Nia Jones

Welsh dual-international who captained the Welsh Feathers at the 2023 World Cup while simultaneously representing Wales at senior level in football.

Nia Jones was born on 6 April 1992 in Wrexham. A rare dual-code international, she represented Wales at both netball and football, earning around 30 caps as a footballer with Cardiff City, Reading (helping them win promotion to the Women's Super League) and Yeovil Town, while also building a parallel netball career as a defender. Jones made her senior netball debut for Wales in 2013 and went on to earn 70 caps, representing her country at three Commonwealth Games (2014, 2018, 2022) and the 2023 World Cup in Cape Town, where she captained the Welsh Feathers. Domestically she played over a decade in the Netball Superleague for Celtic/Cardiff Dragons, Severn Stars and Leeds Rhinos, captaining Cardiff Dragons across multiple seasons including 2019 and 2021-22, and won gold with Wales at the 2013 Netball Europe Open Championship. Jones continued playing both sports simultaneously for years, at one point playing a Netball Superleague match for Leeds Rhinos on a Saturday followed by a Gaelic-style double-header of Armagh-adjacent fixtures for Armagh football the next day in a similarly demanding schedule to Northern Ireland's Caroline O'Hanlon. In 2024, after Cardiff Dragons did not renew her netball contract, Jones decided not to trial for the Welsh national netball team and retired from professional netball, returning fully to football with Swansea City Women while building a broadcasting career with ITV, BBC Sport and Sky Sports.

Determined, flair-driven wing defence and goal defence known for tenacity and reading the game

A trailblazing dual-sport athlete whose career demonstrated the possibility of excelling at senior international level in two different sports at once

• Netball Europe Open Championship Gold 2013
• Captained Wales at the 2023 World Cup
• 3x Commonwealth Games (2014, 2018, 2022)
• FAW Young Player of the Year 2011 (football)