Former Liverpool and Barnsley striker Lee Jones speaks exclusively to the ECHO ahead of Monday night’s FA Cup third round match between his two former clubs.
Darwin Núñez signs for Liverpool FC at the AXA Training Center(Image: Liverpool FC 2022)
When Liverpool host Barnsley at Anfield in the FA Cup third round on Monday night, former Wales international Lee Jones will be one of the most interested observers as two of his former clubs clash.
The 52-year-old spent five years with the Reds in the 1990s, but the striker found himself behind the likes of Ian Rush, Robbie Fowler and Stan Collymore in the pecking order.
He left for Tranmere Rovers in 1997, where he would play under Liverpool legend John Aldridge, then spent two years with Barnsley at the turn of the millennium before returning to Wrexham for a fourth season with his boyhood club, having moved to Anfield from the Welsh team in 1992 in the first place.
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Jones hopes to see Barnsley take on Liverpool. And with Wrexham already through to the fourth round of the FA Cup, courtesy of a penalty shoot-out victory over Nottingham Forest on Friday night, they are already hopeful of mixed allegiances again in the next round.
“Yes, it’s a really good tie, isn’t it? As a football fan, everyone is looking forward to the third round of the FA Cup,” Jones said in an exclusive interview with the ECHO. “I think it’s a really exciting tie and obviously both teams will enjoy their chances on the day.
“It would be nice if Wrexham actually beat Liverpool or Barnsley in the next round. “Obviously they would be two games involving two former teams of mine, so they are both games I will be keeping an eye on.
“I would probably say I would (return) to Wrexham firstly. Obviously Liverpool is close to my heart because I spent five years there, which was a big part of my career.
“But also at Barnsley, I really enjoyed my time there. “I was at Tranmere when I finished at Liverpool, and Dave Bassett called me up right towards the end of my career there.
“He said Craig Hignett was leaving and they were looking for a replacement. At the time, they had missed out on promotion to the Premier League by being beaten by Ipswich in the play-off final.
“It was a move I couldn’t turn down. I had a couple of options. I just thought it was an ideal opportunity to try and get back into the Premier League.
“But I always keep an eye on the three scoreboards: Wrexham, Liverpool and Barnsley, and also Tranmere Rovers, which I obviously used to play for as well.
“My first 12 months at Tranmere were probably the ones I enjoyed the most in football. And if you can’t learn from a goalscorer like John Aldridge, you’ll never learn anything in football!
“Every day, he was constantly pushing for you to get better and he was carrying us forward to finish practice every day we were there. He was still the best finisher, even at 38 years old at the time. He was a fantastic player.”
Jones has fond memories of the FA Cup from his playing days, having been part of the Wrexham team that knocked out First Division champions Arsenal in 1992 before scoring in the next round against West Ham United.
Jones joined Liverpool in a £300,000 deal just a few months later and believes such occasions finally opened the door to his move to Anfield.
“I have a couple of highlights in the FA Cup,” he recalled. “I was involved in Wrexham when we beat Arsenal in 1992.
“We were at the base of the English pyramid, in 92nd place in the football league and Arsenal were the current champions and we beat them 2-1 at the Hippodrome.
“And then in the next game I came on as a substitute for Wrexham against West Ham and scored to draw 2-2. Unfortunately, they beat us 1-0 in the replay. But yeah, I have good memories.
“I think I was moved to Liverpool based on the FA Cup goal against West Ham. Graeme Souness came to see me about three or four weeks later, played for Wrexham and then ended up signing me.
“I think our game against West Ham was in January and then I ended up signing in March at Liverpool. So I must have done something pretty well in between to move to Liverpool!
“An absolutely fantastic club, played for fantastic coaches and also with incredible players.
“It was a surreal moment joining Liverpool. We were on a day off. I played on Tuesday and scored, and then on Wednesday I was at my girlfriend’s house for the night.
“My mother called me and said, could you come home as soon as possible? And then I remember coming back around five in the afternoon and the president’s car was parked in front of my house. And no one really talked to the president!
“I walked in and the manager and the president were there. They said, ‘Liverpool want to sign you, we’re not going to kick you out, you don’t have to leave, but it would help us enormously financially if you did. We’re under a bit of stress in terms of finances.’
“And I felt like they were obviously one of the biggest clubs, if not the biggest in the world. I couldn’t say no to Liverpool.”
“And it was sort of a by-product of helping Wrexham financially and giving me my chance in football.”
Jones has enjoyed a varied career since hanging up his boots in 2013. He joined Altrincham as assistant manager last October, having previously held the same role at Wealdstone.
But before that, he had enjoyed spells in charge of Tranmere Rovers’ academy, as well as scouting roles at Burnley and Middlesbrough.
But training is always what he wanted to do. And although National League North side Macclesfield made the biggest headlines in the FA Cup third round this weekend, knocking out champions Crystal Palace, they are considering a National League play-off push with Altrincham next season ahead of any domestic cup romance of their own.
“I’m really enjoying it. I spent about six months as assistant manager at Wealdstone under Neil Gibson,” he said. “And then we had the opportunity to go to Altrincham as interim manager and assistant manager.
“We picked up, I think it was four wins and a draw in our first six games and then took on the job permanently. “Our contracts are for another 18 months.
“We’re just trying to change a few things at the club at the moment in terms of players coming in and out.
“So hopefully we do well and we can progress towards the play-offs next season.”
He continued: “My post-playing career has been fantastic. I always wanted to stay in football. Coaching was always something I wanted to stay in.”
“When I finished, when I retired, I set a goal of becoming a Pro license holder within the first five years. I achieved that around 2012, so I’ve always been a Pro license holder since then.
“And then the opportunity came up to do some recruiting. And it was just a little break from the day-to-day norm and the pressure of having to win on a Saturday.
“Obviously it was nice to get out there, see the players, spend probably two or three years abroad in terms of where I watched my football. So my network increased massively during that period and it has benefited me now in terms of getting back into coaching.
“I can call people up and when we look at players I can obviously turn to those people and hopefully we can bring in one or two players for Altrincham.”
Now a National League manager, the players he could help recruit for Altrincham come from a quite different talent pool to the players he was looking for for Burnley and Middlesbrough.
Former Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez was a player on Jones’ radar during his time with the Clarets. But while it’s one thing to identify talent, it’s quite another to see your club actually hire them.
“I saw absolutely a lot of things,” he recalled. “For example, we were watching Darwin Núñez when he was at Benfica, when I was at Burnley.
“Tijjani Reijnders, who is now at Manchester City, Mohammed Kudus, who was at West Ham and is now at Tottenham. So there is a lot to look at when they are young.
“And then you see them following different career paths, now playing in the Premier League.
“To be fair, there are some gems to be seen, but obviously at that point it is a question of whether the club can afford it and whether the player really wants to come to Burnley, as he was before, or to Middlesbrough.”