Meet the King's Lynn footballer and Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach businessman gunning to upset his 40-strong Portsmouth family

Now the King’s Lynn defender is back on the south coast, this time purely in a working capacity.

Fratton Park may not be the spiritual home of the 26-year-old Arsenal fan, who was born and raised in Great Yarmouth to parents not from the Portsmouth area.

Yet the city remains close to his heart.

With an estimated 40 family members living around Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, he has been a regular visitor over the years.

In addition, godfather Jimmy Norman is a part owner of The Queen’s Hotel and a co-director of Clarence Pier.

On Saturday in the FA Cup’s second round, Jones has the opportunity to revisit Fratton Park, where he once sat in the directors’ box with his Uncle Billy.

And the Linnets’ right-back is relishing a latest reunion, albeit it will sadly be lacking a family presence.

Jones told The News: ‘I’ve spent quite a lot of my childhood down there, there’s a big connection with Pompey.

‘My Mum’s two brothers live in Southsea, my Mum’s sister lives in Brading on the Isle of Wight and my Dad’s sister lives in Shanklin.

‘By the time you factor in all my cousins, there are probably 40 family members down there. I have a huge family, there’s loads of us.

‘Most of my cousins are Pompey supporters. My Uncle Dean has three boys – Mason, Dylan and Jude – and they are all fans, as is my cousin George, who has a season ticket.

‘When the draw was made, I received floods of WhatsApp messages saying “Come on you Pompey” and “Play Up Pompey”. It’s quite funny really.

‘I went to Southsea last Christmas Eve and stayed at my Auntie’s, which is about five minutes from Gunwharf.

‘But I had to drive home on Christmas Day night because we had Boston away on Boxing Day. I live in Norwich, so returned home and then travelled to the game the next day.

‘Everyone was getting drunk at a big family do and I had to leave at 4pm, which I was gutted about, but these are the sacrifices we make for the game.’

Jones’ parents own Pleasure Beach in Great Yarmouth, where he works in business development and marketing.

It’s a family business which attracted close to 1m visitors a year pre-coronavirus.

The right-back’s recent football commitments have been hampered through a knee injury, but he will tonight return to training ahead of Saturday’s match.

Incidentally, he has one more link with Pompey.

He added: ‘One of my mates was at Pompey last season – Cam McGeehan.

‘I’ve known him growing up in the area. He was at Norwich as a kid and I’m also from the area, although played for Ipswich. The football world is very small!

‘He’s a really good lad who has his heart in the right place, that’s for sure. He loved it down at Pompey too.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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