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Fullname: Walter Morris Jones
aka: Walter Jones, Morris Jones
Born: 30 Nov 1919
Died: 1993 […needs confirmed…]
Birthplace: Bootle, Merseyside
Signed: 1940 (loan)
Left: 1940 (loan)
Debut: Albion Rovers 1-3 Celtic, Regional League, 31 Aug 1940
Position: Centre-Forward
Biog
A young soldier stationed in Scotland, the Bootle-born centre-forward had been signed for Port Vale before signing up for the army in 1939, and incredibly wasn’t to make a debut first team match for Port Vale until 31 Aug 1946 due to the wartime circumstances.
He made three Regional League appearances and one in the Glasgow Cup for Celtic in August & September 1940 with his debut coming in a 3-1 victory at Albion Rovers on August 31st when he helped himself to his only goal for the Hoops.
Celtic won in all four of the games he played for Celtic, which taking in how poor Celtic were at the time is quite an accomplishment: 3-1 v Albion Rovers (league), 1-0 v Clyde (Glasgow Cup semi-final), 1-0 v Queen’s Park (league) and 1-0 v Dumbarton (league).
Sadly after his good run he didn’t get to play in the Glasgow Cup final a week later which saw Celtic in what was a rare victory over Rangers in those years (1-0) and picking up a then rare bit of silverware during that wartime era.
After that victory, Celtic began a slump straight away, so maybe the loss of Jones had a big impact and the First Team returned to type.
After the war, Jones – who was actually better known by his middle name Morris – returned to Port Vale. He was to amass a great record for Port Vale, scoring around 29 goals in 53 games post-war in season 1946-47 .
In time he moved onto Swindon, where Jones became a bit of a legend for the side, scoring 52 goals in 101 games. If only Celtic could have kept him, as during the same period he was scoring many goals for other sides, Celtic were floundering, and were even close to relegation at one point.
He wound down his career at Watford, retiring from senior football in 1952.
He is believed to have died in 1993 [need confirmed].
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | REGIONAL LEAGUE |
TOTAL |
| 1940 | 3 | 3 |
| Goals: | 1 | 1 |
Honours with Celtic
none