Where Cardiff City's best paid player from 10 years ago is right now | OneFootball

FLW takes a look at where Cardiff City's highest paid player from the 2014/15 season is today.

Cardiff City may have a couple of regrets over who their top earners have been in the last decade.

The likes of Ricky Lambert, Oumar Niasse, and Nat Phillips have all been the highest paid players at the club at some point during the last 10 years, as per the estimated data on Capology.com, while Aaron Ramsey is currently the top earner at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Yanic Wildschut, Alex Smithies, and Joe Ralls have also featured at the top of the list when it comes to the Bluebirds' best paid players in the last decade.

Now, 10 years on from the 2014/15 campaign, let's take a look at what Cardiff's highest earner from that season is up to these days.

Who was Cardiff's top earner 10 years ago?

Cardiff finished 11th in the Championship during the 2014/15 season, first under the management of Ole Gunnar Solskjær until September, and then his replacement, Russell Slade, for the rest of the campaign.

According to the estimated data available on Capology.com, the Bluebirds' top earner that season was Trinidad & Tobago international Kenwyne Jones, who scored 11 goals in the second tier, while he also provided five assists.

Jones earned £34,000 per week at Cardiff during the 2014/15 campaign, at the age of 29 years old, and was the club's top scorer at the end of the season, despite having been sent on loan to fellow Championship side AFC Bournemouth in March 2015.

He saw out the season with the Cherries, helping them achieve promotion to the Premier League as champions by scoring once in six substitute appearances under Eddie Howe.

After joining Cardiff from Stoke City in a swap deal for Peter Odemwingie in January 2014, Jones was unable to help the club avoid relegation from the top flight, but he ended his time in Wales with 18 goals in all competitions after a couple of seasons in the Championship, and then left to play in the UAE.

Where is Kenwyne Jones now?

After playing for Al-Jazira Club in the UAE, Atlanta United in the USA, and Central FC in his native Trinidad & Tobago, Jones retired from professional football in November 2017.

However, despite hanging up his boots, the 40-year-old did not turn his back on the game for good.

In 2021, he was appointed head coach of the Trinidad & Tobago women's national team, a role which he held until his departure in 2023.

As per Jones' Instagram account, it appears as though he has continued on his coaching journey, as he is a UEFA Licensed Coach and has a postgraduate diploma in Sports Management, while he uploaded a picture of himself on the sidelines as recently as November 2024.

He is also a Director at Black Diamond Sports Int. Ltd, which has a number of focuses including coaching, man management, and family welfare, as per their Instagram.

Jones had a successful career, during which he played for clubs including Sunderland, Stoke, and Cardiff, scoring 40 goals in the Premier League, 39 in the Championship, and 23 for his country, which is a respectable outcome for a striker who could also effectively bring others into play with his physicality and aerial presence.

Some football fans may best remember Jones for his acrobatic celebration after scoring a goal, and you never know, they may see him again in a dugout somewhere at some point in the future.