Alan Jones RIP

Alan Jones . who died on 9^th March aged 77, was a strong and dependable defender who appeared in 49 League games for Southport whom he joined from Hereford United. He made his Southport debut on 17^th August 1974 at Mansfield in the opening game of the 1974-75 season.

Born in Swansea on 6^TH October 1945 Alan was capped five times for Wales at under 15 level and was the subject of an FA Inquiry after Liverpool were accused of poaching him from Swansea Town. He remained with the Swans whom he joined as an apprentice professional in October 1963 making his Football League debut towards the end of 1964-65 season and was capped once for Wales at under 23 level.

After initially joining Southern League Hereford United on Loan in January 1968 he signed for them the following year after John Charles, their manager, called round to his home. He was a member of the Hereford United team which beat Newcastle United and then drew with West Ham United in the F.A. Cup. Largely because of their Cup exploits, they were elected to the Football League at the expense of Barrow, and he remained a regular in Hereford’s side which finished runners-up to Southport in 1972-73 in the Fourth Division. In all he made363 Southern League and Football League appearances for them.

Alan Ball brought him to Southport and after a successful season he spent the Summer with Los Angeles Aztecs along with Bobby Sibbald and Alex Russell .  He requested to be released from his Southport contract in October 1975 after promised accommodation failed to materialise and he expressed a wish to move back to South Wales. There he went into non-league football with Ammanford Town and Haverfordwest. Later he worked for an oil company in Libya and on returning to Swansea was employed in the prison service.