A former Wimbledon player has opened up about his time with a teenage footballer who died in a car crash nearly ten years ago.

Ray Jones was a striker at Queens Park Rangers from 2006 to 2007, breaking into the club’s first-team squad as a 17-year-old and appearing for England's under-19s at international level.

Gareth Ainsworth played for Wimbledon for five years before the club was moved to Milton Keynes in 2003, and was at Queens Park Rangers for seven years until 2010.

Ainsworth, now manager of Wycombe Wanderers, has spoken about his time playing with Jones, ten years after he was involved in a fatal car crash in the early hours on August 25, 2007.

He said: "Ray was this youngster who came through the youth system at QPR. He was a giant of a lad, and as soon as he joined in with first-team training, we knew he was going to be a good player.

"He was a big lad, always happy, coming in smiling every day, and he loved his football.

“He made a real impact when he came into the first-team and played his part in us surviving that season.”

Jones would play in his only international match for England against the Netherlands two weeks after scoring the winner in a 3-2 win against Northampton Town.

Ainsworth remembers him as ‘polite and nice’, as well as a ‘cheeky character’ who he enjoyed playing with.

"He had a big career ahead of him, and losing him so suddenly and tragically was a big blow for us all,” the 44-year-old said.

“Ten years have gone by very quickly but it still hurts to think about it.

“He was a loss to QPR and to football, because we had a young star on his hands who was unfortunately taken from us."

Today (Friday, August 25) marks the 10th anniversary since Jones’ death.