Happy birthday to an all-time great of Llŷn and Arfon football – Jason Jones

If Orig Williams and Tarw Nefyn were North Wales football legends of the 1960’s then the same applies to Jason Jones and John Gwynfor Jones in the 2000’s and 2010’s.

The long-time friends made a big impact in both Llŷn and Arfon football across those decades as players and managers.

Today one of the pair celebrates a birthday – Jason Jones, who was born on January 6, 1977.

As a player, Jason was perhaps renowned most for his fitness and covering every blade of grass during a game.

An attacking midfielder, he also scored plenty of goals, often both spectacular and of match-turning importance.

At his peak, in and around tier 3 Welsh Alliance level, few could influence a game like Jason could.

A long career included spells at Porthmadog, Bangor City, Bishop Auckland, Llanberis, Caernarfon Town and Pwllheli, but perhaps he is best known for his achievements at Nefyn United, as player-manager.

As a schoolboy Jason developed his talents at Crewe Alexandra.

While serving in the military, based in Catterick, he played a few games for Northern Premier League club Bishop Auckland, but a new posting brought that experience to a sudden halt.

Next for Jason was a move to Bangor City, where he was joined by best friend John Gwynfor Jones.

It was the early 2000’s and former Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and England player Peter Davenport was manager at Farrar Road.

The squad was a strong one and it didn’t quite work out for Jason and John, who left to join Porthmadog.

This was a great era for Port under Viv Williams and current Crystal Palace assistant-boss Osian Roberts.

In 2002-03, the Traeth men lifted the Cymru Alliance title by a massive 19 points, and scooped the League Cup and NWCFA Challenge Cup to make it a momentous treble.

Jason went on to become player-manager of Nefyn United, winning promotion from the Gwynedd League in 2004-05 and beginning a long spell in the Welsh Alliance.

The Penwaig finished sixth in their debut campaign and Jason was crowned 2005/06 League Player of the Season – a fantastic achievement.

John Gwynfor Jones took over as manager at Cae’r Delyn in 2008-09 and it was not too long before Jason moved to Llanberis to live and started playing for the Darans.

Two years later Jason switched to Llanrug United for a short time and then began a successful stay at Caernarfon Town.

He was a member of the Caernarfon side that beat his old club Nefyn 2-1 to lift the Barritt Cup in 2010-11.

Jason remained at The Oval for 2011/12, starting 28 games and making a further 11 appearances from the bench, netting four times as the Canaries finished fourth in Welsh Alliance Division One.

Next stop for Jason was a stint as player-manager at Pwllheli before returning to Llanberis, where he spent another couple of years.

Jason finally retired from football in 2018 to concentrate on family life with wife Lois Eirian and their two daughters.

What he brought to North Wales football as a player and manager will never be forgotten.

Penblwydd hapus Jason.