New lease of life gives Jones hope for a bright City future

Rochdale, the club he had served with such distinction for nigh on 14 seasons either side of a spell at Barnsley, were heading for relegation.

The veteran midfielder had done his best to try to keep Dale up, playing in all but one of the club’s 46 league games and netting their third highest tally of goals.

But, even so, Jones felt flat as the curtain came down on 
2011-12 and he knew it was time to break away from Spotland after a club-record 439 appearances.

A new challenge was needed and, considering the decade or so that Bradford City had endured, a move to Valley Parade – something that had first been mooted 12 months earlier when Peter Jackson was manager – appealed.

Two months on from his summer switch across the Pennines, the 35-year-old’s footballing appetite has been restored as he looks to help the Bantams reverse their post-Millennium decline.

“I am really enjoying my football again,” Jones told the Yorkshire Post ahead of today’s home clash with AFC Wimbledon. “Last season was disappointing, both for myself and the club.

“I won’t say I fell out of love with football but I didn’t really enjoy it. I knew I needed a change.

“There had been an opportunity to join Bradford the year before but I decided to stay at Rochdale. This time, the manager was probably the difference as I spoke to Phil Parkinson and he made my mind up for me. And I’m glad he did as, since coming in for pre-season, I’ve felt on top of the world again.

“The challenge of getting Bradford City back going is one that really excites me.”

Should Jones help the Bantams this season escape the basement division at the sixth attempt, the Liverpudlian is likely to become as revered in Bradford as he rightly is in Rochdale.

As the Lancashire club’s long-serving captain, he led Dale out at Wembley in the 2008 League Two play-off final and then to automatic promotion two years later.

Then, in Rochdale’s first season in the third tier for 36 years, Jones finished as top scorer with 17 goals – a tally that helped Keith Hill’s men go within just one victory of reaching the play-offs.

However, as happy as the memories Jones has of his time at Spotland, the midfielder is now keen to look forward.

He said: “Coming to Bradford has done wonders for me. If someone spends most of their career at one club, it can be a difficult experience when they move. But things have gone really well and I have moved on.

“I have joined a club that, in my eyes, are massive. The expectation at this place is great and, as players, that is something that we can thrive off.

“I loved it on Tuesday night when the fans got behind us (during City’s 1-0 win over Fleetwood). There were about 20 minutes gone and the tackles were flying in when, suddenly, the crowd were up on their feet shouting and roaring us on.

“This club will take off if we get it right. The enthusiasm of the 9,000 at Tuesday’s game showed me that.

“They are like most fans in that they want to see some sweat on our shirts. And so they should, they pay good money to watch Bradford City.

“I had goose bumps when the crowd were really getting behind us. Imagine what it will be like if we can get things going.”

Tuesday’s win over newly-promoted Fleetwood came as a major fillip for City fans. Not only did Bradford perform impressively against a side tipped to do well this term, but the Bantams also looked comfortable on home soil – something that has been far from the case in recent seasons.

In fact, City’s form at Valley Parade has been so poor that they have managed to post a double figure total of wins at home in just four of the past 13 seasons. And even then their best tally stands at 11 in 2008-09 when Stuart McCall’s side finished ninth in League Two. As someone who has been in the visitors’ dressing room on several occasions, Jones knows how the surrounds can inspire teams in the basement division but he also believes it can work the other way.

He said: “I’d imagine it was a big thing for the Fleetwood lads on Tuesday night.

“They were in the Conference last season so to come to a stadium the size of Valley Parade and play on a great pitch like ours must be great.

“I am sure they were thinking, ‘I wish we could play here every week’. It probably inspired them.

“But the flip side for us is that we have to turn that on visiting teams.

“To me, the set-up is something to thrive on.

“The opposition have to know that we will press the ball early and that they will be in for a real game against Bradford City.

“For an opposition team to come and get a point has to be made very, very difficult. We have to turn it into a fortress.”

Jones may have spent the past two years in League One but he is more than aware of what qualities will be needed to prevail in the fight to escape the bottom division.

He said: “There is no great secret to being successful in League Two. Just hard work. The old cliche of ‘the harder you work, the luckier you get’ is very true.

“The division will be open again. Fleetwood are the big payers, while a couple of the teams who have come down will be looking to go straight back up. Teams like Exeter and Rochdale. But, hopefully, we can have a very successful season.

“As for this weekend, Wimbledon got spanked in midweek so will be looking to prove a point. It will be tough, which was something that was made clear in our first two fixtures.

“After seeing both Gillingham and Fleetwood, I would expect them to be up there challenging. But I thought we kept the ball really well and that bodes well.”

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