Cliff Jones (Welsh footballer)

This page refers to the Welsh footballer. For other persons named Cliff Jones, see Cliff Jones (disambiguation).

Cliff Jones

File:Cliff Jones.jpg Spurs legend Cliff Jones
Personal information
Full name	Clifford William Jones
Date of birth	(1935-02-07) 7 February 1935
Place of birth	Swansea, Wales
Height
Position(s)	Winger
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1952–1958	Swansea Town	168	(47)
1958–1968	Tottenham Hotspur	318	(135)
1968–1970	Fulham	25	(2)
1970–1971	King's Lynn
International career
1954–1969	Wales	59	(16)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Clifford William Jones (born 7 February 1935) is a Welsh former football international, who was capped 59 times for Wales and was a crucial member of Tottenham Hotspur's 1960–61 Double-winning side, being widely considered at the time as the best left winger in the world.

Career

Swansea and Wales

Jones was born in Swansea and first played League football for Billy McCandless' Swansea Town (later Swansea City) in 1952, appearing only 25 times as a winger for the club before being called into the Welsh national side.

Jones was part of the Wales side that beat England 2–1 at Ninian Park on 22 October 1955 and always credited the winner he scored as his best ever goal.

He played in all five of Wales' games at the 1958 FIFA World Cup, and also made a total of 11 appearances for them in World Cup qualifiers between 1957 and 1968. He played 59 times in all for Wales, scoring 16 goals.

Tottenham

He was bought by Tottenham Hotspur in 1958. On the day of his debut game he arrived by public transport and walked through the main gate together with all the Spurs supporters of the day. Henceforth he became a key part in the double-winning side of 1960–61. He was also a member of the successful Spurs sides in the 1962 FA Cup Final and 1963 European Cup Winners Cup Final.

For a while Jones couldn't strike his best at Spurs. Then he broke a leg. Following recovery, he proved he was worth every penny of his £35,000 fee.

Juventus were reported to have offered Spurs £100,000 for this brilliant player, whom most critics rated the finest winger in the country. Manager Bill Nicholson, who had paid Swansea £35,000 for Jones in Feb 1958, rejected the offer, calling Jones "priceless".

After Tottenham

Jones finally moved on from White Hart Lane in 1968 in order to take up a position with Fulham for two seasons and, afterwards, played for King's Lynn. After retiring from football he went on to teach PE and successfully managed the School football team at Highbury Grove School in North London.

Family

Jones came from a great footballing family. His father Ivor; uncles Shoni, Emlyn, Bryn and Bert; brother Bryn; and cousin Ken were also all players. His grandsons are current player Scott Neilson and Matt Wells who is part of the Tottenham Hotspur Under 21 coaching team.

Honours

Tottenham Hotspur

• Football League First Division – 1961

• FA Cup – 1961, 1962, 1967

• European Cup Winners Cup – 1963

It was announced on 21 May 2013 that Jones was to be inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in a ceremony which took place at the National Football Museum, Manchester on 25 September 2013.

References

• Jones, Cliff, Forward with Spurs (London: Stanley Paul, 1962).