Despite the frailties of his ageing mind and body, Joey Jones can still wow the crowds as he did in his prime as the darling of the Kop, winning the European Cup.
As fierce rivals Liverpool and Manchester United face off at Old Trafford on Sunday, legends from both clubs felt it was only natural to bridge the vast divide so they could honour one of their generation’s favourite cult heroes.
From Merseyside, Graeme Souness, Alan Kennedy, Sammy Lee and John Aldridge. From Manchester, his great mate Mickey Thomas and Martin Buchan. Wales representatives, Barry Horne and Brian Flynn.
The biggest cheer of the evening at Friday’s tribute dinner at the Wrexham Hotel came when Joey gingerly rose from his seat at table eight in the giant marquee to perform the trademark fist pump he was known for during his colourful 20-year career with Wrexham, Liverpool, Chelsea, Huddersfield and Wales.
Although he suffers from signs of dementia and requires extra care from family and friends, he still has the charisma that inspired one of the most iconic banners ever unfurled on a football field.
Despite the frailties of an ageing mind and body, Joey Jones can still wow the crowds as he did in his prime as the European Cup-winning darling of the Kop
Jones’ good friend and former Man United player Mickey Thomas remains the best friend
Liverpool legend Graeme Souness (pictured) played alongside Jones at Liverpool
The slogan ‘Joey ate the frogs’ legs, made the Swiss roll, now he’s eating Gladbach’ is still seen as a key part of Liverpool’s historic victory over Borussia Monchengladbach in Rome in 1977 – the first of six European Cup triumphs that will no doubt have United’s visiting fans laughing at Old Trafford.
At 69, Joey is not always the person he used to be, but surrounded by his former team-mates and admirers who paid £150 each to be with him, he beamed for much of the evening because of the overwhelming love from those who wanted to pay his respects and raise money.
The organisers had accepted in advance that he might have to leave early if the large crowd made him anxious. But by 10.30pm, when the keynote speaker, his old Liverpool team-mate Souness, had finished answering questions on the main stage, Joey was still there, enjoying every moment.
“I see the same Joey Jones I knew as a player. He’s in top form, you impostor!” Souness said with a smile.
‘When I arrived in Liverpool in January 1978 I quickly realised that he was a special and unique character. He was a warrior. The Kop responded to the shaking fist every time.
‘He was a very good footballer, but even more so a thoroughly good person. I’m going to shame him completely if I say that.
‘Those times were so good. Nowadays you hear the word legend for someone who stays for one season and scores 10 goals. F*** off. We have real legends here.’
Wrexham are a fitting host town. Jones played for them three times and later coached them. His life story would make a Hollywood movie to impress the club’s current owners and it’s no surprise that when Joey visits games at the Racecourse, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney approach him directly.
Jones retains the charisma that inspired one of the most iconic banners ever to grace a football pitch
Jones played a vital role in the Liverpool team that won the European Cup in 1977
Former Liverpool star Sammy Lee (pictured) believes Jones ’embodied everything’ about the club
Jones (second row left) played three times for Wrexham and later coached the Welsh club
Jones grew up on the North Wales coast and was a young man in the ‘Bad Gang Parrots’, famous for their brawls. Football was his salvation. A dedicated left-back in the Stuart Pearce mould, he joined Liverpool from Wrexham and won the league championship and the European Cup at the age of 22, only to be denied a Treble by Manchester United in the FA Cup final.
If Kevin Keegan was Liverpool’s brain, Jones was its heart and soul. Goalkeeper Ray Clemence said at the time: ‘Joey likes to be happy and gets excited about the smallest things.’
Sammy Lee, who made his breakthrough at the time, told Mail Sport at Friday’s event: ‘Joey was part of my growing up. For me, he was part of what Liverpool is all about – family.
‘He embodied everything: spirit, commitment, passion for the football club. We were very close. He stayed with my family, we went out together. He was the man.
Jones once had a brawl with his former teammate Ray Kennedy (left)
‘We should honour him like any other Liverpool legend, because he is a Liverpool legend.’
