Billy Jones (footballer born 1987)

Infobox Football biography
playername = Billy Jones


fullname = William Jones
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1987|3|24|df=y
cityofbirth = Shrewsbury
countryofbirth = England
height = height|ft=5|in=11
currentclub = Preston North End
clubnumber = 19
position = Defender/Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 2003-2007
2007-
clubs = Crewe Alexandra
Preston North End
caps(goals) = 132 (8)
037 (0)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate = 28 September, 2008

William "Billy" Jones (born 24 March 1987 in Shrewsbury, England) is an English footballer, currently playing his second season for Preston North End. Jones started his career at Crewe Alexandra, who were known for their production of good young players, although a majority of them were attacking players.

Jones made his professional debut in October 2003, in Crewe's 3-0 win over Derby County. Since then, Jones has been a regular in Crewe's back-line and, for the 2005-06 season, he played a majority of games in midfield. He later became the club's top goalscorer during the same season. In his fourth year for Crewe, Jones made his 100th league appearance against Millwall.

Ability

One of Jones' notable abilities is his influence on the players around him.cite web |url=http://www.thefa.com/England/U17s/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2003/07/57872.htm |title=Introducing... Billy Jones |accessdate=2007-05-09] He is also considered a strong tackler and despite his lack of pace, the English defender makes up for it in his ability to read the game. These attributes are similar to those of many successful centre-halfs in the Premiership, such as Sami Hyypiä and Tony Adams, on the latter of whom Jones models his style of play on.. Some say Fact|date=July 2007 he could be the next Jamie Carragher, preferring to liken him to Liverpool FC's Bootle-born defender rather than Liverpool FC's Finnish stopper (Sami Hyypiä), placing more of an emphasis on Jones' vast level of versatility - earning Billy Jones mild popularity on Football Manager 2007, where on some versions, Jones' media description has him "touted as the next Jamie Carragher".

Career

2003-2007: Crewe Alexandra

Billy Jones joined Crewe as a trainee at a young age following a recommendation to then-manager Dario Gradi by former Crewe centre half Dave Walton. Jones worked his way through the Crewe Academy ranks on in 2003 Jones signed his first professional contract for the club.

The English defender made his debut for the club at sixteen years of age against Derby County as a substitute for Justin Cochrane; the Railwaymen went onto win the game 3-0 with goals from Andrew Barrowman, Dean Ashton and Ben Rix. Jones went onto to play a further 26 league games, which also included his first goal for the club against Wigan Athletic, which later won the "Goal of the Season" award. Jones later added the "Young Player of the Year" award to his collection.

Despite his young age, the young defender continued to be a regular in the Crewe first team. Jones played a total of 20 league games during the 2004-05 season, none of them as a substitute. This was also the only season in which Jones failed to score a league goal for Crewe.

Jones had an impressive 2005-06 season despite the club's relegation from the Football League Championship. Jones played in a central midfield role for most of the season before moving to a left-back role at the end of the season with the signing of Tony Grant during the January transfer window to fill in his midfield role for the remainder of the season. Jones scored seven goals over the season, becoming the club's top goalscorer. Jones later won the "Player of the Year" award.

Jones was joined by more experienced defenders for the 2006-07 season, namely ex-Aston Villa player Neil Cox and Notts County's Julien Baudet. He played his 100th league game for the club ten games into the season against Millwall. In October 2006, Jones rejected an extension to his contract at Crewe. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Jones rejects new Crewe contract |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/crewe_alexandra/5403152.stm |work= |publisher=BBC Sport |date=October 3, 2006 |accessdate=2007-05-09 ] A week after rejecting his contract, Crewe put Jones on the transfer list, [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Jones put on Crewe transfer list. |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/crewe_alexandra/6048564.stm |work= |publisher=BBC Sport |date=October 13, 2007 |accessdate=2007-05-09 ] This resulted in a number of clubs being linked with a move for the young defender, most notably Premiership club Manchester City, [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Crewe make Jones available |url=http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=421871&plid=31223&clid=51&cpid=11 |work= |publisher=Sky Sports |date=October 13, 2006 |accessdate=2007-05-09 ] who were, according to the "Daily Mirror", lining up a £1.5 million offer for him. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Monday's football gossip |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/6054120.stm |work= |publisher= BBC Sport|date=October 16, 2006 |accessdate=2007-05-09 ]

Jones was later joined by Jon Otsemobor and Luke Rodgers on the Crewe transfer list. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Maynard extends contract at Crewe |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/crewe_alexandra/6191580.stm |work= |publisher= BBC Sport|date=November 28, 2007 |accessdate=2007-05-09] [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Crewe will allow Rodgers to leave |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/crewe_alexandra/6162109.stm |work= |publisher=BBC Sport |date=December 8, 2006 |accessdate=2007-05-09 ] However, Jones was in a different position to both Otsemobor and Rodgers because of his age, as Crewe manager Dario Gradi said that he would take a chance on a tribunal, [""The Alex"" Match Day Program December 9, 2006 (vs Nottingham Forest). Page 6, column 2, line 12-13. Retrieved 11 December 2006] meaning that Jones could stay at Crewe until the end of his contract and the club would still get a fee for Jones' transfer.

Following a rejected offer by Stoke City, [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/crewe_alexandra/6499381.stm|title=Jones approach snubbed by Crewe|publisher=BBC Sport|date=March 27, 2007|accessdate=2007-03-27] the "Daily Mail" reported the Everton were, in their words, "moving in [for an offer] " on the English defender. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= Thursday's gossip column|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/6505561.stm |work= |publisher=BBC Sport |date=March 29, 2007 |accessdate=2007-05-09 ]

2007 - present: Preston North End

On 11 June 2007, Jones joined Preston North End with a 4 year contract from Crewe Alexandra, after much deliberation over which Football League Championship side he was going to join. [cite news|url=http://www.pnefc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,10362~1035113,00.html|title=Preston sign Crewe's Jones|publisher=Preston North End|date=June 12, 2007|accessdate=2007-06-12]

On 24 August 2007, the Football League tribunal for the transfer from Crewe to Preston was held. The outcome was that Preston had to pay Crewe and initial £50,000 fee on top of the original £200,000 transfer fee, making the first payment £250,000 overall. Additional clauses were also introduced: At the start of 2008, Preston would have to pay Crewe £200,000 and also pay £62,500 when Jones reached his 15th, 30th, 45th and 60th first team appearance, the Lancashire club would also have to pay Crewe another £250,000 if the The Lilywhites were promoted to the Premier League if Jones was still at the club and the final clause was that if Preston do sell Jones, 20% of the Transfer fee would to paid to Crewe. Overall, if all the criteria are fulfilled, Preston would have to pay Crewe at least £1 million. [ [http://www.pnefc.net/page/NewsDetail/0,,10362~1099057,00.html "Billy's Worth A Million!"] Retrieved on 24 August 2007]

International career

While Jones was playing for the Crewe youth team, he played in England's youth set-up as well. The defender has captained all levels up to Under-20 level.

Club stats

:"Accurate of as June 12, 2007"

Footnotes

References

External links

* [http://www.pnefc.net/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10362~27522,00.html Billy Jones player profile] at pnefc.net
* [http://www.crewealex.net/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10414~27522,00.html Billy Jones player profile] at wba.co.uk
*soccerbase|id=36652|name=Billy Jones