Gary Neville's long and distinguished England career can, according to pro-Liverpool observers, be put down to one of their own. Rob Jones, a sound defender and pacy exponent of attacking from the back, was scouted as a teenager at the ever-productive Crewe and turned into an England player within weeks of stepping up to Anfield. He seemed ready to have the right back position sewn up for the 1990s once Graham Taylor gave him his debut prior to the 1992 European Championships, in a 2-0 win over France (the photo above is during the game) which saw Alan Shearer also making his bow. Lee Dixon and the experienced Gary Stevens still had some bragging rights, but ultimately injury would mean none of them would go to the finals in Sweden, leaving Taylor's defence - and tournament hopes - in ruins.
Jones' injury troubles got steadily worse as the years progressed, but by the end of 1994 and the arrival of Terry Venables he had seemingly settled down as an international, winning seven caps and looking forward to the prospect of being a close-to-peak age of 25 when the self-hosted European Championships came round. But more injuries came his way, with a particular trouble over shin splints, and Jones' career at international level was over when Neville took his place in the summer of 1995 - one game after Rob's eighth and final cap - and promptly kept it for a decade and more.
Jones' club career died at the age of 28 once knee and spinal troubles added to his physical woes, and beyond the sadness felt at Liverpool, it's certainly a worthy argument to say that he could have achieved so much more with England, even allowing for the immense career enjoyed by his international successor. (Matthew Rudd) |