[Thomas1]

I remember Stan Jones very well as a rock solid centre half, very powerful in the air and strong in the tackle. He was in the mould of jack Charlton at Leeds, Ron Yeates at Liverpool, Maurice Norman at Tottenham and had some tremendous tussles with Bobby Smith, Dennis Law, Wynn Davies, tony hateley, Ian St.John etc.

He knew how to defend first and give the ball to more creative players to effect results. That is what is lacking in my opinion nowadays, we have centre halfs who try and play out of trouble in tight situations. Outlets to wingers made the game look a little long ball but it was completely effective as an outlet to relieve pressure on the back 4 and create goal scoring opportunities for the centre forward. Great to watch and fast flowing rather than this boring 10 yard meaningless possession football.

Going back to Stan
He was an occasional captain at the Albion at virtually ever present between 1960 and 67 when he lost his place to John Talbut. That Albion side with Bobby Robson, Don Howe, Clive Clarke, Bobby Hope, John Kaye and indeed Jeff Astle (who had replaced Derek Kevan) was a great side to watch, pure entertainment. When I think back to the sixties we used to beat Liverpool 3-0, Chelsea and all the big sides and more importantly went out to beat them.