Graeme Jones

Born in Gateshead, Jones, a lifelong Newcastle United fan began his career in 1991 with North Shields, moving to Bridlington Town in 1992, before earning a £10,000 move to Doncaster Rovers. He then joined Wigan Athletic in 1996, after scoring 30 goals in three years at Doncaster. He became an instant success with the Latics, scoring 31 league goals in his first season, which remains a Wigan record to this day. He also got a total of four hat-tricks this season. Jones went on to score 18 goals in the next two seasons, before joining Scottish side St Johnstone, on a £100,000 deal. Whilst at Wigan, he also helped them win the 1998–99 Football League Trophy, for the final of which he was an unused substitute. Jones scored on his debut for St Johnstone, but his time with Saints was disrupted by injury. He returned to England in 2002 to sign for Southend United. He joined Boston United in 2003, before signing for Bury in 2004, where he scored on his debut against Yeovil Town. He also had injury problems at Bury, and after only three appearances in six months, he returned to Scotland to join Clyde. After scoring the winning goal on his debut, he found the net on one more occasion for the Bully Wee, before he joined Hamilton Academical in July 2006. Jones was forced to retire in March 2006 due to injury, and became assistant manager at Accies.

In March 2007, Jones joined the coaching staff of then-League One side Swansea City, becoming the new assistant manager of recently appointed head coach Roberto Martínez. He followed Martínez to Wigan Athletic in June 2009, where he spent a period of four seasons working alongside Martínez, during which time Wigan Athletic won the 2013 FA Cup. 2012 saw Jones linked to the vacant managerial position at former side Swansea City after the departure of Brendan Rodgers, who left to take charge of Liverpool. However, talks between Jones and the club broke down, with Michael Laudrup subsequently taking over at the Liberty Stadium. Championship club Burnley later expressed their interest in appointing Jones as their new manager as successor to Eddie Howe, in which Martínez admitted he was "not worried" with the recent speculation; no move was materialised and the job went to Sean Dyche. In July 2013, Jones relocated once again to Everton, continuing as assistant manager to Martínez, after Wigan were relegated from the Premier League. He left upon Martínez's sacking in May 2016, before being announced as Martínez's assistant coach of the Belgium national team in August, working alongside former Arsenal player Thierry Henry. After huge speculation regarding Jones' future as Belgium coach, having been linked with various managerial positions within previous months, on 1 August 2018, it was announced that Jones would join newly relegated Championship club West Bromwich Albion as…

Jones' wife, Debbie, is from Stockton-on-Tees; she and her family support local football team Middlesbrough.

Wigan Athletic

Football League Third Division: 1996–97 Individual

PFA Team of the Year: 1996–97 Third Division