Isaac Andrew Owens AFM (7 November 1918 – 15 October 1998) was a Welsh

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 1940s and 1950s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Blaengarw RFC (in Blaengarw,

Bridgend Bridgend (; or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge over the River Og ...

), and Maesteg RFC, and armed forces rugby union for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, as a number eight, and representative level rugby league (RL) for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and

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 ...

, and at club level for

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

, and

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

, as a .

Playing career

Rugby union

Owens, who was born in

Pontycymer Pontycymer, also spelt Pontycymmer, is a former mining village in Wales. It is situated in the Garw Valley, in Bridgend County Borough, about 7 miles or 11 km north of the town of Bridgend. Its attractions include Bridgend Valleys Rail ...

near Bridgend, originally played rugby union for Blaengarw RFC, before switching to Maesteg. Although switching to rugby league in 1943 Owens was part of the 1945 British Empire Forces rugby union team that played France, during a period when the strict guideline between amateur and professional were relaxed. Owens, playing at number eight, scored two tries in that game helping the British to a 27–6 victory.

Rugby league

Owens changed codes in 1943 and joined Leeds. He also played two games for

Oldham RLFC Oldham Rugby League Football Club, is a professional rugby league football club based in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The club plays home games at Boundary Park and competes in Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. O ...

as a wartime guest. His international début came in March 1945 when he won the first of 12 caps for

in an 18–8 defeat by England at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

. In 1946 he was selected for the

, and played in all four tests (three against Australia and one against New Zealand) on the tour to Australia and New Zealand scoring a try in the third test against Australia.1946 Great Britain Lions tour. Following his return from the tour there was speculation that Owens was going to move to Australia to play for Newtown but Owens turned the move down. Owens played in one

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

final being on the losing side at Leeds lost 4–8 defeat by

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

in the 1946–47 Challenge Cup Final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on Saturday 3 May 1947. Before the start of the 1948–49 season Owens asked for a transfer from Leeds and in October 1948 he signed for Castleford for a fee of £2,750. Owens only played seven games for Castleford before moving to Huddersfield in January 1949, again for a fee of £2,750. During Owens' second season with Huddersfield ( 1949–50), the team reached both the Championship Final, and the final of the Yorkshire Cup but lost both; the Championship 2–20 to Wigan and the Cup to 4–11 to Bradford Northern. At the end of the 1951–52 season Owens retired aged 33, and returned to Wales.

Wartime service

Ike Owens served in the

as a Parachute Jump Instructor during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

at No. 1 Parachute Training School RAF based at

RAF Ringway RAF Ringway was a Royal Air Force satellite station at Ringway, Cheshire, England, near Manchester. It was operational from 1939 until 1957. The site is now occupied by Manchester Airport. Prewar years Manchester's first municipal airfield w ...

near

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. He was awarded the

Air Force Medal The Air Force Medal (AFM) was a military decoration, awarded to personnel of the Royal Air Force and other British Armed Forces, and formerly to personnel of other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, below commissioned officer, comm ...

in the 1945 Birthday Honours.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owens, Ike 1918 births 1998 deaths 20th-century Welsh sportsmen Castleford Tigers players Footballers who switched code Great Britain national rugby league team players Huddersfield Giants players Leeds Rhinos players Maesteg RFC players Oldham R.L.F.C. players People from Pontycymer Place of death missing Recipients of the Air Force Medal Royal Air Force airmen Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force rugby union players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Bridgend County Borough Rugby union players from Bridgend County Borough Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players