Joy of call up slowly sinking in

“I am going there to join up with the Welsh squad representing Dunfermline. It works both ways, I am very proud to be playing for this football club and I’m going there being proud of that.”

Receiving a call up to the Welsh international squad for matches next week against USA, Ireland and Finland came a a very pleasant surprise for Dunfermline goalkeeper Owain Fôn Williams on a day that was always going to be one to remember forever. Speaking to the website he revealed that he genuinely wasn’t expecting it.

“I got a call from Tony Roberts, the Wales keeper coach. I thought he was just calling me because he is also helping me my goalkeeping badges through the FAW. Little did I know that he was calling me to say that I had been called up to the senior squad again.”

Owain has been part of many Welsh squads but his last call up was in 2017. The 33 year old stopper who signed for Dunfermline in August this year had made six appearances while on loan from Hamilton Accies in what was the final matches of last season. He described his reaction to the phone call:-

“It was out of the blue. I couldn’t hide the news, my face said it all. Claire my partner she was in the car with me when I received the message and she said to me what’s up? She could see that I was delighted with the phone call. At the time I was actually going to pick up keys for my new house so two pieces of news that could not have been better. Moving to live here in Fife and the news that I was having the opportunity to join the squad again.”

Two Welsh keepers are out through injury - Wayne Hennessy (Crystal Palace) and Adam Davies (Stoke City) - leaving a path for Owain to be invited back.

“I am friends of both but they are injured both of them. I really do hate when people get injured. Wayne got injured in the last Wales game, he went down with a couple of minutes to go in the game. I really felt for him because he has an opportunity to hold the most caps for Wales.”

Hennessey has 94 caps having overtaken fellow keeper Neville Southall’s 92 and is just three behind current record holder defender Chris Gunter. Owain was hoping that he could get closer to breaking the record, especially with three games coming up in November.

“That’s football I suppose, you get opportunities when you least think they will happen. An opportunity has occurred for me right now and I wasn’t expecting it. For me personally it is fantastic because I always say that what I about doing is representing my country.”

On 1 February 2018, Owain joined United Soccer League club, Indy Eleven on loan for the 2018 season and went on to win player of the season.

“I thought when I went out to America that my time with Wales was over but it just goes to show that if you are ready and the opportunity is there then why not go for it, so that’s what I’m doing.”

Wayne Hennessey at 33 is the same age as Owain and has probably severely restricted Owain’s access to international football. Owain commented:-

“On one hand I have been lucky to have been with Wayne since I was about 15. We have been sharing rooms together, we have both been in a helluva lot of camps together and he is a great friend of mine who I respect. Having said that, yes maybe if there wasn’t such a good goalkeeper ahead of me or the same age as me, maybe I would have had a few more caps to my name.

“You know what, I wouldn’t have had it any other way because I strongly believe if you are in a good team, whether you play in it or not, that you are all in it together. Thankfully I have been lucky and in a good Wales team a few times and a big thank you to Wayne Hennessey for that.”

Owain was born in the village of Penygroes which is located between Caernarfon and Porthmadog. He was first called up to Welsh senior squad in 2009, but waited until Friday 13 November 2015 to make his debut. He continued:-

“Time just slips away. It’s funny really, I would have been one of them in the camp, in the Euros even, pulling lads legs that they are getting on a bit but when I look at the squad now, I am the oldest there! I laugh at that right now but how time flies.”

Owain is one of three keepers in the Welsh squad. Danny Ward (27) was a £12.5m move from Liverpool to Leicester City, he has seven caps but has only played one competitive match this season. The other keeper in the squad is Tom King (25), currently no.2 to Nick Townsend at Newport County and has only started three games this season. Can Owain hope for appearances?

“You know, for now it is still very early for it all to sink in and honestly, the type of person I am, I literally take everything as it comes. I learned that along the way because I have been involved with Wales since 2009, I have been involved in a lot of squads and I had to wait a long time for an opportunity.

