Fadhil Yunus
Former Brunei Darussalam national football team head coach Mick Jones has passed away at the age of 75, according to news outlets in the United Kingdom and his former clubs recently.
The highly-respected coach was best known in the Sultanate for guiding the Wasps to the Malaysia Cup in 1999 following a 2-1 victory over Sarawak at the Merdeka Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
He succeeded countryman David Booth and went on to manage the team until the end of his tenure in 2002 before taking on his next post at Nuneaton Borough and Telford United.
But it was his time in Sheffield United in 2005 as part of a team led by renowned head coach Neil Warnock where he enjoyed success in English football.
Having worked together with Warnock at various clubs at Notts Country, Huddersfield Town and Plymouth Argyle, the duo led the Blades to promotion to the English Premier League.
In 2011, the pair repeated the feat to help Queens Park Rangers cement a place in the Premier League, with the club winning the English Championship title – the second tier of English football. Jones also played for Notts County where he made 100 appearances between 1969 to 1973, before joining Peterborough United from 1973 to 1976.
Football Association of Brunei Darussalam President Pengiran Haji Matusin bin Pengiran Haji Matasan said, “The football fraternity in Brunei Darussalam express our gratitude to Mick for taking care of the Brunei team after the premature departure of David Booth who had moulded the Brunei team into a formidable force in the M League and Malaysia Cup in the mid-nineties.”
He added, “Mick picked up where we left off and went on to coach the team that won the Malaysia Cup. We express our condolences.”
