Boss Nathan in a great escape

A FORMER Maesteg Park midfield maestro last week helped to keep Luton Town in The Sky Bet Championship, writes Tony Poole.

Nathan Jones played for the Llynfi Valley side as a 20-yearold during the inaugural season of the Konica League of Wales back in 1992/93, scoring six times.

His final goal came in a 5-0 home win over Bangor City on April 17, 1993 to finish fifth on the club goal chart behind Tony Bolton (15), Lee Stephens (10), Barry Lavin (8) and Kevin Walker (7).

Former Maesteg Park secretary David Griffiths, who held the post for 45 years before becoming FAW President, recalled the season that Jones spent at Tudor Park.

He said: “Nathan Jones was a likeable young man, who possessed superb set-piece skills, and most of his goals came from this area.

“As I’m a Swansea City fan, I spoke to Nathan back in the autumn after his then club Stoke City had picked up a 2-1 win at the Liberty Stadium.

“And last month he did it again to the Swans with the 1-0 away victory for Luton helping to keep them up.

“All in all, you have to think Maesteg Park coached him very well!”

Jones, who was born in Blaenrhondda, arrived at Tudor Park in 1992 from Cardiff City during the reign of Gwyn Williams as club manager.

His playing career with the Llynfi Valley club was restricted to just one season, and he went on to spend two years with Merthyr Tydfil.

Luton Town was next ahead of spells with Spanish clubs and on his return, he played for Southend, Brighton and Yeovil.

But it’s as a manager that he’s won most acclaim, beginning with a caretaker role at Premier League club Brighton in 2014.

Two years later it was back to Luton, who were then a League Two club, and two promotions later the Hatters were rubbing shoulders in Championship company.

Jones, pictured right, then decided in January 2019 to take over as Stoke City manager, but things didn’t work out with the Potters, and by the turn of the year he had parted company with the former Premier League side.

And during lockdown, he surprised many in the football world by returning yet again to Luton, who now had one foot in League One.

But in remarkable turnaround during a seven-match restart programme, the 47-yearold masterminded a 16-point haul.

It culminated last week in a 3-2 home win over Blackburn Rovers that kept Luton in the Championship for another year.