'My friend Joey Jones was great fighter on pitch and total gentleman off it'
Joey Jones was one of the nicest men I've ever met. We first met back in March 1983 when he bought me a few pints in a hotel bar in London. I knew he had been unwell in recent years but news of his death yesterday still came as a huge shock. I'd written to Joey when I was an 18-year-old journalism student asking if he would see me to discuss football hooliganism which blighted the game at at the time.
He wrote back and agreed to see me and we spent four hours chatting about football in the bar of the Lily Hotel near Stamford Bridge when he was playing for Chelsea.
I've still got the letter which in which he wrote: 'I'd be happy to meet you to talk about the problem of hooliganism. The best time for me would be a Thursday afternoon after training, if you can confirm which Thursday it would be let me know so that I can make arrangements. Cheers Joey Jones.'
When we met he refused to let me buy a single drink. He attained legendary status at Liverpool and he was a cult hero at Chelsea.
Anyone who was at the Chelsea FA Cup game against Huddersfield in January 1983 will remember him coming out after half-tine and going to every side of the stadium imploring the Chelsea fans to roar their side to victory
We stayed in touch and loved talking about his time at Liverpool, Wrexham and Chelsea. His greatest friend was his old Chelsea team-mate Mickey Thomas. Another close friend Kelvin Barker said: 'Joey was my hero who became one of my closest friends. I will miss him terribly, but I thank him for everything he did for me, and everything he did for Chelsea Football Club. When I was writing my first book, Celery, I picked a Chelsea team of the 80s and set out to meet and interview each of those former players. "Joey was the first to respond and we met at Vicarage Road prior to a FA Youth Cup game when he was in charge of the Wrexham youngsters. In truth, we hit it off straight away and when I was leaving, he told me to go up to Wrexham and watch a game with him. I thought he was just being polite but he kept in touch and invited me again, and that was where the friendship began really, well over twenty years ago now.'
Joey was a tough uncompromising player on pitch - even sent off on his debut for Chelsea - but an absolute gentleman off it.
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