Ioan Haydn Price (1883 – 7 March 1964) 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 at
wing half or
centre 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 various clubs in the period prior to
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, before brief spells as a manager with
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
and
Grimsby Town.
Playing career
Price was born at
Maerdy in
Glamorgan
, HQ = Cardiff
, Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974)
, Origin=
, Code = GLA
, CodeName = Chapman code
, Replace =
* West Glamorgan
* Mid Glamorgan
* South Glamorgan
, Motto ...
and after playing for Mardy Corinthians
joined
Aberdare Athletic in 1902, where he played in the 1904
Welsh Cup
The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...
Final against
Druids, losing narrowly 3–2. Price was a schoolteacher by profession and was nicknamed "the Birmingham schoolmaster".
In December 1904, Price joined
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
of the English First Division; at this time, Villa had a large playing staff and Price rarely played for the reserves and never played for the first team.
Nonetheless, he was selected for his first Welsh Cap while still playing for Villa's third team.
His international debut came in a 1–0 victory over
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 ...
at the
Racecourse Ground
The Racecourse Ground ( cy, Y Cae Ras) is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C.
It is the world's oldest international football stadium that still hosts international matches, having hosted Wales' first home i ...
,
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
on 4 March 1907, with the only goal coming from
Grenville Morris
Arthur Grenville Morris (13 April 1877 – 27 November 1959) was a Welsh footballer who played in the Football League for Nottingham Forest. He is the club's all-time highest scorer with 217 goals. He also played for Aberystwyth Town and Swindon ...
.
Described as a "strong sprinter with good distributive ability but faulty shooting", Price was an extremely versatile player who could play at wing half, left wing or as a central forward.
In 1907, Price moved to
Burton United where he played just one League game, in Burton's final match before they lost their League status at the end of
the 1906–07 season.
Price remained with Burton United for a year after they were relegated to the
Birmingham & District League, before joining fellow Birmingham and District League club
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
at the start of the 1908–09 season.
Whilst with Burton, he received his second Welsh cap, in a 1–0 defeat at the
Athletic Ground,
Aberdare
Aberdare ( ; cy, Aberdâr) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tyd ...
by
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 ...
on 11 April 1908.
Price spent one season at Wrexham, at the end of which the club won the
Welsh Cup
The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...
, although Price was not a member of the Cup Final eleven. Whilst with Wrexham, he picked up a further three Welsh caps, playing in all Wales' matches in the
1909 British Home Championship
Nineteen or 19 may refer to:
* 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20
* one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019
Films
* ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film
* ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film
Music ...
.
In the summer of 1909, Price returned to the English Second Division with
Leeds City
Leeds City Football Club was the leading professional club in Leeds, England, before the First World War. It was dissolved in 1919 due to financial irregularities, after which Leeds United was established as a replacement.
History
The club was ...
but found it hard to force his way into the first team.
After just eight Football League appearances, he left
Elland Road
Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England.
The g ...
at the end of the season to return to the Birmingham League with
Shrewsbury Town. He moved on to
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
in 1911, staying there for four years until he retired having become the club's Secretary/Manager in July 1912.
During World War One, Price played for
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
as a guest, making nine appearances, scoring three goals.
Management career
In 1919, Price became Secretary/Manager of
Mid Rhondda, who were based in
Tonypandy
Tonypandy is a town, community and electoral ward located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining town, the town was ...
. Whilst in his first spell as Mid Rhondda's manager, Price helped rescue the career of
Jimmy Seed
James Marshall Seed (25 March 1895 – 16 July 1966) was an English footballer and football manager.
Despite being born in Blackhill, Seed was brought up in the village of Whitburn on the coast just to the north of Sunderland, the family movin ...
which had stalled during the war; Seed went on to have a long career with Tottenham Hotspur and
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
as well as making five appearances for
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 ...
. Other players on Mid Rhondda's books at this time were former England international,
Joe Bache
Joseph William Bache (8 February 1880 – 10 November 1960), was an English footballer who played for Aston Villa.
Joe Bache was a prolific centre forward for Aston Villa between 1900 and 1919. He played for the England national team seven ti ...
and future Wales international,
Dai Collier
David John Collier MM ( – 30 November 1972) was a Welsh semi-professional football inside right who played in the Football League for Grimsby Town. He finished his career with Barry, playing more than 65 times for the club. He scored on his onl ...
. The club had a successful time in the seven months that Price was manager, winning both the
Southern League Division Two and the
Welsh League
The Welsh League was the first club rugby league competition in Wales.Lush (1998), pg. 19 Its inaugural season was in 1908/09 when four additional teams were formed to join Ebbw Vale RLFC and Merthyr Tydfil RLFC, which allowed a league tournamen ...
titles.
In July 1920, Price became manager at
Grimsby Town; he succeeded H.N. Hickson but unlike his predecessor, he was given responsibility for signing new players and for team selection.
He quickly returned to his former club, signing five players including Collier and Bache, as well as
Jimmy Carmichael,
Albert Irvine and
Harry Moody. His spell as manager at
Blundell Park
Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9, ...
was short-lived ending in acrimony in November 1920 when he resigned publicly in a letter to the
Grimsby Evening Telegraph citing interference by the board in his team selections.
Price returned to Mid Rhondda in 1921
where he was hit by more controversy when the club failed to pay its players and other debts and was suspended by the
Football Association of Wales
The Football Association of Wales (FAW; cy, Cymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Wales national football team, Welsh national foo ...
.
Price died in
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
in March 1964 in his early 80s.
References
External links
*
Profile on League Managers Association website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Haydn
1883 births
1964 deaths
People from Rhondda
Welsh men's footballers
Wales men's international footballers
Men's association football wing halves
English Football League players
Aston Villa F.C. players
Wrexham A.F.C. players
Leeds City F.C. players
Shrewsbury Town F.C. players
Walsall F.C. players
Tottenham Hotspur F.C. wartime guest players
Welsh football managers
Walsall F.C. managers
Grimsby Town F.C. managers
Aberdare Athletic F.C. players