English footballer
William Henry Jones
(24 March 1881 ? 15 March 1948), also known as
Bullet Jones
[1]
and the
Tipton Smasher
,
[3]
was an English professional
footballer
who played as a
centre forward
for
Small Heath
(renamed Birmingham in 1905) in
the Football League
and for
Brighton & Hove Albion
in the
Southern League
.
[4]
Career
[
edit
]
Jones was born in
Tipton
, Staffordshire. He played for Smethwick Town and for
Birmingham & District League
club
Halesowen
before turning professional with
Small Heath
, newly promoted to the
Football League First Division
, in 1901.
[3]
He was their leading scorer for four successive seasons, from
1903?04
to 1906?07,
[5]
and his performances were rewarded in 1904 with selection for the
Football League
representative team which played against the
Irish Football League
.
[6]
Jones then suffered a series of injuries, the team's form declined, and, believing the player to be past his best, the club, now named Birmingham, released him at the end of the 1908?09 season.
[3]
Jones joined
Brighton & Hove Albion
of the
Southern League
. He was top scorer for that club in both his full seasons, with 22 and 19 goals respectively in all competitions.
[7]
He contributed to them winning the 1910 Southern League championship and the
1910 FA Charity Shield
, in which they beat
Aston Villa
, champions of the Football League, and scored the winning goal in the 1910 Southern Professional Charity Cup. Nevertheless, when Birmingham wanted to re-sign him in January 1912, the form of
Jimmy Smith
meant that Albion's directors were willing to let him go for a £300 fee.
[1]
[8]
Jones again top-scored for Birmingham in 1912?13,
[9]
bringing his total for the club to 102 goals from 253 appearances in all competitions, before returning to Brighton in the summer.
[3]
In October 1914, Jones played for a Southern League representative team against the
Scottish League
; the game, played at
Millwall
's ground in London, finished as a 1?1 draw.
[10]
By January 1915, Jones, like many of his teammates, had enlisted in
the Football Battalion
of the
Middlesex Regiment
. They trained at the
White City
in London, were released at weekends to play for their clubs,
[11]
and Jones finished the season ? the last completed before the Football League was suspended for the duration of the First World War ? as Albion's top scorer for the third time.
[7]
He returned to the club after the war, played his last competitive first-team match in December 1919, at the age of 38 years and 271 days,
[12]
and continued to appear occasionally for the
reserves
until as late as 1927. He performed various roles for the club, as assistant trainer,
scout
and groundsman. He retired after the death of his wife in 1947, and the following March, he died in hospital after being discovered in a gas-filled room.
[1]
Honours
[
edit
]
Small Heath
Brighton & Hove Albion
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
Carder, Tim; Harris, Roger (1997).
Albion A?Z: A Who's Who of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C
. Hove: Goldstone Books. pp. 128?29.
ISBN
0-9521337-1-7
.
- ^
"Small Heath"
.
Football Club History Database
. Richard Rundle
. Retrieved
10 April
2020
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Matthews, Tony (1995).
Birmingham City: A Complete Record
. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 102.
ISBN
978-1-85983-010-9
.
- ^
Joyce, Michael (2004).
Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939
. Nottingham: SoccerData (Tony Brown). p. 143.
ISBN
978-1-899468-67-6
.
- ^
Matthews, pp. 150?53.
- ^
Matthews, p. 246.
- ^
a
b
Carder & Harris,
Albion A?Z
, p. 338.
- ^
Carder, Tim; Harris, Roger (1993).
Seagulls! The Story of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C
. Hove: Goldstone Books. pp. 54?56.
ISBN
0-9521337-0-9
.
- ^
Matthews, p. 159.
- ^
Carder & Harris,
Seagulls!
, p. 322.
- ^
Carder & Harris,
Seagulls!
, p. 68.
- ^
Carder & Harris,
Seagulls!
, p. 320.
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