Former Brid Town ace Graeme Jones takes on England coaching job ahead of Euros

Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate confirmed Newcastle United assistant coach Jones is to join his coaching staff following the departure of striker coach Allan Russell.

Steve Bruce added Jones to his Magpies backroom team in January after results began to dip over the festive period and into late January.

Indeed, the 51-year-old has been highly praised for his role behind the scenes – which included a change in formation – as United surged towards Premier League safety.

The Gateshead-born coach has previous experience at international level having worked alongside Roberto Martinez with Belgium at the World Cup in 2018

On his appointment, Southgate said: “We won’t have a like for like replacement in that specific area of work, I’m disappointed for Allan and for us that situation has occurred.

"We’re really pleased to be able to bring Graeme Jones in who is obviously working with Newcastle at the moment.

"I’ve known Graeme quite a while – he’s got fantastic experiences of tournament football of course with Belgium and Roberto Martinez.

"He’s got great experiences as an assistant manager and manager, so I’m really pleased that with Steve Holland and Graeme, Martyn Margetson – who has been to semi-finals with us and Wales – and with Chris Powell that we’ve got a really strong coaching team.

"We’re really looking forward to that challenge.”

Jones will start work this weekend as England start their preparations for the tournament with a friendly against Austria on Wednesday.

Jones’ brief spell at Queensgate was a hugely successful one. The striker bagged 30 goals in his only season at Bridlington, 1989-90, as the club won the HFS Loans League Division One title by a huge 10 points.

He scored twice in the East Riding Senior Cup final, a 3-1 win against North Ferriby United, and played at Wembley in the Vase final.

That led to a professional career at clubs like Doncaster Rovers and Wigan Athletic.

Jones was born in Gateshead before joining Millwall’s academy as a youngster. He was released by the East London club and went on to have a successful playing career in the lower leagues, in particular with Doncaster Rovers and Wigan Athletic.

The former striker retired in 2006 having also played for North Shields, St Johnstone, Southend United, Boston United, Bury, Clyde and Hamilton Academical.

Jones became good friends with Roberto Martinez from the pair’s time as players at Wigan, and it was the Spaniard who handed him his first coaching role.

Jones worked as Martinez’s assistant at Swansea City, Wigan and Everton before advancing to international level with Belgium.

During his time with the Red Devils, Jones twice came up against England at the 2018 World Cup in the group stage and third-place play-off.