Rhonda Jones

Rhonda Jones (Born 30 March 1979) is a retired Scottish footballer who played as a defender and won over 100 caps for the Scotland national team. A right-back or central defender,[3] Jones played for Tampa Bay Hellenic in the United States.[1] She then captained Hibernian Ladies and played for English FA WSL club Doncaster Rovers Belles, before returning to Scotland for spells with Celtic, Glasgow City and Rangers.

Rhonda Jones
Personal information
Date of birth (1979-03-30) 30 March 1979
Place of birth Bellshill, Scotland
Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Playing position(s) Defender
Youth career
Motherwell Rovers[1]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–2000 Ayr United Ladies
2000–2004 Florida Atlantic Owls
2005 Central Florida Krush
2006 Cocoa Expos
2008 Tampa Bay Hellenic
2008–2011 Hibernian Ladies
2011 Doncaster Rovers Belles 6 (0)
2011–2015 Celtic 38 (6)
2015–2016 Glasgow City
2016 Rangers
National team
1998–2013 Scotland[2] 117 (4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Jones played youth football with Motherwell Rovers then joined Ayr United Ladies at 16. In five years at Ayr, Jones won various Player of the Year awards, including SWPL Player of the Year, as well as the Scottish Cup in 1999.[3] At the age of 21 Jones won a scholarship to Florida Atlantic University and competed for the Division 1 soccer team while completing a degree in graphic design. She became the most decorated athlete in the history of FAU's women's soccer program and won a place in the University Athlete Hall of Fame in 2009.[4]

At the culmination of her studies Jones remained in America and played for semi-professional W-League clubs Central Florida Krush, Cocoa Expos and Tampa Bay Hellenic.[3] She returned home to sign for Hibernian Ladies in September 2008,[2] and captained the club to their 2010 Scottish Cup final win at Recreation Park.[5] In May 2011 Jones appeared as a second–half substitute in Hibernian's 5–2 Scottish Women's Premier League Cup final win over Spartans.[6]

Scottish coach John Buckley signed Jones for Doncaster Rovers Belles in July 2011, for the second half of the 2011 FA WSL season.[7]

Jones joined Celtic for the 2012 season. She then signed for Glasgow City in January 2015[8] before joining Rangers prior to the 2016 season.[9] She retired from football in November 2016.[10]

International career

Jim Fleeting called Jones into the senior Scotland squad at the age of 18, after spotting her playing for Ayr United. She made her debut against Estonia at Somerset Park in May 1998.[11] In the semi final of the Albena Cup in April 1999, she scored Scotland's equalising goal against North Korea.[12] Jones did not play for Scotland for four years while at University in America, but scored on her return to the team in September 2004. She headed in Suzanne Grant's corner in the last minute to give Scotland a 3–2 EURO 2005 qualifying win over Czech Republic at Victoria Park, Dingwall.[13]

Jones reached the milestone of fifty caps for Scotland in a UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying tie against Denmark at McDiarmid Park, Perth in October 2007.[14]

In December 2011 Jones was one of four Celtic women's team players to be approached about playing for Team GB at the 2012 Olympics.[15]

With Scotland 1–0 down to Republic of Ireland in their April 2012 EURO 2013 qualifier at Tynecastle Stadium, Jones scored a late equaliser as the Scots came back to win 2–1.[16] The following month she made her 100th senior appearance for Scotland, in a 3–1 friendly win over Poland in Gdańsk.[17]

International goals
Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentResultCompetitionScored
117 April 1999Varna North Korea1–1Albena Cup1
25 September 2004Victoria Park, Dingwall Czech Republic3–22005 UEFA Women's Championship qual.1
35 April 2012Tynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh Republic of Ireland2–12013 UEFA Women's Championship qual.1
411 March 2013GSZ Stadium, Larnaca Italy2–12013 Cyprus Cup1

Outside football

Jones was employed as a sport development officer at Grangemouth Stadium and lived in her hometown of Newarthill.[18] Having also worked in graphic design and childcare during her playing career, she became a full-time firefighter with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service after retiring from football.[10]

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gollark: Also, how can we prove that common special functions don't have this kind of backdoor?
gollark: See, this is what I'm worried about.
gollark: Those are probably contaminated.
gollark: I can't use them due to the Greek letter shortage.

See also

References
  1. "Rhonda Jones". Youth Football Scotland. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  2. "Rhonda Jones - Women's A Squad". The Scottish FA. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  3. "Rhonda Jones". Tampa Bay Hellenic. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  4. "Rhonda Jones". Florida Atlantic University. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  5. "Hibs ladies end Scottish Cup wait". Alloa Advertiser. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  6. "Five-star Hibs lift League Cup". Women's Soccer Scene. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  7. "Belles Strengthen Backline". Doncaster Rovers Belles. 19 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  8. "Rhonda Jones becomes City's third close season signing". Glasgow City F.C. 2 January 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  9. Campbell, Alan (7 May 2016). "Football: Rhonda Jones is key as Rangers plot a Hibs cup upset". The National. Glasgow. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  10. ""It's tougher than training for a World Cup"". Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. 7 February 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  11. "Interview: Rhonda Jones: 75th cap!". Broughton Girls Footy. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  12. "Women Reach Cup Final". Scottish Football Association. 19 April 1999. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  13. Clark, Ginny (8 September 2004). "WOMEN'S FOOTBALL: Scots left to sweat over their Euro fate". Daily Record. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  14. "Scotland lose to Denmark". Spartans W.F.C. 31 October 2007. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  15. "Olympic approach for four Scottish women". BBC Sport. 23 December 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
  16. "Scotland 2-1 Ireland". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 6 April 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  17. "Scotland women decisive in Gdansk". Scottish Football Association. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  18. Alan Campbell (1 August 2010). "Scots stars on why women's football is world's fastest-growing sport". Sunday Mail. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
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