RIP Joey Jones: Liverpool Legend Deserves Place Amongst Club’s Greatest Ever Left Backs

- - Players

Football Boot and Red Sock Close UpIt was with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Joey Jones in July 2025.

In many ways, he was the perfect embodiment of Liverpool FC – Jones supported the club as a boy and frequently stood on the Kop, later getting the Liverbird tattooed on his arm.

He would come through the youth ranks at Wrexham, another club at which he is revered as an icon, before switching to Liverpool in 1975 in a £115,000 deal sanctioned by Bob Paisley.

The Career of Joey Jones

The then 20-year-old played only periodically in his first season at Liverpool, thus missing out on a league winner’s medal by just one game.

But from 1976/77, Jones became Liverpool’s first-choice left back, playing in 39 of the club’s 42 games as they retained their First Division crown – he finally got his hands on a medal.

That was a stellar season for the Reds, as they also reached the European Cup final – Jones featuring throughout and starting in the final against Borussia Monchengladbach, which they won 3-1.

That 1976/77 campaign could have been one of the greatest in Liverpool’s history; alas, they lost in the final of the FA Cup to Manchester United.

Jones racked up more than 100 games for Liverpool, before going on to become a Wrexham legend and enjoying stints at Chelsea and Huddersfield Town, winning Player of the Year for both clubs.

With 72 caps for Wales, and a silverware-laden trophy cabinet, Jones retired as a seminal figure in Merseyside and Welsh football.

He almost certainly comes into the conversation when discussing Liverpool’s best ever left backs… particularly when you consider his contributions to that incredible 1976/77 season.

Who would be the other contenders as Liverpool’s greatest ever left back?

Ray Kennedy

“They shot the wrong Kennedy.”

Ray Kennedy’s Liverpool career got off to an inauspicious start, as Paisley’s words following a challenging debut attest.

Thankfully, things improved from there – and to some tune, too.

By the end of his tenure in the red shirt, Kennedy had played nearly 400 times for the club. His trophy haul? Five First Division titles, three European Cups, a UEFA Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, a League Cup and three Charity Shields.

The only silverware missing is the FA Cup, but even that cannot detract from what has to go down as one of the most successful careers in Liverpool history.

Kennedy’s most famous moment was netting the winner in the European Cup final in 1981 against Real Madrid, but in truth that was just one highlight amongst many for the man known affectionately as Barney Rubble.

Andy Robertson

There’s something a touch controversial about naming a current player as an all-time great.

But it’s hard to argue with Andy Robertson’s body of work, in terms of his defensive work and contributions in the final third, as well as the trophies he has helped Liverpool to win during his time as first-choice left back.

By our count, the Scot has contributed more than 75 goal involvements in 340 Liverpool games – no mean feat from a defender.

Robertson won the Man of the Match award on his debut in August 2017, doubling up in the outstanding 4-3 win over Manchester City the following January – his 70-yard press becoming the stuff of legend.

Now firmly established as Liverpool’s left back, Robertson spent the next seven years largely unmoved from the role – racking up a nice little trophy haul that includes winner’s medals from the Premier League (twice), Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup (twice), a UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup.

Whatever his future holds, Robertson will forever be remembered as one of Liverpool’s most outstanding left backs.

Ronnie Moran

There would be a few notable candidates for this third spot, from Gerry Byrne and Emyln Hughes (he occasionally played at left back) through to John Arne Riise.

But it’s hard to look past Ronnie Moran, who played more than 340 times for the club having come through the youth ranks.

Born in Crosby, Moran signed professional terms in 1952 and would remain in situ until 1998 following a career as player, coach and occasional caretaker manager. There were event stints as physio and kit man… no wonder he’s been nicknamed ‘Mr Liverpool’ over the years.

A club captain under Bill Shankly, Moran helped Liverpool out of the doldrums with promotion in 1962, before playing a key role in the club’s First Division title win of 1963/64.

After hanging up his boots, Moran took up residence in the inaugural Boot Room, the infamous committee of icons that shaped the football club from top to bottom – Shankly, Paisley and Joe Fagan just some of his contemporaries.

Well known for his off-field contributions to Liverpool FC, it shouldn’t be underestimated how good a left back Moran was on it, too.

Post Tags:

Comments are closed.