Brad Jones

Bradley Scott Jones (born 19 March 1982) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

He was a member of the Middlesbrough team for over a decade often playing on loan at a succession of lower league clubs: Stockport County, Rotherham United, Blackpool and Sheffield Wednesday.

He also had a brief loan spell in Ireland with Shelbourne.

A childhood Liverpool fan, he attended John Curtin Senior High School, graduating in 1998.

Jones signed for Bayswater City SC in Western Australia.

He was then signed by Middlesbrough, playing in their youth system, and signed a professional contract on 26 March 1999.

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.

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.

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 missiles during the home game against Queens Park Rangers.

With mentor Mark Schwarzer moving to Fulham, Jones became first choice goalkeeper at Middlesbrough.

He picked up an injury in the second game of the 2008–09 season and subsequently missed the next two games.

Jones regained his place in the Middlesbrough first team in January 2009 and remained first choice as Middlesbrough were relegated from the Premier League.

Another pre-season injury saw him miss the start of the season but he regained his place after new signing Danny Coyne conceded five goals against West Bromwich Albion.

He remained in the Boro side for the rest of the season, although they failed to gain promotion from the Championship.

In August 2010, he made a £2.3 million move to Liverpool where he spent four seasons, mostly in a back-up role.

On 17 August 2010, Jones joined Liverpool in a deal worth £2,300,000.

He qualified as a "home-grown" player under the new Premier League rules.

Jones made his debut for Liverpool in the League Cup 3rd Round tie against Northampton Town on 23 September 2010.

The game ended 2–2 after extra time before Liverpool lost on penalties.

A couple of weeks later, Jones injured his shoulder in training and was out for up to a month.

Reserve goalkeeper Martin Hansen took his place on the bench until Jones was back fit, as Liverpool's other backup goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi was on loan at nearby club Tranmere Rovers.

He made his second start for the club on 15 December 2010, in a Europa League game against Utrecht, getting his first clean sheet for the Reds.

Unfortunately for Jones, this was to be his last game of the 2010–11 season.

At the end of March, Jones joined Derby County on loan for the remainder of the 2010–11 season.

Jones made his debut in a 4–1 loss to Cardiff City, and went on to concede 16 goals in his seven games at Derby, including another four against Burnley (2–4) and three against Norwich City (2–3).

He came in for criticism from Derby manager Nigel Clough after his mistake let Bristol City take an early lead in Derby's final home game of the season, in a match the club eventually lost 2–0.

It turned out to be Jones' last Derby game.

He was an unused substitute in Derby's 2–1 defeat at Reading on the last day of the Championship season before returning to Liverpool, after being replaced by academy goalkeeper Ross Atkins.

Jones then had two short stints, his final in England at Bradford City and then in the Netherlands at NEC, before joining Feyenoord on a one-year deal in August 2016.

On 22 May 2017, he signed for another two years at Feyenoord following their title win in the Dutch Eredivisie.

Jones was born in Armadale, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, to English parents.

On 19 August, Jones watched Liverpool's UEFA Europa League play-off 1st leg tie at Anfield from the directors' box, along with captain Steven Gerrard, Emiliano Insúa, Alberto Aquilani and Dirk Kuyt.

He was handed the number 1 shirt after goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri left the club on 23 August, ahead of Liverpool's clash with Manchester City.

Jones made his unofficial debut in Jamie Carragher's testimonial against an Everton XI and impressed with a string of saves.