Gary Roy Jones (born 3 June 1977) is an English football coach and former player and former manager of Ashville. He resigned from Ashville in May 2024.
He played as a central midfielder. He made 716 league appearances, including 464 for Rochdale, for whom he holds the all-time record for the most appearances.
Playing career Caernarfon Town Born in Birkenhead, Merseyside, Jones started his career with Caernarfon Town in the 1996–97 season before moving to Swansea City.
Swansea City He stayed at Swansea City for one season but during the second half of the season he was loaned to Rochdale.
Rochdale While on loan Jones made his Rochdale debut on 17 January 1998, in a 3–1 defeat against Peterborough United. Jones signed a permanent deal with Rochdale after the end of the season. Jones spent three years in his first stint with the Lancashire club.
Barnsley In 2001, Jones was transferred to Barnsley, joining up with former Rochdale manager Steve Parkin. Jones stayed at Barnsley for three seasons without making many appearances and in 2003 he went back on loan to his former club Rochdale.
Rochdale return In 2004, he re-joined Rochdale on a permanent deal and went on to become the club captain. Jones holds the record for most appearances for Rochdale and is regarded by the fans as a true Rochdale A.F.C. legend due to his long tenure with the club, his commitment and determined style of play, and his leadership on the pitch. His qualities within the Rochdale squad during the 2009–10 season played a large part in helping the club to earn promotion into League One. Jones scored a brilliant long-range strike at St Mary's against managerless Southampton on 4 September 2010, which he described as "the best I've ever struck". Jones was Rochdale's top scorer in the 2010–11 season, Rochdale's first season in the third tier of English football for 36 years, and was praised by manager Keith Hill for his outstanding contributions.
Bradford City On 22 June 2012, it was announced that Jones would sign for Bradford City on a one-year contract."Jones joins up" Bradford City F.C. 22 June 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2012. On 11 August 2012, he made his Bradford debut in the League Cup in a 1–0 win against Notts County."Notts County 0–1 Bradford" BBC Sport. 11 August 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012. He made his league debut a week later against Gillingham."Gillingham 3–1 Bradford" BBC Sport. 18 August 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012. He made his home debut on 21 August in a 1–0 win against Fleetwood Town, providing the assist for the only goal of the game, taking the corner that James Hanson scored from."Bradford 1–0 Fleetwood" BBC Sport. 21 August 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2012. On 25 August, he was named man of the match in a 5–1 win against AFC Wimbledon."Bradford 5–1 AFC Wimbledon" BBC Sport. 25 August 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012. He scored his first goal for the club on 18 September 2012, scoring a free-kick in a 3–1 win against Morecambe,"Bradford 3–1 Morecambe" BBC Sport. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012. and in the process helped Bradford to their best start to a season at home since 1957."Bradford City 3–1 Morecambe" Bradford City F.C. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012. He scored his second goal for the club in a 1–0 win against Plymouth Argyle on 20 November."Bradford 1–0 Plymouth" BBC Sport. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2012. On 11 December 2012, Jones captained Bradford in a historic win over Premier League side Arsenal in the League Cup."Bradford 1–1 Arsenal (3–2 pens)" BBC Sport. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2013. He then led the team to a 4–3 victory over two legs against Aston Villa in the semi-finals."Aston Villa 2–1 Bradford (3–4)" BBC Sport. 22 January 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2013. It was only the second time the team have played at Wembley, the last time being in 1996 when Bradford won the Second Division play-off final. Bradford were the first team from the fourth-tier of English football to reach a major Wembley cup final and only the second team from the fourth-tier to reach a major final, the only other team to achieve this feat is Jones' former club Rochdale who reached the League Cup final in 1962."Bradford City's historic win 'worth £1m'" BBC Leeds & West Yorkshire. 23 January 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2013. Bradford lost the final to Jones' former club Swansea City."Bradford 0–5 Swansea" BBC Sport. 24 February 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2013. Jones was voted player of the year for the 2012–13 season. On 9 May 2014 it was announced that Jones would not be offered a new contract at the club and would leave at the end of the 13/14 season.
Notts County He moved to Notts County on 7 August 2014, signing a one-year contract. Jones made his County debut only two days later on 9 August 2014, in a 1–1 draw against Preston North End. He made his home debut on 16 August in a 0–1 defeat against Fleetwood Town. He scored his first goal for the club on 23 August 2015 in a 0–2 win against Port Vale. He scored his second goal for the club in a 5–3 win against Crawley Town on 18 October. He played 42 times for County in the league that season, scoring three goals as they finished twenty-first behind Crewe Alexandra by two points, and were relegated to League Two.
Southport On 6 August 2015, Jones agreed to join National League side Southport. After a successful first season with the club, he signed on to stay with the club for the 2016/17 season and was appointed club captain by manager Andy Bishop.
Altrincham On 9 December 2016, Jones signed a month-long loan deal with Altrincham.
Post retirement and coaching career Following his retirement, he now works in care
In August 2022 he became a youth coach at former club Bradford City.
Following a spell playing with Ashville F.C., he became the club's manager in 2023. He would then go on to resign from Ashville later that year.
Career statistics Sources:
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational CupLeague CupOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsSwansea City1997–98Third Division7000100080Rochdale (loan)1997–98Third Division4000000040Rochdale1997–98Third Division1420000001421998–99Third Division2003010212611999–2000Third Division3963000504762000–01Third Division4481020114892001–02Third Division205202011256Total1372190509316024Barnsley2001–02First Division2510000002512002–03Second Division3110010003212003–04Second Division0000000000Total562001000572Rochdale (loan)2003–04Third Division102100000112Rochdale2003–04Third Division1620000001622004–05League Two3983010104482005–06League Two4241010204642006–07League Two2732000203132007–08League Two4671020105072008–09League Two3002010103402009–10League Two3442010003742010–11League One461710220049192011–12League One455103110506Total325501301138035753Bradford City2012–13League Two3923080405422013–14League One456100000466Total8484080401008Notts County2014–15League One433101020473Southport2015–16National League4351000304752016–17National League120100000130Total555200030605Altrincham (loan)2016–17National League North151000000151Ashville2022–23NWCFL Division One South00000000002023–24NWCFL Division One South0000001010Total0000001010Career total7369230027327382098
Honours Bradford City Football League Two play-offs: 2013 Football League Cup runner-up: 2012–13
Individual PFA Team of the Year: 2009–10 League Two, 2012–13 League Two
References
External links