Daniel Grey (1848 – 26 February 1900) was a Welsh
medical practitioner
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
who was prominent in the early days of Welsh
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
, making two appearances for the
Wales national football team in the 1870s.
Early life
Grey was born in
New Mills,
Lanarkshire in Scotland and attended
Glasgow University. He obtained his medical qualifications in 1874, when he moved to
Ruabon
Ruabon ( cy, Rhiwabon ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The name comes from ''Rhiw Fabon'', ''rhiw'' being the Welsh word for "slope" or "hillside" and ''Fabon'' being a mutation from St Mabon, the original church ...
, near
Wrexham,
Denbighshire to start a medical practice.
Football career
Grey was a keen sportsman and soon became one of the principals of the
Druids club alongside
Llewelyn Kenrick
Samuel Llewelyn Kenrick (9 June 1847 – 29 May 1933) was a Welsh solicitor who became the founder of the Football Association of Wales and organised the first Welsh international football match against Scotland in 1876. As such he became the "f ...
and the Thomson brothers,
George and
David. Grey became a founder member of the
Football Association of Wales and attended the Association's inaugural
Annual General Meeting at
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
on 24 May 1876.
In 1876, he also took part in trials organized by Kenrick to select Welsh players to represent their country in a match against
Scotland.
The match was played at
Hamilton Crescent
Hamilton Crescent is a cricket ground in the Partick area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club.
Hamilton Crescent hosted the first international football match, between Scotland and England, played on 30 ...
,
Partick, the home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club on 25 March 1876, with Grey playing on the right wing. The Welsh were well defeated, conceding four goals without reply.
In 1877, Grey, described as "a busy player and tremendous worker",
played (and scored) for Druids in the inaugural
Welsh Cup tie, contributing £15 to the FAW's fund to purchase a trophy.
Druids reached the final on 30 March 1878, losing 1–0 to local rivals
Wrexham.
Grey's second international appearance came a week before the Cup Final, on 23 March 1878, in a 6–0 defeat by Scotland at
the original Hampden Park.
Later career
Grey had retired from active playing by 1880, but continued to attend Druids and Wrexham matches as a spectator. In his medical capacity, he was often called upon to tend to injured players. In 1889, a Welsh Cup match between Wrexham and
Westminster Rovers became particularly violent and Grey was called upon to lecture the players about their behaviour.
Grey continued to live in Ruabon, where he died in February 1900, in his early 50s.
Honours
Druids
*
Welsh Cup runners-up:
1878
Events January–March
* January 5 – Russo-Turkish War – Battle of Shipka Pass IV: Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire.
* January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy.
* January 17 – Battle o ...
See also
*
List of Wales international footballers born outside Wales
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grey, Daniel
1848 births
Scottish men's footballers
Footballers from East Ayrshire
1900 deaths
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Welsh men's footballers
Druids F.C. players
Wales men's international footballers
Men's association football wingers
19th-century Welsh medical doctors
People from Wrexham County Borough