Kenwyne Jones

Kenwyne Joel Jones CM (born 5 October 1984) is a Trinidadian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He began his football career with Joe Public in his native Trinidad and Tobago. He moved to W Connection in 2002, and he was a utility player in the Trinidad and Tobago team in 2003 against Finland. In 2004, he joined Southampton, where he was converted to a striker. He was later loaned to Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke City during the 2004–05 season.

In 2007, he joined Sunderland for £6 million where he spent three seasons before he signed for Stoke City in August 2010. In his first season at Stoke Jones scored 12 goals and played in the 2011 FA Cup Final. Following the arrival of Peter Crouch in August 2011, Jones struggled to hold down a regular place in the side which saw him score just four more league goals in the next three seasons. In January 2014 he joined Cardiff City in a player-exchange with Peter Odemwingie. Whilst with Cardiff he spent time out on loan at Bournemouth and Al Jazira before moving to Atlanta United in the summer of 2016. Jones decided to retire from football in November 2017.

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. His uncle, Philibert Jones, was also a footballer as a prolific forward for Strike Squad that came within a point of qualifying for the 1990 World Cup and was a similar player to Kenwyne; both in style and celebration. His athleticism and pace, which Sunderland considered attractive, was not established until he joined Sheffield Wednesday in September and began to show his potential.

He had earlier had trials at Manchester United and Middlesbrough in 2002, and further trials at West Ham United and Rangers in 2004. Jones revealed in an interview with Simon Bird that he had to travel around Europe looking for a football club, or face a career in the Trinidad army; he said "It was hard because I'd just had my son and it was make it — or join the army. I had a family to support and at that time, it was either this is it... or I go into the services. I was ready for that life." Jones began his professional career with Joe Public in his native Trinidad and Tobago in 2002. He soon moved to W Connection where he played for two years.

Southampton
Jones playing for Southampton

In July 2004, Jones signed for Southampton from W Connection for a nominal fee after a trial. W Connection's Chairman David John Williams described Jones' 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 that 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.

On 11 May 2007, Southampton manager George Burley stated that "Kenwyne is another Didier Drogba in the making, as far as physical attributes, his strength and power in the air are second to none". 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
Kenwyne Jones in action for Sunderland against Chelsea in 2010

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. The Trinidadian striker 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 off 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 4 and a half-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 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 home from 22yards 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' 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
Jones being challenged by Aly Cissokho 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 started the 2014–15 season strongly, scoring 9 in the first half of the season. However Jones tailed off in 2015, only managing to find the net twice. Due to Cardiff cutting costs, Jones was loaned to league leaders Bournemouth for the remainder of the season, despite being Cardiff's top goal scorer. 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' 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
Kenwyne Jones at the end of the 24 September 2017 match for 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
Jones has been capped at under-18, under-20, under-23 olympic team and the Trinidad and Tobago national team.

He made his debut for the Trinidad and Tobago national team on 29 January 2003 in a match against Finland. Jones scored his first goal on 25 May 2005 in a 4–0 win against Bermuda. He was later selected by Trinidad and Tobago for their 2006 World Cup campaign, where he made his first appearance in the competition in a 2–0 defeat against England on 15 June 2006 at Frankenstadion, Nuremberg. Jones was named as Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation's Player of the Year for 2007. Jones said, "A lot of big names have won this before and I never really thought about something like this happening to me". Jones was named as captain of the Soca Warriors in August 2011 by manager Otto Pfister.

Personal life
Jones earned his U.S. green card in February 2017. This status qualified him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.