Early career Jones was born in
Point Fortin, Trinidad and Tobago, to Lydia and Pamphile. and he attended St. Anthony's College in Trinidad along with his future Sunderland teammate
Carlos Edwards. and was a similar player to Kenwyne W Connection's Chairman David John Williams described Jones's move, saying: "When Kenwyne Jones was transferred to Southampton, I told you all that he is going to be the biggest thing in Trinidad and Tobago football since beside Dwight Yorke". In December 2004, while on loan to the
Football League One club
Sheffield Wednesday, he scored seven goals in seven games, and returned to Southampton in January 2005, where he played in games against
Liverpool and local rivals
Portsmouth. He joined Championship side
Stoke City in February 2005 on loan where he played 13 times, scoring three goals. Before the start of the
2006–07 season, Jones scored a
hat trick against
Anderlecht in Southampton's last pre-season game. Meanwhile, in the
Football League Championship Jones scored two goals against
Birmingham City on 29 November, which ended 4–3 to Southampton. On 26 December 2006, he received the first
red card of his career for a push on
Mark Hudson in the match against
Crystal Palace. He scored another two goals against
Southend United in a 4–1 win on the last day of the season to ensure a place in the play-offs for Southampton, following this, Jones was injured for the play-off semi-final defeat at
Derby County but finished the season with 16 goals. This followed news that
Derby County wanted to sign Jones for around £5.5 million. Jones submitted a transfer request to Southampton on 24 August 2007 and went on "
strike" until a move could be agreed, requesting not to be selected for the forthcoming league match against Stoke City.
Sunderland On 29 August 2007, it was confirmed that he had joined Sunderland in a deal valued at £6 million with fellow Trinidadian
Stern John moving to Southampton. Jones made his debut for Sunderland on 1 September in a 1–0 defeat to
Manchester United and scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 home win over
Reading on 15 September. Jones was linked with a £12 million player move to Liverpool in November 2007, with
Peter Crouch moving to Sunderland. Jones was again linked with high-profile clubs on 21 December 2007, including
Chelsea and
Liverpool, but Sunderland manager
Roy Keane insisted that he would be going nowhere. Jones scored his fifth goal at the
Stadium of Light, with a header from the near post from a corner kick, in Sunderland's 3–1 win over
Bolton Wanderers on 29 December.
Chelsea captain
John Terry praised Jones, saying he was probably the "best in the air in the Premier League" after Chelsea had won the match 1–0 on 15 March 2008. On 1 June 2008, Jones suffered a knee ligament injury in a collision with
goalkeeper David James in the seventh minute of
Trinidad & Tobago's 3–0 defeat against
England. He made his first appearance of the 2008–09 season playing for 60 minutes in Sunderland reserve team's 2–0 victory against
Wigan Athletic., followed by a return to Sunderland's first team in the
Tyne–Wear derby on 25 October 2008 as a second-half substitute, when he helped Sunderland to secure a 2–1 victory over their local rivals. His first goal following his return came on 12 November in a 2–1
League Cup defeat against
Blackburn Rovers. He continued his recovery from injury with a goal, again against Blackburn, on 15 November 2008 as Sunderland won 2–1. Jones put an end to speculation linking him with a move to
Tottenham Hotspur by signing a -year contract at the Stadium of Light on 27 January 2009. After a spell of six games without a goal, Jones scored against
Manchester United in a 2–1 defeat. On 22 August Jones contributed to Sunderland's 2–1 victory over Blackburn Rovers by scoring two goals. Jones again contributed with two goals for Sunderland when they were at home to Wolves on 27 September, in a 5–2 win. One goal being the highlight of the game, curling the ball in from 22 yards out. Jones scored his fifth goal of the season with a header against Manchester United, outjumping
Ben Foster to give Sunderland a 2–1 lead but in the dying moments of the match at
Old Trafford,
Patrice Evra's shot was deflected in for an own-goal by
Anton Ferdinand to level it up and end the match as a 2–2 draw. Jones scored his sixth goal of the season with a close-range header against
Manchester City, which City won 4–3. On 6 February, Jones scored his seventh goal of the season with another header against Wigan Athletic which ended up 1–1 at the Stadium of Light. Jones then scored again against Manchester City bringing his tally to eight, with a spectacular header at the Stadium of Light, which ended up 1–1. He also opened the scoring against
Wolves on the final day of the season, netting after a strike deflected off Jody Craddock after 8 minutes, but Wolves would go on to win 2–1.
