Profile

Bill Jones is probably best remembered by Kopites as the man who took Bob Paisley's place in the 1950 FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal, and being the grandfather of our former right back Rob Jones.

Although Bill actually joined Liverpool in 1938, he was only a teenager at the time and the Second World War would immediately deprive him of several years of competitive football. By the time the Football League resumed 'normal service' on the last day of August 1946, Bill was 24 years old and he immediately made up for lost time by helping his club win the First Division championship, playing in 26 of the 42 league matches, including the title 'decider' at Wolverhampton and scoring twice.

Although the club would never reach such heights again for nearly 20 years, Bill was a regular member of the side for the next seven seasons and was an extremely versatile man who could play - and play well - in several different positions.

He played in Liverpool's first-ever Wembley cup final against Arsenal in 1950, but had to settle for a runners-up medal. But unfortunately the club never built on the little success they had enjoyed in the immediate post-war years and from 1950 onwards their final league placing got steadily worse until in 1953-54 which proved to be Bill's last season at Anfield, the relegation which had been narrowly avoided the previous season became a reality.

Bill's 256th and final league appearance for Liverpool came on a day when relegation had already been confirmed; the Reds went down by three goals to nil at Blackpool. It was a sad end to a fine Anfield career. Bill was capped by his country twice at centre-half, the position in which he played the bulk of his professional career.

Other Clubs:
Hayfield St Matthews (amateur); York, Leeds and Reading (wartime guest), Ellesmere Port Town (amateur)