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]
Playing 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]

gollark: You should try and convince them to be smarter about inconvenience/money tradeoffs and not sort of coerce them into things.
gollark: Making them yourself is valid, as I explained.
gollark: You could have a "game night" or something instead of buying random trinkets for each other.
gollark: To which I say bee you do something less consumerist.
gollark: Anyway, despite being economically bad (unless you can give special things not available on the open market), you may object that gifting is still good because it forms social bonds.

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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