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 | (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 | |||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
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]