Mrs Diana Jones (was Roberts) has been researching her family history and discovered that an ancestor William Roberts, pictured above, was a soccer player of note.He was born in Rhyl in 1863 and played for Rhyl from 1880 to 1885 including in a Wales v England match in 1883. William was a captain of the Rhyl club and the town’s first international player. He was a butcher by trade and moved eventually to Manchester and played for Manchester Welsh 1885-91.
William was the youngest brother of butcher E. P Roberts who had a High Street shop and a stall in the market that used to be in the square behind the town hall. The High Street shop was on the site of the present Cooltrader frozen-foods place near the Jobcentre.
To round off a good story, Diana has supplied a photo of the old shop and a fascinating shot of that end of High Street as it would have looked in William’s time.
l
l
l