“I am just grateful to be back in there, being back with the Welsh boys, seeing them again, also meeting new people and learning as well. An awful lot has changed since Chris Coleman’s days when I was with them. I am really looking forward to see how they go about it now.”

Rob Page will take the team in Ryan Giggs absence and Owain knows him because he used to take the Under 21s.

“He would come into the camp when Chris Coleman was in charge and so I would bump into him then. It will be great to see how he goes about his work. I am just going to try and learn as much as I possibly can.”

The first game, a friendly against USA will be played in the Liberty Stadium, Swansea on Thursday 12 November and the other two Nations League games will be played on the following Sunday and Wednesday at the Cardiff City Stadium. For Owain there is one massive thing missing:-

“The games will be played without the fans and that is going to play a major part as well. I remember going away with Wales and listening to the national anthem being sung. Great when you look over at the opposition lining up with the fans belting out ‘Land of My Fathers’.

“I remember when we played Scotland and I was part of that team, I remember it was very similar when the Scottish fans sung their anthem as well. There is something quite passionate about both anthems. I think it is very important for us to have our identity in that sense. “

Owain will travel south on Sunday to join up with the squad at their base in the Vale of Glamorgan, meeting up with the likes of Gareth Bale, Ben Davies and Chris Gunter.

“I haven’t seen these lads in a couple of years, it will be great to see them again. The funny thing about that when I look at the squad, there is only a handful of us who are still there of the UEFA 2016 squad. It will be great to see them again, I am really looking forward to that.

“Gareth Bale is Gareth Bale. Honestly he is just a humble human being, very likeable and loves having a bit of fun. He is a fantastic guy on and off the pitch, obviously we all know what he is capable of doing on the field but off the pitch you would never think in a million years that he is who he is and the way that he conducts himself. He is genuinely a fantastic guy.”

Wales are top of their Nations League Group having defeated Finland (A), Bulgaria (H & A) and drawn with the Republic of Ireland (A).

“The aim is to top the table and I have been watching these games purely as a Welsh fan, I have been putting my red shirt on and shouting at the telly when we have been getting the results. I genuinely have, it has been a fantastic campaign for the boys so far.

“To come away from the Ireland game in Dublin disappointed at not having won, I look at it as that just goes to show how far Wales have come to come away from a place like Ireland, a physical team, with a point and a clean sheet. If we can continue that form next week that will be fantastic and it will be great for me to be involved if we can do that.”

Impressively Wales have conceded no goals in those four Nations League matches. The Pars goalie coach knows the importance of clean sheets:-

“For any football team whether domestically or internationally if you can keep goals at bay then you have always got a chance. That has been the case for Wales. In the last game (against Bulgaria) they managed to score very early in the game to win. It just goes to show that they have a good base there to play off. First and foremost if you keep a clean sheet you just need to take one opportunity to win the game.”

While away on international duty Owain will miss Dunfermline’s Betfred Cup match at home to Clyde but he will return in time for the Championship match at home to Hearts on the Friday night.

“That’s the plan, I don’t like missing games at all. Having said that I am pleased for Cammy (Gill) and Ben Swinton that they will get the opportunity against Clyde. I think that it is very important for their development that they do get that experience because it is my role as well to push them on. I am doing my best every single day to make sure that they continue to improve. I am thrilled that the opportunity is there for them and hopefully I will be back in contention to be involved in the squad against Hearts on the Friday.”

In the meantime Owain can be assured that Dunfermline fans will become Welsh fans next week but he pointed out that is reciprocal:-

“The support that I am getting from the Pars fans is fantastic, I can’t thank them nearly enough, I genuinely mean that. With what has gone on at the back end of last season with me joining Dunfermline, the support that I have had has been nothing but fantastic. When I received the news that I had been called up, the messages have been flooding in from them all congratulating me.

“It is nice to be able to share that together because I am going there to join up with the Welsh squad representing Dunfermline. It works both ways, I am very proud to be playing for this football club and I’m going there being proud of that.”

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