Garfield David Owen (20 Mar 1932 – 17 Jan 2019) was a Welsh

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

, and dual-code international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

, and professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He first played amateur rugby for Llanharan RFC, Maesteg RFC,

Wrexham RFC Wrexham Rugby Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Rygbi Wrecsam) is a Welsh rugby union team based in Wrexham, Wales. Wrexham RFC is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union. Wrexham was one of the nine founder clubs of the North Wales Rugby Union, which formed ...

and

Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, Wales. They presently play in the Super Rygbi Cymru. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on the east bank of the River Usk. Ever ...

at club level before winning six caps for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. He also played rugby union for the invitational club;

Barbarian F.C. The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians, is a Great Britain, British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitatio ...

He later switched to the professional code in 1956 joining Halifax where at international level he also played for the Rugby League XIII, and the

rugby league team at his favoured position of .

International honours

Owen represented Rugby League XIII while at Halifax in 1958, and represented

while at Halifax in 1959.

Honoured at Halifax

Owen is a Halifax Hall Of Fame Inductee.

Career records

Owen is one of fewer than twenty-five Welshmen to have scored more than 1000 points in their rugby league career.

Personal life

Owen married Marlene (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Sternson) in 1957 in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. They had two children; Russell H. Owen and Sally L. Owen. His death was announced on 17 January 2019, he was 86-years-old.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Profile at blackandambers.co.ukThe Welshman who kicked an amazing 535 goals for Halifax
{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Garfield 1932 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Welsh sportsmen Barbarian F.C. players Dual-code rugby internationals Halifax Panthers players Keighley Cougars players Llanharan RFC players Maesteg RFC players Newport RFC players People from Glamorgan Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Rhondda Cynon Taf Rugby League XIII players Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Rhondda Cynon Taf Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players