Mal Rees
Maldwyn James Francis Rees (21 April 1924 – 2003) was a Welsh footballer who played as an inside forward. He appeared in the Football League for Brighton & Hove Albion and Scunthorpe & Lindsey United, and played for many years in Welsh amateur football.
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Maldwyn James Francis Rees[1] | ||
Date of birth | [1] | 21 April 1924||
Place of birth | Neath, Wales | ||
Date of death | 2003 (aged 78–79) | ||
Height | 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Winger | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1943–194? | Swansea Town | 0 | (0) |
194?–1947 | Briton Ferry Athletic | ||
1947–1949 | Norwich City | 0 | (0) |
1949 | Briton Ferry Athletic | ||
1949–19?? | Brighton & Hove Albion | 2 | (0) |
19??–1950 | Barry Town | 22 | (3) |
1950–1951 | Scunthorpe & Lindsey United | 18 | (1) |
Milford United | |||
1952–1957 | Aberystwyth Town | ||
Milford United | |||
Port Talbot Town | |||
Briton Ferry Athletic | |||
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only |
Life and career
Rees was born in 1924 in Neath,[1] which was then in Glamorgan, the youngest of six children of James Francis-Rees and his wife, Gertrude née Snow.[3] He attended Cwrt Sart Central School in Briton Ferry, and played football as a youngster for Garthmor and for Neath schoolboys.[4] He played for Swansea Town in the wartime competitions, regularly in 1943–44 and occasionally the following season,[5] before joining Briton Ferry Athletic, where he was instrumental in their Welsh League Division Two West title win in 1946–47. After a trial with Norwich City at the end of that season, he turned professional with the Third Division South club. According to the Western Mail, it was "a blow to [Briton Ferry] when he signed for Norwich, because it meant that they faced their first season in Division I of the Welsh League without the 'key' man who had taken them there."[4]
After a season during which he never appeared for Norwich's first team and was reported to have failed to settle,[4] Rees went home to Wales. He married Peggy Bell in the summer of 1948,[3][6] and resumed his career with Briton Ferry Athletic. After he was recommended to Brighton & Hove Albion by former Welsh international player Les Jones and impressed in a trial, he returned to English football, albeit briefly.[4][2] He made his Football League debut on 9 September 1949, in a 1–0 win away to Newport County, but played only once more for the League side before being released.[2] He spent what was left of the season with Barry Town, for which he made 22 Southern League appearances.[7] Rees spent the 1950–51 season back in the Football League, under the management of Les Jones at Scunthorpe & Lindsey United, newly elected to the Third Division North. He made 18 league appearances, mostly in the first half of the season, before returning to amateur football in Wales.[8]
Between 1952 and 1957, Rees played for Aberystwyth Town. He captained the team, played in 186 matches in which he scored 36 goals, and earned a reputation for the spectacular. A eulogistic piece on the club's website describes his 1953–54 goal of the season: "In a dazzling run from the half-way line he beat man after man, pulling out of his bag of tricks every sleight-of-foot in the soccer magician's handbook, before unleashing one of his specials."[9] He also played for Milford United and Port Talbot Town.[10][3]
References
- "Mal Rees". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
- Carder, Tim; Harris, Roger (1997). Albion A–Z: A Who's Who of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Hove: Goldstone Books. p. 202. ISBN 978-0-9521337-1-1.
- Richards, David. "The Francis-Rees family of Neath". RugbyRelics.com. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
- "Briton Ferry player". Western Mail. 2 September 1949. p. 5.
- Rollin, Jack (2005). Soccer at War 1939–45. London: Headline. p. 423. ISBN 978-0-7553-1431-7.
- "Index entry". FreeBMD. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
- "Barry Town AFC 1949–50" (XLS). Barry Town United A.F.C. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
- "The Iron Alphabet". Scunthorpe United F.C. Archived from the original on 22 December 2007.
- "Green Legends: Dr Eddie Ellis, Ted Bevan, Gareth Hopkins, Derrick Dawson & Mal Rees". Aberystwyth Town F.C. Archived from the original on 11 February 2006.
- "Milford's hard luck". Western Mail. Cardiff. 29 December 1958. p. 8.
- "Maldwyn James F Rees England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837–2007". Retrieved 5 April 2019 – via FamilySearch.org.