Stoke City On 11 August 2010, Jones signed for
Stoke City on a four-year deal for a club record fee of £8 million. Jones took a wage cut in order to join Stoke. Jones took over the number 9 shirt from the departing
James Beattie who had joined
Rangers. He made his second debut for City against
Wolverhampton Wanderers on 14 August 2010, he made a bright start hitting the crossbar with his first shot. However, after falling awkwardly from a challenge from
Jody Craddock on 14 minutes Jones was forced to come off. On 13 September, Jones scored his first goal for Stoke on his home debut against
Aston Villa in a 2–1 win. Jones followed this by scoring against
West Ham United,
Fulham in the
League Cup and
Newcastle United. He scored the second goal on 13 November in a 2–0 win against Liverpool at the Britannia Stadium. After six games without a goal and some criticism from supporters, manager Pulis revealed that Jones has had personal problems which have affected his performances. He ended this run with a goal against
Everton on New Year's Day. However, he again went on a goal drought this time for three months before scoring against
Tottenham Hotspur in April. He then went on a similar scoring run he had at the start of the season scoring against
Bolton Wanderers at Wembley,
Aston Villa,
Wolverhampton Wanderers and then had an opportunity to become the first Stoke player to score in four consecutive
Premier League matches against
Blackpool but he missed an open goal. He made amends the following match scoring against
Arsenal in a 3–1 win. Jones played in the
2011 FA Cup Final as Stoke lost 1–0 to
Manchester City, he had Stoke's best chance in the match going through one on one with
Joe Hart who saved Jones's effort. Jones ended the
2010–11 as joint top goalscorer with
Jonathan Walters, both scored 12 goals. Jones said that he had a 'topsy-turvy' first season at Stoke. Jones started the
2011–12 season well scoring against
Norwich City and twice against
FC Thun in the
UEFA Europa League. With Stoke signing
Peter Crouch at the end of August, Jones found himself out of favour and was restricted to cup and European matches. This has led to speculation that Jones could be leaving the club in the 2012 January transfer window but Pulis insists that he is still in his plans. He scored an historic goal for Stoke against
Dynamo Kyiv to earn them a 1–1 draw which secured Stoke's qualification to the knock-out stage of the Europa League. In
2012–13 Jones remained behind Crouch in Pulis' starting line-up restricting him to cameo appearances off the bench. He regained his place in December 2012 after injury to Crouch and scored his first
Premier League goal for sixteen months in a 1–1 draw with
Everton. Jones continued his revival scoring against
Liverpool on boxing day, and against his old club Southampton on 29 December. Jones lost his place once Crouch had returned to the side and he ended the season on a sour note as he was involved in a dressing room bust-up with
Glenn Whelan. At the end of the season
Tony Pulis was replaced by
Mark Hughes and Jones was critical of the style of football played under Pulis. Jones began the
2013–14 season by scoring his first professional hat-trick against
Walsall in the
League Cup on 28 August 2013. On 12 January 2014, Jones failed to arrive for Stoke's home game against Liverpool citing "personal problems", he was then fined two weeks wages by Hughes for his non-appearance.
Cardiff City and
Mamadou Sakho in 2014 On 28 January 2014, Jones joined
Cardiff City in a player-exchange with
Peter Odemwingie. Jones scored a debut goal for the Bluebirds on 1 February 2014, netting the winner in a 2–1 triumph against
Norwich City, just one minute after
Craig Bellamy had equalised. He played 11 times for Cardiff in the
2013–14 as they suffered relegation to the Championship. Jones scored on his debut for the Cherries on 3 April 2015 helping them to earn a 1–1 draw against
Ipswich Town. Jones made six substitute appearances for the Cherries as they won the Championship title, gaining promotion to the Premier League. Upon returning to Cardiff, Jones found himself on the bench following an injury picked up on international duty over the summer. Jones's return to the first XI, resulted in him finding himself on the score sheet in a 2–0 win over
Wolverhampton Wanderers. Initial reports that his form had inclined manager,
Russell Slade to open contract talks with him and the club in the final months of 2015 turned out to be untrue. On 5 January 2016, Jones joined
UAE-based club
Al Jazira on loan until the end of the 2015–16 season.
Atlanta United On 15 July 2016, Jones signed for newly formed
Major League Soccer side
Atlanta United for their inaugural 2017 season. Jones was released by Atlanta at the end of the 2017 season. On 10 December 2017, his MLS rights were traded by Atlanta to
Sporting Kansas City in exchange for a second-round selection in the
2018 MLS SuperDraft, midfielder
Kévin Oliveira, and defender
Tyler Pasher. Kansas City also received goalkeeper
Alexander Tambakis and a fourth-round selection in the 2021
MLS SuperDraft as part of the trade. ==International career==