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.

Not to be confused with Mel Rees.

Mal Rees
Personal information
Full name Maldwyn James Francis Rees[1]
Date of birth (1924-04-21)21 April 1924[1]
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]

Rees's death was registered in Swansea in April 2003.[11]

References
  1. "Mal Rees". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  2. 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.
  3. Richards, David. "The Francis-Rees family of Neath". RugbyRelics.com. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  4. "Briton Ferry player". Western Mail. 2 September 1949. p. 5.
  5. Rollin, Jack (2005). Soccer at War 1939–45. London: Headline. p. 423. ISBN 978-0-7553-1431-7.
  6. "Index entry". FreeBMD. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  7. "Barry Town AFC 1949–50" (XLS). Barry Town United A.F.C. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  8. "The Iron Alphabet". Scunthorpe United F.C. Archived from the original on 22 December 2007.
  9. "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.
  10. "Milford's hard luck". Western Mail. Cardiff. 29 December 1958. p. 8.
  11. "Maldwyn James F Rees England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837–2007". Retrieved 5 April 2019 – via FamilySearch.org.
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