The return of Jonah
Thursday, 18th Dec 2014 12:39 by Col

This Saturday will see the first return to Spotland of a certain Gary Roy Jones.

When he made his debut for the club in an otherwise forgettable defeat at Peterborough, few could have predicted that the Liverpool born midfielder would go on to cement his place in the history books as the club’s greatest ever player.

At that point, the former Swansea man was limited to bit parts in the side missing out to the likes of Paul Carden, Mark Bailey, Gareth Stoker, Jason Lydiate and Andy Farrell. It was even rumoured that his name was on the released list at the of 1998-99 until the intervention of first team coach Dave Hamilton put a stop to it.

But following the appointment of Steve Parkin as manager, it didn’t take long for Jonah to establish himself at the heart of the Dale midfield, and a few months later and we had ourselves a proper old fashioned central midfielder - the sort of midfielder who would run the show, with his influence all over the pitch and weigh in with far more than his fair share of goals.

Jonah was the main man, and as captain, he was part of the team that ended the negative Barrow years and gave us the first sniff at the right end of the division for the first time since we were graced with the likes of Reeves and Whitehall in the first team.
It’s easy these days to forget the influence that Jonah had at Spotland. It goes without saying that these days we are rather spoilt watching Dale, and it’s almost as if one player goes, we can just go out and get a replacement and not notice any difference. It’s not always been that way.

When Jonah left Spotland back in 2001 to head to Barnsley (to become the first of many to head to Oakwell and return before we’d even finished spending the money we got for them), he left such a hole in the team that we never really recovered until he came back. The transfer fee represented good value for a player of his age at the time, but for all the different arguments about managers that season, very few could argue that had Jones remained at Spotland, we’d have gone up.

Never go back?

Second time round brought all the success and more that he deserved. Whilst it was apparent that when he first returned, that he had not fully shaken off the injury that blighted his time at Barnsley, he was soon back to his best.

And it was the appointment of Keith Hill when that success started to flow. As Hill himself said at the time, “Gary Jones deserves all the credit he gets. He’s an inspirational leader and our talisman.” Jonah was now the elder statesman of the team, and embodied on the field everything that the manager asked of the team. It was a remarkable few years for a club that had known nothing but disappointment since the days of the Beatles, and Jones captained the first game of the Hillcroft era and also the last.

He was a constant ever present, chalking up over 500 appearances for the club becoming our record appearance maker and the first person to lead Dale to promotion since Joe Ashworth in 1969.

All things being equal, that promotion should have been the swansong to his Dale career. At 33, it would have been a big ask to replicate the form of years gone in a league above, especially after a season in which for the first time, he wasn’t the first name on the teamsheet. We shouldn’t have worried. He finished the season as top scorer as Dale equalled their highest ever finish.

Unfortunately, the Dale chapter of his life didn’t finish well. The departure of Hillcroft left the club rudderless, and neither Steve Eyre nor John Coleman could prevent the side finishing bottom of the league. To make matters worse, Jonah was released from his contract twelve months early after rumours of a training ground incident in which he spoke out about the lack of professionalism at the club. It was a sorry end to a glittering Dale career.

But it’s a tribute to him that since leaving Spotland, he hasn’t just took one last pay day before hanging up his boots. His role at Bradford took them to the League Cup final and to Play Off glory before establishing themselves as a League One, before being at the heart of a Notts County side this year who are defying all the critics by battling it out for a Play Off place.

His new manager Shaun Derry couldn’t contain his praise for Jonah. Speaking earlier this month, he said: "There are not too many words left that I haven't used already when it comes to talking about Gary. He continues to defy time and he's always there for us consistently in matches and every day in training. He is one of the best if not the best trainer in our group. It's a remarkable standard to set and to the players coming through the ranks they can see what an inspiration he is. When they get frustrated and show it in different ways, I just say 'look at Gary Jones'. Have a chat with him, if you don't want to talk to me. He is a wonderful character and a true benchmark in terms of being a professional footballer." In other words, he’s doing alright at County.

But he will return to Spotland, and whilst the shirt might be black and white on Saturday (and hopefully not that horrific yellow and green effort they have as an away shirt), he’ll be given a fantastic reception as fans recall the fantastic memories — the goal at Bristol Rovers and subsequent celebrations, the roar from the away end at Darlo when he appeared on the big screen, top scorer in League One in a season that was supposed to be a season too far and a certain goal against Southampton.

Gary Jones — the many who was the first to lead us out at Wembley, the man who led us to promotion for the first time in 40 years and the man who has played more for the club than any other player in the club’s history. We salute you.