A locally born attacking midfielder who has established himself as a genuine talent, Wrexham's fortunes often seem to depend on Mark Jones' form.

Jones is a highly gifted midfielder who made his debut as an 88th minute substitute in a 4-0 thrashing of Exeter in September 2002.  Even in those two minutes he was able to give evidence of his promise though, slotting a delicate through ball to Andy Morrell who really ought to have put it away for his fourth of the match!

However, Jones made only one more appearance, again from the bench, in that 2002-3 promotion season and only got one start in the following campaign, in the LDV Trophy. 

His slow progress was caused partly by a hernia operation, but also by a fear he might be too lightweight to make the most of his talents, but a turning point came in the FA Cup match at Hayes in November 2004.

Prior to the game he had started in just two of the 27 appearances he had made in the first team, but a robust showing after coming on for the last 20 minutes showed he had developed physically to become more capable of coping with the lower division hurly-burly and he immediately enjoyed his first run in the first eleven.

By the end of the campaign he had played in thirty-nine games and been a key component of the LDV Vans winning side, scoring in the semi-final against Oldham.

The next season saw him enjoy terrific success. Playing as an attacking midfielder he ended up as the club's top scorer with 16 goals, many of which were nothing short of sensational!

Difficult as it is to pick any of them out, a technically brilliant strike at Oxford and a spectacular late equaliser against TNS in an epic Welsh Premier Cup semi-final, stick in the mind! 

Mark was also called up by John Toshack to be part of the Wales senior squad for the friendly with Slovenia in August 2005, along with more caps in 2006, and was a regular in the U21 squads during the most recent UEFA qualifying championships.

The 2006-7 season started well for the player. Adapting to a new position on the right of midfield, Jones scored five in the first seven games, including a winner at Chester, an opening day goal from the halfway line at Wycombe and another fine strike in the 4-1 Carling Cup upset at Hillsborough.

However, his form deserted him as Wrexham slumped into the relegation zone and it was a relief to him when a miserable season ended, although a sublime pass to tee up Chris Llewellyn in the final, decisive game of the season against Boston United hinted at a renaissance in a new position as he was starting in the middle of a midfield four for the first time.

Despite the Date of Birth shown above, which we don't control as the stats come direct from PA Sports, Mark was born in 1984.

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