ARTICLE BY KEANE WEBSTER

PICTURE by Chris Willz Photography shows Owain Roberts in action for Holyhead Hotspur Reserves previously.

WHETHER it be down the wing or around the island, Owain Roberts is CPD Y Fali’s running fanatic.

Here, he spoke to AFEFootballNews’ Keane Webster about football at the club, his role models growing up, and his upcoming sponsored run for mental health charity MIND.

Owain started watching and taking part in football from a young age, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Liam Fallows (a feature on which is coming up on our North Wales Footballing Families series in future). Admiring his brother, Owain states that the first ever game of football he watched was whilst watching Liam play for Llanerch-y-medd.

Playing football for years casually with his mates after his school days, the tricky and pacey winger soon thought he himself would like to start playing properly for a team. Therefore, at the age of 15, Treaddur Bay Juniors was the club Owain decided was the best place for him. Ever since, the Fali boy has described football as being a “massive passion” in his life.

He previously enjoyed successful spells with bit Bryngwran Bulls and Holyhead Hotspur Reserves before switching to Fali ahead of the 2019/20 campaign, where he became one of the club’s star players with his pace and trickery catching the eye out wide.

When asked what his football plans were in the future, Owain told me that at the moment, as everybody else is, he is just looking forward to the return of the game we love, and to “pick up from last season”.

Talking about last season, Owain explains how he was “absolutely gutted” that Fali couldn’t play in their two semi finals and finish the season. However, he says he is just looking forward to enjoying football again in the next season and hoping to “also win some trophies on the way”.

Away from football, Owain has kept himself busy and fit through the recent lockdowns whilst raising money for an extremely great cause. He is currently doing a sponsored run of 180 miles for a mental health charity called ‘MIND’ which is based around Wales and England. Through the sponsored run, Owain’s fundraiser has been very successful and only looks to carry on growing. At the time of writing, he has managed to raise £175 for the charity.

When asked why he decided to do this run, Owain said: “Before football starts back it would be a good idea to get fit, and at the same time, help an amazing charity”.

Not only is Owain now running many miles this month, but he has also completed another successful fundraiser with his very close friend, Emily, earlier this year for Breast Cancer. After that, he thought he would try and organise one of his own to challenge himself.

Speaking on mental health during these times, Owain added: “Since COVID has been around and we have not been able to do loads of things we all wanted to do, I guess it’s affected everyone’s mental health in some way. I’d like to think mental health is very important and I’m happy it’s a topic which has been spoken about more in the last 2-3 years. After I have hit the 180-mile mark, I’ll be proud that I have helped support MIND.”

Finishing off, Owain summed up how he hopes he can reach the highest level he possibly can, as well as enjoy the return of football, especially after missing out on an entire season. He says he is “sure to enjoy every minute of it when it’s back”.

I personally think that there is a lot for everyone to learn from Owain’s attitude. Not only is he a tricky winger, but he’s an inspirational guy off the field also.

And that seems to be an opinion shared by his CPD Y Fali coaches and players also.

Club legend Marc Wilson, who recently returned to the club following a season with Ogwen Tigers, said: “I’m extremely proud of what Owain is doing for charity. It’s always good to see players doing there part and raising money for various charities and when it’s one of our own it’s brilliant.

“He’s a brilliant lad and a great footballer. Always working hard and is in touch quite often, talking about ways to improve himself and better his game. Has heart and passion for football and CPD Y Fali.”

CPD Y Fali manager Dan Jones also praised Owain, saying: “It’s great to see these young lads raise money for these charities, Owain being one of them. He puts 110% into anything he does so I’m sure he’s working hard to get the miles in.

“As a footballer Owain is a very quick, skilful player and is improving every season. As a manager, its a pleasure having players like him with us because he always listens and wants to improve his game and that’s what we want at our club.”

To donate, to Owain’s cause, go to: http://www.gofundme.com/f/owains-fundraiser-for-mind?