Legend will be missed

It is with great sadness that we report the death of former Stafford Rangers forward Roger Jones on 2 October.

Jones, a Stafford man, made 300 appearances for Rangers. His 105 goals helped the club to some of its most notable achievements.

He was a member of the side that reached the 4th Round of the FA Cup in 1974/75 and the FA Trophy final in 1976 and 1979. Although Rangers were beaten 3-2 by Scarborough in the dramatic 1976 final, it was Jones who got both of the Stafford goals.

He was on Walsall’s books as a youth during which time he was in the England Youth squad. He initially joined Rangers at the age of 19 from local Amateur League club Kingston in the summer of 1968 and made his debut at Ashton United on 10th August 1968 in Rangers’ 5-0 away victory on the opening day of the Cheshire League season.

He scored his first goal for the club two days later at Marston Road against Winsford United and was the regular centre forward that season and scored 28 goals as Rangers finished second to secure ‘promotion’ to the Northern Premier League.

Roger played in the opening NPL game against Fleetwood but after playing just a handful of games and scoring one goal he joined Rhyl in October 1969.

Later, he moved to Oswestry and it was while he was with the Shropshire side that he made a guest appearance for the Rangers at Chelmsford City in the Non League Champions Trophy at the end of the 1972 season as Ray Williams was unavailable.

Despite an impressive performance on his return to the black and white stripes, he remained with Oswestry for another season before Roy Chapman brought him back to Marston Road as a replacement for Brian Fidler.

His second spell at Marston Road was to last three years during which time Roger played a part in the memorable F.A. Cup run to the Fourth Round in 1974/75, scoring a hat-trick at Kings Lynn. Injury rules him out of the tie v Stockport County but he was back for the subsequent rounds which saw victories over Halifax Town and Rotherham United before the epic run came to an end against Peterborough United in front of 31,160 at Stoke City’s Victoria Ground.

In the following season he was a member of the team which narrowly missed out on a repeat of the treble success achieved by the club in 1972 as Rangers finished runners up in the Northern Premier League, FA Trophy and Staffs Senior Cup.

In that FA Trophy final defeat at Wembley that day he produced a superb performance and became only the second player to score twice in the Final. At the end of the season, Roger travelled to Italy with Rangers and scored against both Udinese and Monza in the Anglo Italian Tournament.

He left Stafford that summer for Nuneaton Borough but after 14 months at Manor Park, he returned to Marston Road in September 1977 for a third spell with the club. It was money well spent for Rangers as Jones netted 23 goals in his first season back. At the end of it Rangers won the Staffs Senior Cup with Roger scoring twice at Kidderminster in the first leg of the Final.

Season 1978/79 was to be his last with Stafford. For most of it, he led the attack but when Alf Wood fully recovered from his broken leg, Roger found himself third choice striker behind Wood and Mick Cullerton. He returned to Wembley in May 1979 for the victorious FA Trophy Final victory over Kettering but had to be content with the substitute’s shirt.

He left Marston Road for the Bucks Head Ground, playing in 12 league games for Telford and scoring a late equaliser in their 2-2 with draw with Stafford. Later in 1979/80 he joined Worcester and made two league appearances for them that season and completed his career with spells at Cheltenham Town, Hednesford Town and Walsall Borough.

After his playing days were over, he became a frequent visitor to Marston Road with good friends Stuart Chapman and Ben Seddon, watching the current players of the club that he helped to make so well known throughout the country.

Stafford Rangers FC.