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Scottish-Chinese footballer Leon Jones playing for the University of Kentucky against Maryland in the US in 2018. Photo: UK Athletics

Scottish-Chinese footballer Leon Jones ‘excited’ by prospect of playing for China or Hong Kong

  • The former Scotland and Hearts youth player is searching for a club after completing US college scholarship
  • ‘The possibility of representing Hong Kong or China is something I would like to do’, says Jones, who is eligible through his Hong Kong-born mother

Former Scotland youth captain Leon Jones would “love” to honour his mother’s heritage and represent either Hong Kong or China at international level.

Freshly graduated from the University of Kentucky with a scholarship degree in chemical engineering, the 23-year-old centre-back helped lead the Wildcats to their best season in history in 2019, reaching the NCAA quarter-finals and keeping 14 clean sheets in 21 games. They were ranked third in the US last year.

Reunited with family in his native Glasgow after more than two and half years away, the former Hearts U-20s player hopes to find a Scottish or European club interested in his services but did not rule out a move further east.

“My mum is actually from Hong Kong and her family are in Wong Tai Sin. I’ve been to Hong Kong five times in my life – not for a wee while obviously because I’ve been doing football and stuff. But through my mum I think the possibility of representing Hong Kong or China is quite exciting and something I would like to do,” said Jones, who has always considered himself “as much Scottish as I am Chinese”.

Former Scotland U16s captain Leon Jones celebrates winning the Sky Sports Victory Shield with his teammates after the final in 2013. Photo: SNS Group

“I can speak a little Cantonese but I’m not 100 per cent fluent. I can understand better than speak, especially if my mum’s shouting at me!

“My mum is from Hong Kong and speaks Cantonese but my grandparents were born in China before moving to Hong Kong. So if there’s a chance to play for [either], I would love that.”

 

Jones captained Scotland U15s, U16s and U17s during which he led the team to their first Sky Sports Victory Shield in 15 years over England. Though a nasty hip injury ultimately kept him out the set-up, he has been widely praised for his knack of vocally leading the backline, and pairing natural physical aggression with composure on the ball.

He told Scotland’s Daily Record last year that he rejected a contract extension with Edinburgh-based Hearts at the age of 19 after the then-director of football was reluctant to offer him more than a year because he “lacked an inch or two” in height. Swapping the club he played for since the age of seven for one in the southern US was not easy, but there are no hard feelings.

“My whole footballing education was with [Hearts], so I owe a lot to them. It’s a club I still keep an eye on, even though I’m not with them,” he said, adding that he was eligible to play another year in Kentucky due to the NCAA’s Covid-19-updated rules.

Former Scotland U15s youth player Leon Jones during a match against Germany at the San Giorgio Stadium in Italy in 2013. Photo: Bongarts

“Kentucky’s climate is very different. It’s very hot, maybe more similar to Hong Kong than what we’re used to in Scotland. It was hard getting used to the pace of the game – their season starts in August and it’s still about 27 or 28 degrees Celsius. There are also different rules to European football. You can make more substitutes so the tempo is a lot higher, especially towards the end of the game.”

Now equipped with experience from both sides of the pond, he and his management have been sending out tape and feelers for a potential China or Hong Kong call-up.

“The agency that helped me get over here, First Point USA, had business with the Chinese Football Association so we wanted to see if there was a possibility of representing China or Hong Kong. The option to play for either national team is something I would really grasp,” Jones said.

Scottish-Chinese footballer Leon Jones with his mother, grandmother and two sisters. Photo: Handout

“As a player I still have the ambition to play at the highest level possible. I consider the European leagues to be higher quality than the Chinese ones, but if the opportunity arose to go to play in say the Chinese Super League, it would be something that I’d have to discuss with my family.

“I’m still looking to see if I can get a club sorted [in Scotland], but if clubs from over there got in touch, I don’t want to close any doors.”

Though he would need to reside in Hong Kong for sevens years to obtain the relevant Hong Kong paperwork, being called up for China could prove less of an obstacle given his mother’s background and the mainland’s case-by-case naturalisation policy.

Scottish-Chinese footballer Leon Jones with his parents on holiday in Hong Kong. Photo: Handout

Several players with Chinese heritage, including former Everton defender Ty Browing and former Arsenal academy graduate Nico Yennaris, have naturalised to play for China having represented England at youth level.

Yennaris, known as Li Ke in China, is joined at Beijing Gouan by former Norway youth international John Hou Saeter, who is also naturalised based on his Chinese heritage.

As for cultural integration, Jones has been grappling with the nuances since he could remember.

Former University of Kentucky player Leon Jones with his teammates after winning the conference USA double against ODU in 2018. Photo: Quinn Foster

“I never considered myself purely white or Asian growing up. I always considered myself half-Scottish, half-Chinese. Even when you fill out forms I always put ‘mixed’, not ‘Caucasian’ or ‘Asian’ because that’s how I see myself,” he said.

“In football, there weren’t many people that looked like me I guess, but that never bothered me. My teammates always saw me as Leon and never ‘that Leon’s Chinese and we’re not’.

“I will say there have been a couple of occasions where you’re playing and someone says something racist and you get angry, which probably isn’t a nice part of football and society, but hopefully with more awareness and education that stuff stops happening.”

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