There was a villainous side to him too. There was a brawl with team-mate Ray Kennedy. After an FA Cup defeat at Chelsea he accidentally punched manager Bob Paisley when he was struggling to get his tracksuit on.
For the 1978 European Cup final he was on the bench, with a young Alan Hansen taking his place, before being sold back to Wrexham later that year.
The friendship with Thomas, a former United star who entertains guests in the company lounges at Old Trafford, has lasted since they met as £7-a-week Wrexham pupils who raced each other under the spotlight to see who would reach the top first.
Later, when they played together at Chelsea, they chose to commute together from North Wales rather than live in London, even though it meant starting training at 6am. If they did have to stay over, they would sometimes rest their heads in the physiotherapist’s office at Stamford Bridge.
When Mickey was in prison for a counterfeit money scam, Joey visited him in prison. He was a supporter when Mickey had cancer. Now that Joey is sick, Mickey visits him and his wife Janice every day, runs errands for them and takes Joey out for coffee or to football.
Normally Joey is the first to arrive and the last to leave The Racecourse, but now he sometimes finds the crowds so overwhelming that he doesn’t want to stay for the full 90 minutes.
Mickey played a key role at United between 1978 and 1981, appearing in a charity golf tournament for Sir Alex Ferguson’s former player David May before making a hasty move across the border to join Joey.
In his autobiography Kick-ups, Hiccups, Lock-ups, Thomas movingly describes their relationship: ‘We became known as the terrible twins. We were brothers. A pair of football-mad scoundrels. No one could control us.’
Mickey is older than his 69-year-old comrade, but has expanded the role of friend and “brother” without fuss. “We would do anything for each other,” he says simply.
Sometimes the company is joined by a third, younger member of the gang: another former Wrexham and Wales player, Neil Roberts.
“I played schoolboy football with his son, so I was lucky that Joey would watch us from the sidelines. My parents made sure I knew he was Mr Wrexham,” says Roberts.
‘He always had time for people and this is a time where we give something back and try to support him in a small way.
‘Joey was the assistant manager when I played for Wrexham. He is genuine, trustworthy, honest and loyal. He doesn’t fully realise how important he is as a footballer, but as a person.
“He makes people believe that they can achieve anything. He taught us that you can compensate for shortcomings with work rate, fitness, attitude and commitment, all those things. When Joey speaks, you really listen. He’s been there, done it and won the T-shirt multiple times.”
Roberts regularly takes Joey to the wine bar Vault 33, which he co-owns on Wrexham High Street. There is a mural of the great Wales team, Mickey and Joey lining up alongside world-class players such as Neville Southall and Mark Hughes.
When the weather is good, they sit with Mickey in a café across the road. ‘You wouldn’t believe how many people stop to talk to them, of all ages,’ says Roberts. ‘He and Mickey talk about the old days. It’s both sad and beautiful.’
Everyone at the Wrexham Hotel has a Joey Jones story to tell. Colin Griffiths, whose father Bryce owned the club, remembers a game against Charlton in which Joey was punched in the underpants.
Joey is still seen as a key part of Liverpool’s historic victory over Borussia Monchengladbach in Rome in 1977
Thomas was once Jones’ rival at Man United but is now one of his closest friends and fans
‘He finally stood up, checked everything was still intact and raised one finger to the audience, then two, and then most emphatically, pumped his fist in celebration. The whole place went wild!’ Colin recalls.
Horne, then a top Welsh international, bid £600 at the auction for a stunning portrait of Joey, painted by his cousin Josh.
Speaking on behalf of United’s ‘enemy’, Buchan, captain of the ’77 team that beat Joey’s Liverpool at Wembley, summed up the universal respect the sport has for one of its great characters.
“When I knew we were going to honor Joey, I wanted to be there,” he said.
‘I always liked him, even as a rival. He had a fighting spirit, he had spirit. I bet most Premier League teams these days wish they had players with his heart — United included.’
