Published 25 May 2021 2 min read
England Men's Senior Team
Jones to join England men's coaching staff
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There will be a new face among England’s coaching team at UEFA EURO 2020, as Graeme Jones joins the Three Lions.
Gareth Southgate revealed the current Newcastle United first team coach will be joining his staff for the summer, following the departure Allan Russell ahead of the tournament.
Gateshead-born Jones brings on board a wealth of coaching experience, having been a long-term assistant to Roberto Martinez who he’s worked alongside since 2007 during stints with Swansea City, Wigan Athletic, Everton and the Belgium national team.
More recently, the former Doncaster Rovers and Wigan striker has had a spell in charge at Luton Town, and assistant manager roles at both West Bromwich Albion and AFC Bournemouth prior to a move back to his native north-east and the job at Newcastle in January 2021.
"We won't have a like for like replacement [for Allan Russell] in that specific area of work, but we're really pleased to be able to bring Graeme Jones in,” said Southgate, following the announcement of his provisional squad for EURO 2020.
"He's been working at Newcastle, and I've known Graeme for quite a while.
“He's got great experiences of tournament football with Roberto Martinez, and as an assistant manager and a manager.
"So I'm really pleased that with Graeme, Steve Holland, Martyn Margetson, who has been to semi-finals with us and with Wales, and Chris Powell that we've got a really strong coaching team.”
As a player, Jones was a robust centre-forward whose goalscoring exploits in the north-east non-League scene with the likes of North Shields and Bridlington Town earned him a move into the professional game with Doncaster Rovers in 1993.
From there he moved onto Wigan in 1996, where he first played with Martinez, and he then headed north of the border with St. Johnstone before spells at Southend United and Boston United among others.
His coaching career began with Hamilton Academical, where he took on the assistant manager role in 2006 after the end of his playing career before linking up with Martinez the following year.