Bight of Bonny, in Central Africa. It gained independence in 1968 a ...

, now known as

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

, Jones grew up in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

. He was partly Krio Fernandino as his paternal grandfather was a descendant from Liberated Africans who had moved to Fernando Poo from Sierra Leone. His maternal side, the Castillo, was of Cuban descent.

Football career

Jones began his career with local sides

Barakaldo Barakaldo (; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Biscay province in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country in Spain. Located on the Left Bank (Biscay), Left Bank of the Estuary of Bilbao, the city is pa ...

and Indautxu, where his teammates included the veteran

Lezama Lezama is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain. It is home to the training headquarters of the football team Athletic Bilbao, and is accessible by bus - Bizka ...

and another emerging young player,

Chus Pereda Jesús María Pereda Ruiz de Temiño (15 June 1938 – 27 September 2011), also known as Chus Pereda, was a Spanish football midfielder and manager. In a 16-year professional career, he played mainly for Barcelona, amassing La Liga totals of 19 ...

. Jones and Pereda, and later a third Indautxu player,

José Eulogio Gárate José Eulogio Gárate Ormaechea (born 20 September 1944) is a former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker for SD Eibar, SD Indautxu and Atlético Madrid. Born in Argentina, he pla ...

, were all controversially rejected by

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

because the club's signing policy required for them to be born in

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

; he maintained throughout his life that his rejection was not due to racism, as the other shunned players were white. Jones eventually joined

where under coach José Villalonga he was a prominent member of an Atlético team that also included

Enrique Collar Enrique Collar Monterrubio (born 2 November 1934) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a left winger. He earned 16 caps and scored 4 goals for the Spain national football team from 1955 to 1963. He played in the 1962 FIFA Wo ...

and Adelardo. He played in two successive

Copa del Generalísimo The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanish f ...

finals for Atlético against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

in 1960 and 1961. Atlético won on both occasions and in the 1960 final Jones scored the opening goal in a 3–1 victory. He made a third appearance in a Copa final in 1964 as Atlético lost 2–1 to

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

. Jones also played for Atlético in two successive

European Cup Winners Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renamed the UEFA Cup Winne ...

finals in

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

and

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

. He scored again in the 1962 final as Atlético beat

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

3–0 after a replay but finished on the losing side when they lost 5–1 to

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 ...

in 1963. He also won a

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

title with Atlético in 1966. In October 1967, Jones was signed for a season with

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish ...

, his last club.

Later life

After retiring as a player he returned to live in

and served as a director at

. Jones was a teammate and friend of

Luis Aragonés Luis Aragonés Suárez (; 28 July 1938 – 1 February 2014) was a Spanish football player and manager. Aragonés spent the majority of his career as a player and coach at Atlético Madrid. He was a prominent player and then coach of the succes ...

; when the Spain manager was accused of racism in 2004, he cited his friendship with Jones as proof that he was not. Jones died on 8 April 2020 at the age of 81. He had cancer for a long period before dying in Bilbao during the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Honours

* Spanish Champions: 1 ** 1966 *

: 3 ** 1960, 1961, 1965 *

: 1 ** 1962

References

External links

La Liga stats
*

', an article on

cantera Cantera, literally meaning "quarry" in Spanish, is a term used in Spain to refer to youth academies and farm teams organized by sports clubs. It is also used to refer to the geographical area that clubs recruit players from. The term is widely ...

policy in Spanish. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Miguel 1938 births 2020 deaths Footballers from Malabo Fernandino people Spanish sportspeople of Equatoguinean descent Spanish people of Sierra Leonean descent Sportspeople of Sierra Leonean descent People of Sierra Leone Creole descent Spanish people of Cuban descent Sportspeople of Cuban descent People of Liberated African descent Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Bilbao Barakaldo CF footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Atlético Madrid footballers CA Osasuna players SD Indautxu footballers Men's association football midfielders Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain 20th-century Spanish sportsmen