Tottenham On This Day: Chris Jones Hat-trick As Spurs Win At Wrexham
By Logan Holmes
Tottenham were faced with a difficult FA Cup replay at Wrexham but a Chris Jones hat-trick earned Spurs a place in the next round.
Tottenham on this Day
21st February, 1979
Wrexham 2 Tottenham Hotspur 3 (aet) FA Cup 4th Round Replay
Scorer: Jones (3)
Team: Kendall; Naylor, Holmes; Hoddle, Lacy, Perryman; Pratt, Villa, Lee (Armstrong), Jones, Taylor
Chris Jones
Spurs were finding it difficult to re-establish themselves in the 1st Division having won promotion the previous year and their Cup progress in January, 1979 was proving problematic. They had the good fortune to receive a home tie in both of the opening rounds but both games went to replays.
Winning through to the 4th Round had been achieved the hard way with a replay being required to overcome non-League, Altrincham. The win at Altrincham had been Spurs’ first FA Cup success for six seasons, since defeating another non-League side, Margate, in 1973 which had been Bill Nicholson’s last FA Cup win as manager.
Again, drawn at home in the 4th Round, Wrexham proved equally as difficult. Spurs and Wrexham shared six goals with the 2nd Division side earning a deserved 3 – 3 draw in the first game at White Hart Lane. Glenn Hoddle, Chris Jones and an own goal accounted for Spurs’ quota.
The replay in Wales went to extra time and Spurs can be grateful to an unlikely Cup hero in Chris Jones who scored a hat-trick to secure victory. This was Spurs’ second hat-trick in consecutive replays as Spurs won 3 – 2. Colin Lee had provided the three goals which defeated Altrincham.
Chris Jones
Jones came up through the Spurs youth system and made it into to the League team in August, 1974. In total he made 185 League and Cup appearances, scoring 42 goals in his nine seasons with the club. He was a skilful player but was unlucky in that he often got into good goal scoring positions but couldn’t quite turn them into goals. He helped Spurs to avoid relegation in his first season and was a regular for much of the following season.
He was part of the team which was relegated the next year but played his part as Spurs then won promotion. He scored 18 League and Cup goals in the next two seasons in the 1st Division but the arrival of Steve Archibald and Garth Crooks saw his first team opportunities diminish. His best goal scoring performance for Tottenham was his hat-trick at Wrexham.
He joined Manchester City for £110,000 in September, 1982 but after only three games in two months joined Crystal Palace. He also played for Charlton Athletic and Leyton Orient.