Very Nice Profile of Ray Jones & His Pre-QPR Days

-
Ilford Recorder/Luke Wilson -Profiles Ray Jones
"...[Ray Jones] hails just a stone's throw from Upton Park. Born and raised in East Ham,....
It has been a meteoric rise for the former Langdon School pupil who just 18 months ago was playing Sunday League football for Redwood FC.
His talent caught the eye of QPR's youth development officer John O'Brien, who offered him a trial and the rest, as they say, is history.
"At the moment it's still sinking in that in just 18 months I've gone from playing parks football to being in the QPR first team!" Jones admitted.
"At Sunday league level my team was pretty good and we used to play against academy teams from several professional clubs and so initially playing for QPR's youth team was not much of a step up.
"However when I started training with the first team it was a massive change.
"The physical aspect was the biggest difference as I was playing against much stronger and more experienced players and it seemed to just get harder and harder.
"There's a lot of players at the club that have been there and done it and played at the highest level but they've been very encouraging to me and have helped me settle into the first team."
Things could have been a lot different for the target man, who made his Championship debut against Watford back in May, for at the age of 12 he decided to quit playing 'serious' football....
"Basically I stopped playing youth league football because I wasn't enjoying it as much as I used to," he revealed.
"I was still playing nearly every day in the playground and, without wanting to sound big-headed, I used to run past people for fun!
"However my shooting was a little all over the place and so I thought to myself 'I need to get back to playing regularly'!"
One thing that you certainly could not accuse Jones of being is 'big-headed'.
Having made his full debut for the R's at the start of the present campaign, the striker was subsequently handed his first opportunity to represent his country when he came on as a substitute in the England under-19s' clash with Holland in September.
Such moments in the limelight would have undoubtedly inflated the egos of more impressionable characters but not Jones.
His down-to-earth demeanour will certainly keep his feet on the ground along with the help of his highly supportive family, who have served as an inspiration for the young goal-getter.
"My family have all been amazing and they're just over the moon for me," he beamed. "They're all really proud of what I've achieved and they've all really supported me.
"Everyone has been over to see me play for QPR - my mum, my nan, my uncle, aunt, sister and cousins - it's been amazing."
One person who Ray is certainly indebted to is his grandma Maureen, who has watched with pride as her grandson has matured into a Championship footballer.
She, like many of his family, has been there since his humble beginnings in youth football, even making a scrapbook with her daughter (Ray's mother) of all the appearances that their boy has made in the press from a young age.
"My nan used to make all my sandwiches and wake up at the crack of dawn to take me to games," he recalled.
"She even used to make sandwiches for my team-mates and that just sums up the type of amazing person she is!
"The people on our street have all been amazing as well and when I came back home after scoring my first goal for QPR (the winner against Northampton in August), everyone was telling me that they'd just seen my goal on Sky Sports News, that was really weird!"
Jones it seems has the perfect entourage to remain focused on realising his dreams and his humility stands out when posed the question of what the future might hold for him.
"I just want to be the best player I can," he replied. "I hope that I will play at the highest level and hopefully that will be with QPR."
One thing that is for sure though is that in allowing a player like Jones, whose physical presence and eye for goal look set to make him a force to be reckoned with in the future, to escape their grasp, the Hammers may regret the fact they failed to unearth such a hidden gem.
Ilford Recorder