Neil Jones (footballer)

Neil Warren Jones (born 16 February 1982) is a New Zealand collegiate soccer coach and former professional footballer. Jones is the current head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers men's soccer team at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Neil Jones
Personal information
Full name Neil Warren Jones
Date of birth (1982-02-16) 16 February 1982
Place of birth Takapuna, New Zealand
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Wisconsin Badgers (head coach)
Youth career
Westlake Boys High School
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2004 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 75 (36)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004 Cape Cod Crusaders 9 (3)
2005 East Coast Bays AFC
2005 Queensland Roar FC 0 (0)
2005 Kuala Lumpur FA
International career
1999 New Zealand U17 3 (0)
New Zealand U20
New Zealand U23
2004 New Zealand 2 (1[lower-alpha 1])
Managerial career
2006–2009 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (assistant)
2010–2012 Northwestern Wildcats (assistant/associate)
2013–2021 Loyola Ramblers
2022– Wisconsin
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early life and education

Jones was born 16 February 1982 in Takapuna, New Zealand, to parents Fran and Barry Jones.[7] Growing up in New Zealand, he spent time with many football clubs, among them Rangitoto (Juniors), East Coast Bays AFC, Dunedin Technical, Waitakere City F.C., and Westlake Boys High School.[7] He would later attend the University of Otago briefly before transferring to the University of California, Santa Barbara.[7]

While at UCSB, Jones was a student-athlete on the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer team, studying in the nationally-ranked UCSB Geography Program.[7] Alongside fellow Kiwi freshman defender Tony Lochhead, Jones appeared in 14 games, scoring 3 goals and adding an assist.[8] He was moved in his second year from defense to forward by coach Tim Vom Steeg.[7] As a forward, Jones led the attack for the Gauchos and culminated in an appearance of the 2004 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship final match, losing on penalties. For his UCSB career, Jones appeared in 75 games and scored 36 goals with 15 assists.[8][9][10][11]

Professional playing career

While enrolled at UCSB, Jones appeared for Cape Cod Crusaders of the USL PDL. In 2004 alongside Gaucho teammate Drew McAthy, Jones appeared in 9 games and scored 3 goals.[12]

After leaving Santa Barbara, Jones went on trial with European clubs, including Atlético Madrid and Aalesunds FK, in hopes of securing a professional contract.[13] While with Aalesunds FK, the training staff were impressed with his play and wanted Jones to play in front of manager Ivar Morten Normark, who had been out on holiday.[14][15][16] He appeared in a friendly match for Aalesunds against IL Hødd, but he was forced to leave just minutes from the start after fracturing his leg, ending his trial with the club.[17][18][19]

After rehabbing from his injury, Jones spent time with East Coast Bays AFC.[20] He later signed a short-term contract with Queensland Roar FC of the A-League.[20][21] Jones was unable to find his way on to the opening day roster and never competed in a league game for Queensland.

He spent time with Kuala Lumpur FA of the Malaysia Premier League before ending his playing career in 2005.[22][4]

International playing career

Neil has represented New Zealand at the U17, U20, U23, and Senior International squads.[23] As a member of the New Zealand U17 "dream team", Jones competed in the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship held in New Zealand.[24] He appeared in all three of New Zealand's Group A games, but New Zealand failed to advance.[25][26]

Jones was named to the New Zealand senior international team for the 2004 OFC Nations Cup for 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification. He made his debut on 4 June 2004 against Tahiti national football team and scored a goal.A [1] His last appearance was two days later on 6 June against Fiji.[27]

Coaching career

It was announced in March 2006 that Jones was added to the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer team coaching staff by Tim Vom Steeg as an assistant coach.[28] The team would go on to win the 2006 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship.

After four seasons at his alma mater, Jones moved on to be an assistant coach at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, under Tim Lenahan.[29] Ahead of the 2012 season, Jones was promoted to associate head coach.[30]

On 20 December 2012, Jones was introduced as the head coach of Loyola University Chicago's men's soccer team.[31]

On 10 January 2022, Jones was hired as the head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers men's soccer team, replacing John Trask.[32]

Record by year

Source: [33]

