Brad Jones

Early career

Jones was born in Mount Nasura, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, to English parents. A childhood Liverpool fan, he attended John Curtin Senior High School, graduating in 1998. Jones signed for Bayswater City SC in Western Australia.

Middlesbrough

He was then signed by Middlesbrough, playing in their youth system, and signed a professional contract on 26 March 1999. He made his first team debut in the FA Cup third round against Notts County in 2004 and later that season won a League Cup winners medal. He had loan spells at several clubs; in the 2001–02 season he played four games for Irish club side Shelbourne. He made his professional and League of Ireland debut on 5 October against local rivals Bohemians at Dalymount Park and conceded 4 goals in a 6–4 victory one of which was direct from his own goal kick. His second appearance for the club came one week later in a 3–1 home victory against Monaghan United. Later he had loan spells at Stockport County and Blackpool. In the 2005–06 season, playing for Middlesbrough, Jones saved a Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty which left the match against Manchester United level at 0–0. In August 2006, Jones was loaned out to Sheffield Wednesday for three months. He made an up-and-down start to his loan spell, making some vital saves as well as conceding penalties in successive games against Plymouth Argyle and Leeds United. On 21 October, his own fans turned on him and attacked him by throwing coins and other…

Having played for the Australia national under-20 football team and the under-23 side at the 2004 Summer Olympics, Jones felt disappointed to be overlooked for the 2006 FIFA World Cup squad and considered switching his international allegiance to England or France, the latter being possible as his wife was French. The following year, Jones received his first senior international call up for Australia on 5 February 2007 to replace Mark Schwarzer in a friendly match. He made his first senior international start on 2 June 2007 against Uruguay. He was at fault for Australia losing that match after dropping a routine catch allowing Alvaro Recoba to score an easy goal. He was part of Australia's début campaign in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, but he did not feature in any of their matches. Additionally, he was selected as one of the three goalkeepers in Australia's final 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but he left the squad to return to his family following news of his son being diagnosed with leukemia and he did not return to the tournament. While Ange Postecoglou was coaching Australia, Jones made only one appearance, playing half of a friendly match against Ecuador which Australia lost 3–4. Jones wasn't called-up after that by Postecoglou, despite being in form during three seasons playing in the Eredivisie, surprising many including goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer. After Postecoglou's quitting, his replacement, Bert van Marwijk, has revealed to be interested in calling-up Jones…

Club

As of 7 May 2023

International

As of 8 November 2018

Jones' six-year-old son, Luca, from a previous relationship, died on 18 November 2011 after a year-long battle with leukaemia. Liverpool's players and staff wore black armbands as a mark of respect in their subsequent 2–1 victory over Chelsea; his old teammates at Middlesbrough also wore armbands as a mark of respect. He has three children, two sons born in 2012 and 2019, and a daughter born in 2014. Post-retirement, Jones has been working with former club Perth Glory as a goalkeeping coach for the women's team.