He was educated at
Swansea Grammar School and
Queens' College, Cambridge, where he read Modern Languages. He started his teaching career at
Kimbolton School and subsequently taught French and coached the First XI Football Team at
Bradfield College. His career as a broadcaster began in 1965 after a chance meeting with
Maurice Edelston, who lived in nearby
Reading. In his early years he commentated on group matches in the
1966 World Cup, held in
England. At the
1970,
1974,
1978,
1982 and
1986 he was the main commentator on the
World Cup, covering the
final. Along with his regular weekly football commentaries, Jones covered almost every major football event from the late 1960s until his death, including the
FA Cup Final of
1968, the
replay (but not the first match) in
1970 and all finals from
1971 to
1989 with the exception of 1982 when he covered the Papal Visit. He described victories for English clubs in the
European Cup finals of
1968,
1977,
1978,
1979,
1980,
1981,
1982 and
1984, and in
1985 he gave an eloquent description of the
Heysel Stadium disaster. As a presenter rather than a commentator, he fronted the BBC's coverage of
Wimbledon during the 1970s and 1980s, and frequently presented the BBC's Saturday afternoon radio sports coverage (
Sports Service until 1970,
Sport on Two from then until 1990) from the late 1960s to the late 1980s.He described the Olympic Opening Ceremony in 1976, 1980,1984 and 1988. He was the BBC's regular commentator on
swimming for many years, covering the sport at many
Olympic and
Commonwealth Games, often with
Anita Lonsbrough. He occasionally commentated on
cricket, and often covered the
Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race which turned out to be his last time commentating on a sporting event. As a serious broadcaster with a mellifluous voice and a deep sense of gravitas, he was regularly called upon to describe the opening and closing ceremonies at events such as the
Olympic Games and World Cup, and also covered non-sporting events such as
the wedding of
Prince Charles to
Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, and that of
Prince Andrew to
Sarah, Sarah Ferguson in
1986. He also lent his talents to coverage of the
State Opening of Parliament. Almost unrivalled for his ability to paint word pictures and capture the excitement of a great occasion, Jones was still regarded as a great broadcaster in the late 1980s, despite the rise of younger, brasher commentators who did not share his
Standard English accent. He was deeply affected and saddened by the
Hillsborough disaster in 1989, which he witnessed from the commentary box, and gave an emotional description of the memorial service for the victims of the disaster, reciting the words of "
You'll Never Walk Alone". He continued to broadcast regularly, but it has been claimed that he never fully recovered emotionally and personally from the experience of witnessing the Hillsborough disaster, and on 31 March 1990 he collapsed on the BBC launch during his commentary on the
Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. He was hospitalised at the end of the race, but died some 36 hours later. He was universally mourned as a great broadcaster and, perhaps, the last of a line, for soon after his death sports broadcasting in the UK underwent a revolution with the arrival of
Sky TV and of
BBC Radio 5 (later
BBC Radio 5 Live), taking a more informal and, arguably, more populist and less eloquent style. ==Personal life==