Luke Jones

Luke Joseph Jones (born 10 April 1987) is an English professional footballer, who most recently played for Northern Premier League Premier Division side Stafford Rangers, where he played as a central defender.

Jones started his career at Blackburn Rovers, playing regularly at youth and reserve level without making any first-team appearances.

During his time with the Lancashire club, Jones was loaned out to Cercle Brugge of the Belgian First Division.

Jones began his career as a trainee at Premier League side Blackburn Rovers, where he progressed through the various youth ranks and helped the youth team reach the semi-final of the FA Youth Cup in 2004.

He captained the U18 side on their way to winning the Premier Academy League in 2005, and was also a regular for the reserve team throughout the 2004–05 season.

The following season, Jones spent the campaign on loan at Cercle Brugge of the Belgian First Division in order to gain first-team experience, and made eight appearances during his year-long stay with the club.

He was released by Blackburn in the summer of 2006 and, after a brief spell at Ashton United, joined League Two side Shrewsbury Town in November 2006.

On returning to his parent club in the summer of 2006, Jones was released, and did not make a first-team appearance during his time at Blackburn.

Following his release from Blackburn, Jones joined Northern Premier League side Ashton United on a short-term basis in September 2006, and made one league appearance for the club during his brief stay.

After a trial period with League Two team Shrewsbury Town a month later, he joined the club on a permanent deal in November 2006, for the remainder of the 2006–07 season.

Jones made his debut for Shrewsbury in a 2–0 away defeat to Hereford United in the FA Cup on 21 November, coming on as a second-half substitute in the match.

He went on to make five appearances during his first two months with the club, and also impressed for the reserve side.

As a result, his contract was extended in February 2007, by another year until the summer of 2008.

Jones made twelve appearances during his first season with the club, including in both legs of the League Two play-off semi-final against MK Dons.

He was named on the team-sheet for the play-off final at Wembley in May 2007, but was unable to play after injuring his knee during the warm-up before the game.

The knee injury required surgery, and it was four months later before he was able to return to full training.

Jones returned to first-team action three months into the 2007–08 season, but, with strong defensive competition, struggled to hold down a regular place in the team.

He featured sporadically for Shrewsbury and spent time out on loan at Conference National club Kidderminster Harriers in February 2008.

Jones signed for Kidderminster on a permanent basis ahead of the 2008–09 season and played regularly.

Jones subsequently joined Conference National side Kidderminster Harriers on a one-month loan deal in February 2008, and made his debut shortly after, playing the whole match in a 0–0 draw with Northwich Victoria at Aggborough.

The loan agreement was extended for a further month on 3 March, after Jones had made five appearances for Kidderminster.

However, after making two further appearances, during which Kidderminster kept two clean sheets, new Shrewsbury manager Paul Simpson chose to recall Jones prematurely and he returned to his parent club on 12 March.

The decision to recall Jones just hours before Kidderminster's match with Stevenage angered Kidderminster manager Mark Yates, who stated – "I was put in a position that I shouldn't have been in at five o'clock on the night of a game. But we try and do things properly and for Luke's sake I left him out".

On returning to Shrewsbury, Jones made three further appearances that season, but was ultimately released by the club at the end of the season.

During his time at the club, he played 19 times in all competitions.

After his successful loan spell earlier in the season, Jones joined Kidderminster on a permanent basis in May 2008, signing a one-year contract.

He started in the club's first game of the 2008–09 season, a 1–1 home draw with newly promoted Lewes, and scored his first professional goal later that month, on 25 August, heading in a corner with just ten minutes remaining as Kidderminster twice came from behind to draw 2–2 with Burton Albion.

He received the first red card of his career in October 2008, described as a "stupid" dismissal in Kidderminster's 5–1 away victory against King's Lynn in the FA Cup.

Jones added another goal to his tally that season when he scored in the club's 3–2 win over Burscough in the FA Trophy on 16 December 2008.

He was a regular fixture in the side's defence during the first half of the season as Kidderminster were fighting for one of the four play-off positions.

However, after Kidderminster lost 3–1 to Cambridge United on 17 February 2009, a game in which Jones gave away a penalty after fouling Scott Rendell in the area, he did not feature again for two months.

He returned to first-team action on 1 April, as Kidderminster comfortably secured a 5–1 away win against Woking, and went on to make four further appearances during the remainder of the season.

Jones made 33 appearances and scored twice during a season that witnessed Kidderminster narrowly miss out on the play-off places, finishing in sixth, two points behind the final play-off position.

He was one of seven players that were released by the club on 12 May 2009, with manager Mark Yates citing that finances played a key role in which players were asked to re-sign.

Shortly after leaving Kidderminster, Jones signed for fellow Conference National side Mansfield Town on a one-year deal.

Mansfield manager David Holdsworth stated – "Luke is a centre-half who can also play at right-back. He is strong and commanding and someone who I think the fans will like".

After a year at Kidderminster, he spent one season at Mansfield Town, before becoming Forest Green Rovers' club captain for the 2010–11 campaign.

He returned to Kidderminster the following season, and then re-joined another of his former clubs, Mansfield Town, in June 2012.

His second spell at Mansfield was a successful one, with the club winning the Conference National title.

At the end of the season, in May 2013, Jones signed for League One side Stevenage on a free transfer before returning to Mansfield for a third time.