Ronnie Rees
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Ronald Raymond Rees (4 April 1944 – 29 October 2023) was a Welsh professional
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 lea ...
who played predominantly as a winger and was able to play down either flank. He spent six years with
Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...
. At international level, he made 39 appearances for the Wales national team scoring three goals.


Career

Rees was a graduate of the
Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...
youth team, and was given his debut for the senior team by
Jimmy Hill James William Thomas Hill, Order of the British Empire, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English football in England, footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including pla ...
in May 1962. Rees spent six years at
Highfield Road Highfield Road was a football stadium in the city of Coventry, England. It was the home ground for Coventry City for 106 years. History It was built in 1899 in the Hillfields district, close to the city centre, and staged its final game on 30 ...
, helping Coventry gain promotion from
Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the Third Division become the fourth tier of English football. In 2 ...
to Division One. Rees left Coventry to join
West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...
for a fee of £65,000 in March 1968. He spent less than a year at the club, joining
Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...
in February 1969 for £60,000.
Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...
manager
Roy Bentley Roy Thomas Frank Bentley (17 May 1924 – 20 April 2018) was an English football player and manager. A former forward, Bentley played 367 games for Chelsea and captained the club to their first League Championship in the 1954–55 season. ...
paid Forest a club-record £26,000 for Rees in January 1972. Rees spent three and a half seasons with Swansea before joining
Haverfordwest Haverfordwest ( , ; ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a Community (Wales), community consisting of 12,042 people, making it the secon ...
of the
League of Wales League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...
in August 1975.


Later life and death

Following his retirement from professional football, Rees worked at the
Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...
motorworks in
Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...
and
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 ...
. He was forced to retire in 1995, at the age of 51, after suffering a major
stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
that took his ability to walk and talk. He was a resident at Hengoed Court Care Home, Swansea. Although in poor health he liked to keep up to date with all Coventry City football news. Rees died on 29 October 2023, at the age of 79.


Honours

* Coventry City Hall of Fame


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Ronnie 1944 births 2023 deaths Welsh men's footballers Wales men's international footballers Wales men's under-23 international footballers Coventry City F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Men's association football wingers Swansea City A.F.C. players Haverfordwest County A.F.C. players Footballers from Powys Sportspeople from Ystradgynlais English Football League players