William Digby Owen (1857 – 2 June 1901) was a Welsh amateur

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a forward in the first international match between

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in January 1879. He played his club football for Oswestry, for whom he also played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

. He later became a private tutor and died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

in his early forties.

Education

Owen was born in Oswestry, a few miles from the Welsh border within

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, in the third quarter (ie July to September) of 1857, son of George Owen (1827-1901), and educated at Oswestry School. He attended

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

from where he graduated with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in 1878. He was selected to represent

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

against

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

at football but was unable to play because of illness, thus missing out on a "

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Football career

Described as "a fine athlete and a noted exponent of the dribbling game", Owen first played football for Oswestry in 1876, but his appearances were rather intermittent, as they were interrupted by his academic studies. In January 1879, he was one of nine players from Oswestry (including three who were spending a season with Oswestry as their own club,

Druids A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...

, was temporarily without a ground) who was selected to represent

against

in the first international match between the two countries. The match was played at the

Kennington Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it ...

on 18 January and was shortened to two halves of only 30 minutes each because of the heavy snowfall. The match report in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' said "In spite of the fact that a thick layer of snow covered Kennington-oval on Saturday, the match between England and Wales, announced for that day, was played." England scored twice in the first half, with William Davies scoring the Wales reply in the 47th minute. Owen also represented North Wales against Sheffield in 1877 and against Lancashire in 1879, and Shropshire against Staffordshire in 1879.

Later career

On leaving Oxford, Owen settled back in Oswestry where he became a private tutor. His football career was over by 1880 but he continued to play cricket for Oswestry having played for Shropshire in 1877 and 1878.''Shropshire Cricketers 1844-1998'', pages 22,49. Owen died of

in June 1901, in his early forties.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Digby 1857 births Footballers from Oswestry People educated at Oswestry School 1901 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Deaths from pneumonia in England Welsh men's footballers Men's association football forwards Oswestry Town F.C. players Wales men's international footballers