Statistics overview
Season Coach Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Loyola Chicago Ramblers (Missouri Valley Conference) (2013–2021)
2013 Loyola Chicago 6–11–22–3–15th
2014 Loyola Chicago 8–6–52–2–25th
2015 Loyola Chicago 10–4–52–2–25th
2016 Loyola Chicago 14–4–16–1–11stNCAA 2nd round
2017 Loyola Chicago 7–8–33–4–1T–4th
2018 Loyola Chicago 10–7–23–1–22nd
2019 Loyola Chicago 11–5–45–2–32ndNCAA 1st round
2020 Loyola Chicago 7–4–25–2–1T–2nd
2021 Loyola Chicago 9–5–26–3–12nd
Loyola Chicago: 82–54–26 (.586)34–20–14 (.603)
Wisconsin Badgers (Big Ten Conference) (2022–present)
2022 Wisconsin 6–6–43–4–1T–6th
Wisconsin: 6–6–4 (.500)3–4–1 (.438)
Total:88–60–30 (.579)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Notes
  1. FIFA[1] and the Oceania Football Confederation[2] have credited Jones with one international goal while multiple other sources, including Soccer America,[3] ESPN,[4][5] and The Age,[6] have credited him with two; the discrepancy surrounds the goal scored in the 87/88th minute of New Zealand's 10–0 victory over Tahiti on 4 June 2004 which FIFA/OFC awarded to Ryan Nelsen.

References
  1. "Match Report: New Zealand – Tahiti 10:0 (5:0)". FIFA. 4 June 2004. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  2. "Match 10: All Whites thrash Tahiti 10–0". Oceania Football Confederation. 4 June 2004. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  3. "WORLD CUP QUALIFYING: Results (June 4–6)". Soccer America. Oakland, California. 8 June 2004. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  4. Powers, Scott (21 September 2010). "NU's Jones proud of Kiwis' tie". ESPN. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  5. "2006 World Cup Qualifying – OFC, Round 2". ESPN. 4 June 2004. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  6. Lynch, Michael (5 June 2004). "Kiwis restore some pride by thrashing Tahiti". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  7. "2004 UCSB Soccer Preview" (PDF). UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. CSTV. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 April 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  8. "2001 UC Santa Barbara Combined Team Statistics". UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. 19 November 2001. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  9. "2002 UC Santa Barbara Combined Team Statistics". UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. 29 November 2002. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  10. "2003 Final Overall Statistics". UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. 14 June 2004. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  11. "2004 UC Santa Barbara Overall Individual Statistics". UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. 14 December 2004. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  12. "2004 Cape Cod Crusaders roster and statistics". uslsoccer.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2004. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  13. "Men's Soccer names new Head Coach: Former Northwestern Associate Coach Neil Jones to lead Ramblers". Loyola Phoenix. Chicago. 16 January 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  14. Skuseth, Helge (13 March 2008). "AaFK tester new zealender". Sunnmørsposten (in Norwegian). Ålesund, Norway. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  15. Skuseth, Helge; Johansen, June R. (13 March 2008). "Jones – en spennende spiller". Sunnmørsposten (in Norwegian). Ålesund, Norway. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  16. Skuseth, Helge (13 March 2008). "AaFK liker fortsatt Jones". Sunnmørsposten (in Norwegian). Ålesund, Norway. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  17. "AaFK slo Hødd 5–0 med 1300 tilskuere". Sunnmørsposten (in Norwegian). Ålesund, Norway. 13 March 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  18. Skuseth, Helge (13 March 2008). ""Svart hav" for AaFK". Sunnmørsposten (in Norwegian). Ålesund, Norway. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  19. "Former Gauchos Excel in the Pros; Rosenlund to Face U.S. Youth National Team". UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. 17 May 2005. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  20. "Neil Jones Signs in Australia; Kennedy Continutes [sic] to Shine". UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. 6 July 2005. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  21. Zander, Joel (18 August 2005). "Queensland Roar: Build it and they will come". ABC Online. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  22. "Soccer: Nine newcomers in All Whites". The New Zealand Herald. Auckland, New Zealand. 24 January 2006. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  23. Neil Jones New Zealand Bio Archived 27 June 2005 at the Wayback Machine From http://www.nzsoccer.com Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved 6 June 2008.
  24. Holloway, Steven (30 May 2015). "Football: Unknown teen squad put round-ball game on map". The New Zealand Herald. Auckland, New Zealand. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  25. "FIFA U-17 World Championship New Zealand 1999 – Statistics – Players – Top cards". FIFA. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  26. "New Zealand Junior (U-16/U-17) – International Matches". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  27. "Match Report: Fiji – New Zealand 0:2 (0:1)". FIFA. 6 June 2004. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  28. "UCSB Adds Philadelphia University Head Coach Wilson, UCSB Alum Jones To Coaching Staff". UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. 22 March 2006. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  29. "Neil Jones Named Assistant Men's Soccer Coach". Northwestern Wildcats. 5 May 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  30. "Neil Jones Named Head Men's Soccer Coach at Loyola". Northwestern Wildcats. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  31. "Loyola Names Neil Jones Men's Soccer Coach". Loyola Ramblers. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  32. Doherty, Leah (10 January 2022). "Neil Jones named UW Men's Soccer Coach". nbc15.com. Gray Television. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  33. "Men's Soccer Archives". CBS Interactive. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
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