David Jones was born on 13 April 1974 in Great Ayton, a rural village eight miles south of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. He is the son of Helen and John Jones. His father was friends with former Wales international and Derby County stalwart Alan Durban, which gave Jones an early insight into the professional game. As a boy he played county cricket for North Yorkshire and represented the district in football, athletics, and hockey.

Jones attended Stokesley Comprehensive School in North Yorkshire. After school he went to the University of Gloucestershire, graduating with a degree in History, before completing a postgraduate NCTJ course in newspaper journalism in Sheffield. His first job was with the Derbyshire Times in Chesterfield as a news reporter covering crime and local politics, where he frequently encountered legendary Chesterfield MP Tony Benn. When Chesterfield FC reached the FA Cup semi-finals in 1997, he was drafted to the sports desk — the springboard that led to him joining Sky.

Jones joined Sky for the launch of Sky Sports News, originally as a scriptwriter, swiftly progressing to reporter and then presenter. He became a presenter on Sky Sports News in February 2003 after spending two seasons as a pitch-side reporter on Premiership Plus. He has since fronted Sky Sports’ biggest live Premier League broadcasts, working alongside analysts including Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Roy Keane, Thierry Henry, and Graeme Souness.

In December 2019, Jones fulfilled a lifetime ambition by joining the Sunderland AFC board as a non-executive director, advising on football matters and structure.