Brad Jones

Bradely Scott Jones is an Australian goalkeeper of English side Liverpool and the national team. He picked up a silver medal of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.

Jones was a trainee of English side Middlesbrough. In 2000 he drew the attention of club’s scouts, when the keeper just started to play for Australian club Bayswater City that played in one of the lowest Australian League divisions. After Brad moved to England, he began to make appearances for the Middlesbrough youth team, but the club’s management decided to send him on loan to different lower division teams (Stockport County, Rotherham United, Blackpool). In January 2004 Jones finally made his debut for ‘The Boro’.

In 2005/2006 season Brad started to gain more playing practice. He took part in several UEFA Cup games and nine league matches. One of the greatest games for Jones was the match against Manchester United, when the keeper saved Ruud van Nistelrooy’s penalty and secured a goalless draw for his team.

However, Brad failed to fully supplant his more famous compatriot Mark Schwarzer. In August 2006 he went on loan again, this time to Sheffield Wednesday. Jones’s play in Sheffield was very confident, but he soon lost his level. For example, the keeper’s foul entailed a red card and a penalty in the match against Leeds. Brad was attacked by Sheffield fans that threw coins at him during the match against Queens Park Rangers.

From 2006 till 2008 Brad was the player of Middlesbrough only de-facto, making seven appearances in two years.

In February 2007 Jones received a call-up to the Australia national team so that to substitute injured Mark Schwarzer. Brad made a poor attempt to come off his line and let Álvaro Recoba score a winner. After that incident he was invited to the national squad, but did not come on the pitch for a long time.

In 2010 Jones joined Liverpool for £2.3 million. On 10 April 2012, he came as a substitute for sent-off Doni in the match against Blackburn Rovers and managed to save a penalty taken by Yakubu Aiyegbeni. Brad played the FA Cup semi-final match against Everton till the full-time and his team won 2-1.