Former Liverpool star Joey Jones has died at the age of 70, and during his professional football career, the Welshman made quite the impact on the Anfield faithful
Joey Jones has passed away at the age of 70(Image: X)
Joey Jones made quite the impact on Liverpool fans during his three-year stint at Anfield.
The former Reds defender – who has died at the age of 70 – was a much-loved figure in Merseyside despite his relatively short tenure at the club. Signing for the English top-flight side in 1975 from Wrexham, the Welshman had realised a dream in joining the club he’d supported during his childhood.
Having already sported a Liverbird tattoo on his forearm ahead of his transfer, Jones was surely destined to be a fan favourite and it’s a status that has stuck beyond his playing days.
Jones enjoyed a trophy-laden period with the Reds, with five trophies won including the league title and the European Cup twice. Alongside his on-field contributions, Jones added to his lore with the sheer amount chaos he’d been part of in just three years.
Daily Star Sport has taken a deep dive into Jones’ most lively stories from his time at Liverpool, told by the Anfield hero himself in a past interview, including a physical altercation with legendary former boss Bob Paisley.
It was in 1978 when Jones lost his place in the first team due to the emergence of Alan Hansen and the return to form of Tommy Smith. It was only a matter of months later that he departed the club to return to Wrexham, putting an end to the most successful period of his career.
Jones put an end to the rumour that his exit was due to elbowing Paisley in the face, revealing that he in fact punched him – albeit accidentally – and it had nothing to do with his decision to leave despite never playing for Liverpool after the incident.
“I punched him, that’s what I did,” Jones revealed to LFC History. “It was accidental. I loved him like a father. It was a complete accident, but I didn’t play for Liverpool after that! It was at Chelsea, an FA Cup tie. I had been switched to right-back to mark Clive Walker.
“They thought I could mark wingers better than Phil Neal. We got battered at Chelsea. I hadn’t had a good game anyway. Clive Walker scored two. You can still see it on Youtube. I felt I was no worse than anybody else. I was always really critical of my own performance, maybe too critical.
“I didn’t feel I was any worse than anyone else on this particular day, but I got substituted. I remember the boss Bob Paisley throwing the tracksuit at me, ‘Put that on.’ Obviously, I was agitated and sweaty and had few problems getting it on. I couldn’t get my head all through the neck.
“As I was sitting there struggling then all of a sudden my hand went straight through the sleeve and I felt my fist hit somebody’s flesh. As my head came through I could see the boss rubbing his face. To this day I don’t know if it is whether I punched him in the face or played crap that I never played for Liverpool again after that. The following season I left.”
Threatening to stab team-mate
Known for his iconic clenched fist gesture, it came to fruition during his Liverpool days after he had a punch-up with Ray Kennedy. While shadow boxing with a team-mate, Jones accidentally stepped on Kennedy’s foot who warned him of his mishap.
Ray Kennedy won three European Cups with Liverpool(Image: S&G and Barratts/EMPICS Sport)
Recalling advice he received from his father when he was young, Jones hit Kennedy twice in the fear that the former midfielder was going to strike first. “I hit him twice and we end up in this brawl,” Jones said. “I remember Bob Paisley saying: ‘Both of you can leave the club.’ Obviously he thought more of Ray than me because it was me who left [laughs]. It got split up.
“Ray started issuing threats to me of what he was going to do to me. Once the red mist is… I wanted to finish it off. That’s the type I was. He could have killed me. It got broken up and quietened down for a while. We were playing small-sided games at Liverpool and they put me and Ray on the opposite team.”
Despite the fight being broken up, Jones had an ominous threat in store to escalate the violence as he revealed: “We had a dinner and I know it sounds stupid. I am not advocating this by any means but I did say: ‘I’ll just stab you, mate.’ It was stupid. They had to take the knife off me. It was a blunt one, anyway.”
He never did go through with the threat and later revealed Kennedy had apologised to him, putting an end to the pair’s brief feud as he went on to say they had actually become good friends after.
Throwing chairs at Barcelona fans
Joey Jones has gone down in Liverpool folklore(Image: Bob Thomas Sports Photography via Getty Images)
Jones’ fiery disposition was on show in the first leg of the 1976 UEFA Cup semi-finals when the Reds travelled to Spain to take on Barcelona. Despite being an unused substitute, the unruly behaviour from the fans saw Jones leap into action off the bench to start hurling chairs at the Spanish fans by way of defending himself.
“I didn’t play that night,” he said. “I was one of the subs. They started throwing objects because we were playing quite well, Liverpool. It was a full house at Nou Camp. The dugouts in them days were just chairs. They weren’t covered. I started getting nicked by objects, in the back in the head.
“They were gobstoppers, hard-boiled sweets. Toshack scored and we started getting hit with more things and we won 1-0. The full-time whistle went and I didn’t get on the pitch. They started to throw the cushions first and then parts of the seats. I’d had f****** enough then.”
Jones’ antics didn’t last for long as he was quickly ushered into the dressing room by Paisley, who he said told him: ‘Get in that dressing room before you cause a f****** riot.’
Dancing on the pitch
Joey Jones was a fan favourite during his time at Liverpool
Given his status as a fan favourite, Jones always had a strong rapport with the Reds supporters, even going as far as dancing on the pitch following a crowd request. He did confirm to cutting a rug on the pitch, but made sure to note it didn’t come at the expense of the team.
He said: “The ball was out of play, though! [laughs] Was it the time they asked me to do the pogo? I remember it, yeah. Sometimes I did things a modern footballer wouldn’t do. I never distanced myself from the fans. I was only a fan on the pitch. I always like to be remembered like that.”