Jones: William Henry (Bill)

WW2 Guest: 1942-1943 (Leeds United War-time Guest Player Details)

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Born: Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire: 13-05-1921

Debut: v Bradford Park Avenue (h): 13-02-1943

Height & Weight: Unknown

Jones joined Liverpool from Derbyshire club Hayfield St Matthew's in September 1938 at the age of seventeen. He was not able to make his first team debut before the start of the Second World War and like many he joined the Army and won a Military Medal in Germany. He did play some football in the War Years scoring three goals in eventeen games for Liverpool and also guesting for Leeds United, York City and Reading. He played for Leeds on two occasions in the 1942-43 Football League Northern Section (Second Championship) the first being at Right Back in the 1-3 home defeat by Newcastle United and the second on the following weekend at Left Back in the reverse fixture when this time United triumphed 5-4 at St James’ Park. He scored once in five appearances for York City in the 1941-42 season and he made twenty appearances for Reading in 1942-43 and two more in 1943-44. After the War Jones went straight into the Liverpool first team and made his debut in the first peacetime game at the age of twenty-four as the 1946-47 kicked off on 31st August 1946 with Liverpool winning 1-0 at Bramall Lane against Sheffield United. He quickly scored his first goal for Liverpool on 7th September 1946 in a 7-4 win over Chelsea at Anfield and he went on to score twice in twenty-six games as Liverpool won the First Division Championship. He had started the season at centre-forward. But then his career direction was altered irrevocably by Liverpool's signing of the prolific marksman Albert Stubbins from Newcastle United. To accommodate the illustrious newcomer, initially manager George Kay shifted Jones to inside-left, but he then lost his place in the team, bur regained his place midway through the season, first at left-half, then at left-back, centre-half and right-half, so that when the championship crown was finally claimed, he had appeared in six different positions. At the end of that first post-war season Jones had helped Liverpool become the Division One Champions for the first time in twenty-four years, marginally edging out Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers, who both finished on fifty-six points, by a single point. The title went right down to the last day of the season with Liverpool trailing Wolves by one point. Liverpool had to travel to Molineux for a final day showdown. Wolves went into the match, at Molineux on the 31 May 1947, as they had already beaten Liverpool 5-1 at Anfield. To Wolves' surprise, Liverpool came away with a 2-1 win with the goals coming from Jack Balmer and Albert Stubbins. Jones played a major role in the game and for the following seven seasons Jones become an integral member of the side, being able to play in several different positions, and excelling in each. His next team honour came in the 1949-50 season when Liverpool were beaten 0-2 in the F.A. Cup Final at Wembley by Arsenal, who had beaten Leeds in an epic battle at Highbury to reach the Semi-Finals, and he gained a runners’ up medal after being preferred to Bob Paisley in the Wembley Final. His first representative call up came on 20th September 1948, when he played at centre-half for the Football League in a 5-1 win over the Irish League at Anfield, and then he represented England "B" at right-back on 18th May 1949 in a 4-0 win over Holland "B" at the Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam. He received two International Caps for England, at Centre Half, the first coming on 14th May 1950 in a 5-3 victory over Portugal in Lisbon and the second four days later against Belgium in a 4-1 win in Brussels, as England tried to fill the hole created by Neil Franklin's Columbian adventure. England's squad for the 1950 World Cup contained twenty-one players. On 9th May 1950, two squads (A and B) of fourteen players each were announced for two separate tours. Of the twenty-eight names, twelve did not make it to the final World Cup squad. Unfortunately, Jones did not make the final squad. Liverpool had tasted little success in the years after the war and as Jones’ Anfield career was drawing to a close they were in great danger of relegation and this danger became a reality in Jones’ final match for Liverpool on 24th April 1954 as they went down 3-0 to Blackpool at Bloomfield Road and finished bottom of the League. In his time at Anfield, Jones had scored seventeen goals in two hundred and fifty-seven League appearances and played another twenty-one games in the F.A. Cup. He was a very versatile player and in the 1946-47 Championship season he played in five different positions ranging from Centre Forward to Full Back, but it was as a Centre Half he is best remembered. He left to join Ellesmere Port Town as Player/Manager, but returned to Anfield to work for Liverpool as a scout in the 1960's and 1970's and was instrumental in the signing of many quality players during this time. They would have included Roger Hunt and Ian Rush and many others. He was also a fine Cricketer and Golfer and chose Football as a career over Cricket. "Had Liverpool not rescued me from the obscurity of a minor Derbyshire club, I should probably have tried to earn a living at cricket or golf. My leaning was towards the latter, and golf is still my main hobby." His Grandson Rob Jones played for Liverpool and England. Jones died at the Countess of Chester Hospital, Bache, Chester, from natural causes on 26th December 2010.