George Alfred Owen (1865 – 29 January 1922) was a Welsh

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 le ...

who played as an

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial Re ...

in the late 1880s. He also made four appearances for the

Welsh national team ) , Association = Football Association of Wales (FAW) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , Coach = Rob Page , Captain = Gareth Bale , Most caps = Gareth Bale (111) , Top scorer = Gareth Bal ...

. Born in

Chirk Chirk ( cy, Y Waun) is a town and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, south of Wrexham, between it and Oswestry. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 4,468. Historically in the traditional county of Denbighshire, and later Clwy ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

, Owen began his career with his local team,

, before joining Newton Heath in January 1889. At the time of his signing, he was one of three Owens at the club, the other two being brothers Jack and William Owen. Owen played for Newton Heath for 1½ seasons, during which time he made 19 competitive appearances and scored five goals. In June 1890, Owen was transferred to West Manchester, before moving back to Chirk the following season. Two years with Druids followed, before he returned to Chirk for the final time in 1895. He retired from professional football in 1896, at the age of 31. Owen also made four appearances for the Welsh national team. He made his debut for Wales while still with Chirk on 10 March 1888 in a

British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

match against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

; Wales lost the match 5–1. His two Wales caps won as a Newton Heath player came in the

1889 British Home Championship Events January–March * January 1 ** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada. ** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in th ...

, in which he played in Wales' last two games: a 0–0 draw with Scotland and a 3–1 win over

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Owen had to wait a further three years for his final Wales appearance, a match in which he scored his only goals for his country: a hat-trick in a 4–3 loss to Ireland.

References

;General * * ;Specific

External links

Profile
at StretfordEnd.co.uk

at MUFCInfo.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, George 1865 births 1922 deaths People from Chirk Footballers from Wrexham County Borough Welsh men's footballers Men's association football forwards Manchester United F.C. players Chirk AAA F.C. players Wales men's international footballers Football Alliance players