Owain practised for hours with his dad and brothers on Dyffryn Nantlle field
JOINING fellow North Wales keepers Wayne Hennessey and Danny Ward in Wales’ Euro 2016 squad is Penygroes’ Owain Fôn Williams.
Attending Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle, Fôn Williams joined Crewe Alexandra on scholarship forms in 2003 after impressing during trial periods with Manchester United and Liverpool.
After signing a professional contract with the club in June 2006, the North Wales stopper was unable to break into the first team, eventually moving to Stockport County in 2008.
From there he made 82 appearances for the Edgeley Park outfit before having spells at Bury, Rochdale and Tranmere Rovers, moving to his current club Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the summer of 2015.
On the international scene, the Gwynedd goalkeeper has been unfortunate to have his appearances for Wales curtailed at all age groups - limited by the performances of Wayne Hennessey and making only a handful of appearances for Wales Under 17s, Under 19s and Under 21s.
Furthermore, despite earning his first senior Wales call-up in February 2009, it wasn’t until a friendly against the Netherlands on November 13, 2015 that the 29-year-old finally made his senior debut.
In the fourth of a series of articles focusing on the early days of Wales’ footballing heroes, the Daily Post spoke to Cledwyn Ashford from the Welsh Schools FA and Ian Arwel Jones of Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle to get an insight into the North Walian’s younger days.
Cledwyn Ashford: Before the Welsh Football Trust was established, David Nicholas (fellow Welsh Schools FA coach) and myself started a regional centre in North Wales, based in my old school in Mold.
The idea was to get the best North Wales players, coach them and get them playing together in what we now know as regional centres. We wanted them to be seen playing as a team and give as many of boys the opportunity to go on and play for Wales because we felt sometimes South Wales had a bit of an advantage when it came to the selection process.
It was there, at Under 13 level that I first came across Owain – I think by that stage Wayne was maybe at Manchester City and couldn’t play.
Owain was very unlucky with his football in the early days as he was a very good goalkeeper and deserved better than the opportunities he got – but there were so many good goalkeepers around at the time it was just unfortunate.
But he was such a lovely lad with fantastic support from his family throughout – he’s always given 100% and worked so hard to make a life in football and I am so glad it worked out for him in the end.
Ian Arwel Jones, PE Teacher at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle: I started working at the school when he was in the third year and I remember Owain as being a great role model for all the other pupils.
He excelled in art as well as PE and I even got him to paint the school changing rooms in yellow, blue and white – the colours of my team, Leeds United.
Owain was a very hard worker - conscientious, diligent and very focused but open-minded at the same time, he even took some training sessions for goalkeepers while still at the school.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he went into coaching after his career – he had a great rapport with kids even for a then 15/16 year old.
I also remember how supportive his family were - I live right by the school playing fields and I used to see him spending hours and hours with his father Dafydd and brothers – playing in goal practising and I could seen even then there was something special about him.
There was one goalkeeping save which really stood out when he was with us – it was in an Under 16s cup match and he pulled off a magnificent save which reminded me of the one Gordon Banks made against Pele in the 1970 World Cup.
It was the spitting image of that one and you could say then he was going to get somewhere and get a contract at some point, you don’t see that often at school football.
He just stood out and with the hard work he put in as well as the right attitude, I knew he would go on to do well.