Jones played youth football in Wales for Ysgol Y, Berwyn,
Bala Town and
Wrexham, before joining
Rhyl in 1981. After hearing that
Arsenal had offered Jones a trial, Rudge drove over to Rhyl to put a
contract in front of Jones before he had the chance to go to
Highbury. Jones scored his first goal in the
English Football League on 31 August, in a 1–1 home draw with
Rochdale. He also twice played
in goal after
Mark Grew and
Jim Arnold picked up injuries at home to
Rotherham United and away at
Brentford respectively. His goalscoring exploits made him an obvious winner for the club's
Player of the Year award. Further strikes against
York City and
Chesterfield took him to six goals in eight games. In September 1987, First Division
Charlton Athletic broke Vale's transfer record when manager
Lennie Lawrence paid £350,000 for Jones's services after
Alex Ferguson had unsuccessfully tried to sign him for
Manchester United. However, his time with the "Addicks" was not a success – symbolised by a miss against
Liverpool a mere from the goal. He also struggled with injuries. Charlton avoided the
relegation play-offs in
1987–88 after finishing ahead of
Chelsea on
goal difference, Jones scoring six goals in 25 league games. However, by
1988–89, Charlton were willing to sell Jones back to Port Vale for a £175,000 fee, but the striker refused the move. He did though agree to return to Vale on
loan for four months in the latter half of
the season. He hit three goals in 17 games before returning to Charlton before the
play-off win over
Bristol Rovers. Jones scored four goals in nine league games for Charlton in 1988–89, and also played four games on loan at
Joe Jordan's
Bristol City. Charlton were relegated in
1989–90, with Jones scoring five goals in 25 games. After seven
Second Division games with a goal in
1990–91, he
transferred to Third Division
Bournemouth in October 1990. He scored eight goals in forty league games, and
Harry Redknapp's "Cherries" missed out on the play-offs by six points. He moved on to league rivals
Leyton Orient in
1991–92, as
Peter Eustace's side posted a tenth-place finish. Orient missed out on the play-offs in
1992–93, finishing behind
Stockport County on goal difference. He scored 13 goals in 59 league games for Orient before retiring from full-time football following an operation on his
cartilage. Jones later played for
non-League sides
Poole Town and
Havant Town. ==International career==