Billy Jones (footballer Born 1987) - Club Career - Crewe Alexandra

Crewe Alexandra

Born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, Jones joined Crewe as a trainee at a young age following a recommendation to then-manager Dario Gradi by former Crewe centre half Dave Walton. Jones worked his way through the Crewe Academy ranks on in 2003 Jones signed his first professional contract for the club.

The English defender made his debut for the club at sixteen years of age against Derby County as a substitute for Justin Cochrane; the Railwaymen went onto win the game 3–0 with goals from Andrew Barrowman, Dean Ashton and Ben Rix. Jones went onto to play a further 26 league games, which also included his first goal for the club against Wigan Athletic, which later won the "Goal of the Season" award. Jones later added the "Young Player of the Year" award to his collection.

Despite his young age, the young defender continued to be a regular in the Crewe first team. Jones played a total of 20 league games during the 2004–05 season, none of them as a substitute. This was also the only season in which Jones failed to score a league goal for Crewe.

Jones had an impressive 2005–06 season despite the club's relegation from the Football League Championship. Jones played in a central midfield role for most of the season before moving to a left-back role at the end of the season with the signing of Tony Grant during the January transfer window to fill in his midfield role for the remainder of the season. Jones scored seven goals over the season, becoming the club's top goalscorer. Jones later won the "Player of the Year" award.

"When I was playing for Shrewsbury all you would hear in town was 'Billy Jones, Billy Jones, Billy Jones'. Everything about him is impressive – he can play in so many different positions too – and no wonder other clubs are keen."

Jones was joined by more experienced defenders for the 2006–07 season, namely ex-Aston Villa player Neil Cox and Notts County's Julien Baudet. He played his 100th league game for the club ten games into the season against Millwall. In October 2006, Jones rejected an extension to his contract at Crewe. A week after rejecting his contract, Crewe put Jones on the transfer list, This resulted in a number of clubs being linked with a move for the young defender, most notably Premiership club Manchester City, who were, according to the Daily Mirror, lining up a £1.5 million offer for him.

Jones was later joined by Jon Otsemobor and Luke Rodgers on the Crewe transfer list. However, Jones was in a different position to both Otsemobor and Rodgers because of his age, as Crewe manager Dario Gradi said that he would take a chance on a tribunal, meaning that Jones could stay at Crewe until the end of his contract and the club would still get a fee for Jones' transfer.

Following a rejected offer by Stoke City, the Daily Mail reported the Everton were, in their words, "moving in " on the English defender.