Presidents Introduction:
This month I am delighted to introduce the Legend of The Gowmans. Current members will be well aware of Rhys who has been a mainstay of the Mens 1st team and Wales for many years. His father Andy has been a longstanding club member and has a similar track record of representing club and country. Avril , Andys wife is likewise legendary and was responsible for the setting up of the ladies section 'Cardiff Athletic Ladies' all those years ago.
In 1970 i joined Cardiff Hockey Club and player regularly in the 1st team. I had a season with Coventry and North Warwicks (1987/88) and Stourport (1988/89 – 1st year of National League (Prem). In 1990 i returned to play in the 2s. Following this i worked as an assistant coach under Howie Williams in the 90s and also Walid Abdo from about 2010 until 2017.
Best Mate?
Best mate for many years was the great Howie Williams – the most skillful and competitive player I have played with – charismatic and a larger than life character whose death from cancer came far too soon
What do you do now?
Retired but do a number of part time jobs. Volunteer at St Davids Hall (when not in COVID). Planning to undertake a garden house project
My Playing Career - A Brief Summary
- Gained 1st senior Wales cap in August 1978 when we defeated Belguim 5 – 1 in Ireland on grass.
- Played in 3 outdoor and 3 indoor European Cups for Wales – best result was drawing 2 – 2 with Holland in the 1978 Euros – we came 6th and had 7 Welsh players in the final 35 man GB selection with Cardiff’s Bryn and Howie Williams being selected for many GB tournaments.
- Gained 47 outdoor caps (pre-rolling subs so probably sat on the bench for another 50 odd!) and 55 indoor caps.
- Scored 9 outdoor international goals (not sure of number of indoor goals).
- I captained the Wales indoor team for 3 years as well as the Cardiff Indoor team when I was 20 and the 1st team for 3 years (1982 to 1985?).
- Played in 4 European Club championships for Cardiff – Cardiff, Subotica, Gothenburg and Gibraltar.
- Played in 1 (I think) European Indoor championships for Cardiff – Vienna,
- Also have been lead coach for Wales U21s for 2 years (Walid was in the team – beat England 2-1 in a Euro tournament) and have worked as assistant coach for Wales Juniors and Cardiff mens 1s over the years.
ABOUT Cardiff & Met HC
Cardiff & Met Hockey Club is based at the National Hockey Centre, Sophia Gardens near the city centre and at Cardiff Metropolitan University. We have 5 Mens Senior Teams, 5 Ladies Senior Teams, 6 British Universities & Colleges Sports (BUCS) student teams and Juniors Teams from U9 to U18.
CONTACT Us
E. cardiffandmet.sec@gmail.com
E. newsletter@cardiffandmet.co.uk
E. sponsorship@cardiffandmet.co.uk
E. hockeyacademy@cardiffmet.ac.uk
PROUD to be Associated with
