James Jones (footballer, born 1996)

James Charles Jones (born 13 February 1996) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL League One club Burton Albion.

James Jones

Personal information
Full name	James Charles Jones[1]
Date of birth	(1996-02-13) 13 February 1996 (age 29)[2]
Place of birth	Dundee, Scotland
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Burton
Number	35
Youth career
0000–2014	Crewe Alexandra
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2020	Crewe Alexandra	167	(19)
2020–2021	Lincoln City	36	(1)
2021–2025	Wrexham	105	(13)
2025–	Burton Albion	4	(0)
International career‡
2014–2015	Scotland U19	6	(0)
2016–2017	Scotland U21	4	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 04:18, 3 February 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 19:48, 4 April 2017 (UTC)

Club career

Crewe Alexandra

Jones was born in Dundee.^[2] He made his first-team debut for Crewe Alexandra as a 76th-minute substitute for Danny Haynes in Crewe Alexandra's 1–1 away draw to Crawley Town on 1 November 2014.^[3] He scored his first Crewe goal in a 3–2 win at Colchester United on 7 February 2015.^[4]

In April 2017, Crewe triggered a contract clause keeping Jones at Crewe until June 2018.^[5] In August 2017, a potential transfer to an unnamed Championship side (later named as Preston North End)^[6] was cancelled due to concerns about a prolonged recovery from a hernia operation^[7] and a related pelvis issue.^[8] In mid-November 2017, he resumed light running on grass, having suffered some set-backs in his rehabilitation,^[9] but he suffered a medial ligament injury in training and in January 2018 was ruled out for the rest of the season,^[10] though he recovered to make six appearances, scoring once, before the season's end.

On 1 May 2018, Jones signed a new two-year contract until summer 2020.^[11] At Milton Keynes on 19 January 2019, Jones suffered a suspected broken fibula (later diagnosed as severe lateral ligament damage)^[12] that ruled him out for six weeks.^[13]

Lincoln City

In June 2020, after the 2019–20 season was terminated prematurely during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jones was offered a new contract by Crewe manager David Artell,^[6] but was linked with a move to Lincoln City.^[14] This was confirmed on 6 July 2020, with Jones joining Lincoln on a free transfer, signing a 3-year contract.^[15] He made his debut for Lincoln starting the game in the EFL Cup on 5 September 2020^[16] and in the following round, he scored his first goal for Lincoln City in a 5–0 win over Bradford City.^[17]

Wrexham

On 24 August 2021, after just one season with Lincoln, Jones dropped down to the National League to join Wrexham on a three-year deal.^[18]

He signed a new contract with the League Two club in October 2023, securing his future until June 2025.^[19]

Burton Albion

On 31 January 2025, Jones signed an 18-month contract with Burton Albion.^[20]

International career

After making six appearances for Scotland U19s, Jones was selected to play for Scotland in the U21 European Championship qualifiers against Iceland and Macedonia in October 2016. He played the full 90 minutes of Scotland U21s' 2–0 defeat by Iceland in Reykjavík on 5 October,^[21] and 88 minutes of the following game, a 2–0 defeat by Macedonia in Skopje on 11 October.^[22] He then played in two friendlies: the November 2016 match against Slovakia^[23] and the March 2017 match against Estonia.^[24]

Career statistics

As of 29 January 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Crewe Alexandra	2014–15[4]	League One	24	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	26	1
	2015–16[25]	League One	31	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	32	0
	2016–17[26]	League Two	45	10	2	1	2	0	1[a]	0	50	11
	2017–18[27]	League Two	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1
	2018–19[28]	League Two	38	5	0	0	1	0	3[a]	1	42	6
	2019–20[29]	League Two	23	2	1	0	2	0	3[a]	0	29	2
	Total		167	19	6	1	5	0	7	1	185	21
Lincoln City	2020–21[30]	League One	36	1	2	1	3	1	4	0	45	3
	Total		36	1	2	1	3	1	4	0	45	3
Wrexham	2021–22[31]	National League	41	5	2	0	0	0	5[b]	2	48	7
	2022–23[32]	National League	43	4	7	1	0	0	2[b]	0	52	5
	2023–24[33]	League Two	21	4	4	0	2	0	3[a]	0	30	4
	Total		105	13	13	1	2	0	10	2	130	16
Career total			244	25	10	2	8	1	16	3	278	31

1. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
2. Appearances in FA Trophy

Honours

Crewe Alexandra

• League Two runner-up: 2019–20

Wrexham

• EFL League Two runner-up: 2023–24^[34]
• National League: 2022–23^[35]
• FA Trophy runner-up: 2021–22^[36]