Scarborough
born Jonathan started his career at York City, signing professional for them in
August 1996 after working his way through the Bootham Crescent youth system. He
made his first team debut for the Minstermen in March 1997 in a league game at Bournemouth and finished his first season in
professional football with five appearances to his name.
The 1997/98
season saw Jonathan struggle to gain a regular place in the City team. He did
make 22 appearances although the majority were from the subs bench. He scored
his first goal in senior football in York’s 2-1 win over Gillingham on August 30. Despite only starting
six games for York Jonathan was handed a trial by Manchester United, he
obviously impressed and on March 26 he was off to Old Trafford for a reported
fee of £1million.
Jonathan’s
United debut came on October 28, 1998 in their Worthington Cup clash with
Bury at Old Trafford whilst his Premiership debut came two months later, as a
substitute against Nottingham Forest. The 1998/99 season also saw him
make his England Under-21 debut, coming against Hungary in Budapest on April 27. Jonathan finished the
season with seven first team appearances for the Reds and a Champions League
Winners medal after being an unused substitute as United beat Bayern Munich in
the Barcelona final.
The next
two seasons saw Jonathan again restricted to just occasional appearances in the
United first team and at the end of the 2000/01 season he went on the transfer
list.
It wasn’t
long before Middlesbrough boss Steve McClaren, who knew all
about Jonathan from his spell as assistant at Old Trafford, made a move for the
young midfielder. On August 9, 2001 Jonathan moved to the Riverside
Stadium for a fee of £2million. He made his debut for Boro in a 4-0 home defeat
against Arsenal on August 18. A successful first season on Teeside saw Jonathan
finish with 41 appearances and one goal.
The 2002/03
season was probably his best to date, not only did he win the club’s player of
the year award but in November he received a call up into the full England squad for a training camp
‘get-together’. Jonathan finished the season with 39 appearances and two goals,
one of them coming in Boro's 3-0 win over Albion at the Riverside in April.
The
following season was something of a disappointment for Jonathan, he missed
almost two months of it through injury, including the Carling Cup final, and
never really regained the form he had showed the previous year.
With Boro
having a surplus of midfielders following the arrival of the likes of Mendieta
and Zenden they accepted a £1.25million bid from newly promoted Albion on July 13,
2004. Two
weeks later Jonathan, who had made 109 appearances and scored four goals for
Boro put pen to paper on a three year deal at The Hawthorns and so became Gary
Megson's fifth signing of the summer.
Speaking at
the time of his move to The Hawthorns Jonathan said: "I'm delighted to
come to West
Brom. Middlesbrough have signed quite a few players so I
wasn't guaranteed a start, which you never are - you've got to earn that right.
I'm pleased to be here and I'll fight for my place.”
"It
was a difficult decision because I enjoyed my three years at Boro. I played
some good football up there and was playing regularly until I picked up a few
injuries and illnesses. Last season was a bit of a set back for me and I want
to try and get back on track again and start playing week in, week out.”
"Wherever
the manager plays me, I'll give 120 per cent. I've played right across midfield
at Manchester United and Boro and I think I can do a job anywhere across there."
ALBION CAREER - SEASON BY SEASON
2004/05
Jonathan made his
Albion debut in the club's opening game of the season at Blackburn Rovers
on August 14. He would miss just four league games during his first season
at The Hawthorns, three of those because of a suspension received
following his sending-off for violent conduct in the game at Villa Park in
April. Impressing everyone with his control, skill and crossing ability, Jonathan quickly became a fans favourite.
ALBION STATS
Appearances & Discipline:
|
SEASON |
LEAGUE |
FA CUP |
LEAGUE CUP |
PLAY-OFFS |
TOTAL |
YC |
RC |
|
2009/10 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
2008/09 |
33+1 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
37+1 |
7 |
0 |
|
2007/08 |
46 |
5 |
2+1 |
0 |
53+1 |
8 |
0 |
|
2006/07 |
40+2 |
4 |
2+1 |
3 |
49+3 |
11 |
0 |
|
2005/06 |
37+1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
40+1 |
2 |
0 |
|
2004/05 |
32+2 |
2 |
0+1 |
0 |
34+3 |
5 |
1 |
Total |
190+6 |
16 |
6+3 |
3 |
215+9 |
33 |
1 |
