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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
Englishman Walter Morris Jones was a wartime guest player with the Bhoys at the start of the 1940/41 season.
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 the first team, 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).
After his debut it was said that: “Clear signs of a Celtic revival” but as it panned out, that certaintly wasn’t to be the case.
Sadly, after his good run he didn’t get to play in the Glasgow Cup final a week later which saw Celtic win in what was back then a rare victory over Rangers in those years (1-0) as well picking up a then rare bit of silverware for Celtic during that wartime era. He had actually played in the semi-final victory, 1-0 v Clyde (Sep 1940), so can be said to deserve some respect for his part in this rare success in this era.
After that victory, Celtic began a slump straight away, so it could be posited that the loss of Jones may have had a big impact as the First Team returned to type.
Annoyingly for him, he missed out on playing in a league game in September 1940 during the period he played with Celtic, the match ending 0-0.
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
Pictures
Articles
Morris Jones
Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20210428224601/https://www.onevalefan.co.uk/2021/04/five-of-the-best-port-vale-strikers-of-the-1940s/
In the truncated period of 1940s football, Morris Jones makes out list for one prolific season with the club. The Liverpudlian had been on the club’s books since 1939 but World War Two delayed his debut until August 1946. His first season – 1946-47 – was a prolific one with Watford particularly on the receiving end after Jones hit five goals in two games against them. Jones finished as top scorer with 26 goals. However, after three goals in the 1947-48 season, he handed in a transfer request and moved to Swindon Town for £2,500. Ironically, Jones would later play for Watford – the club against whom he had scored so many times for the Vale.
Appearances: 58 games / 29 goals
Scoring rate: one goal every 180 minutes