Ronnie Rees (4 Viewers)

elusive_sun

New Member
hi, i'm from Swansea but I thought i'd post this on here, I was taking my nan to visit her friend in an Elderly Persons Care Home and one of the long term residents their is Ronnie Rees, the nurses said hes kind of the 'celeb' their as hes an ex swans player and most visitors come to see there family members also want to meet Ronnie. I didn't know much about him so I asked if hes such an icon to Swansea fans (and apparently he still goes to watch their home games) how come every time I see him hes always drinking his tea from a Coventry City mug. She said he ALWAYS drinks from his favorite mug and even though hes in poor health (wheelchair bound and unable to talk properly since a stroke years ago) he still managed to tell a nurse to f%%k off once with some enthusiasm when she gave him the wrong mug and his to another resident by mistake. Also she said up until a few years ago he used to receive fan mail from Coventry and Nottingham but thinks that they may have stopped writing as it took Ronnie so long to respond as he struggles to write very well now.
If anyone is wanting to write to him maybe just as a one off to let him know Coventry fans still remember him the address is
Hengoed Court
Cefn Hengoed Road, Swansea,
West Glamorgan, Wales, UK, SA1 7LQ

​or you can even tweet any good wishes to @hengoedcare
 

lifeskyblue

Well-Known Member
When I started going to football as a kid Ronnie Rees was my first fav player. Always comfortable on the ball and seemed to go past full backs with ease. I used to stand, on a stool, behind the goal at the Spion Kop and shout his name throughout the game. Happy happy days. I think I will send him a letter


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Joy Division

Well-Known Member
Does anyone here work for or have links to the CCFCFPA? Would be good if they were aware of this, need to look after our old boys.
 

rupert_bear

Well-Known Member
He was a main reason we had that success under Jimmy Hill a little bit of an unsung hero but a tremendous player, if Mowbray can find a carbon copy of Romnie Rees we go up simple as that
 
That's a great story Elusive Sun, before my time but my old brother remembers him well and with great fondness. Can I suggest though that his Nurse in the care home where he lives is in serious breach of confidentiality by giving out details about his condition etc.
 

Captain Dart

Well-Known Member
That's a great story Elusive Sun, before my time but my old brother remembers him well and with great fondness. Can I suggest though that his Nurse in the care home where he lives is in serious breach of confidentiality by giving out details about his condition etc.

Some of which on wikipedia anyway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_Rees

Gosh he is not as old as I'd thought!
 

rightumpty

New Member
And Ronnie Rees he is our wizard of the wing
Sung many times in the Jimmy Hill era. The fans favourite for many years before Tommy Hutchinson.
Best wishes Ronnie.
 

CJ_covblaze

Well-Known Member
He's one of the players my Grandad mentions quite a lot. "The best winger and one of the most exciting players we've ever had".
 

Irish Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
There is a great clip of him on YouTube from a game against Bolton in 1967. Picks the ball up in his own half at the Kop end of the ground, beats several players before crossing for Bobby Gould to score at the West End.
 

oscillatewildly

Well-Known Member
Does anyone here work for or have links to the CCFCFPA? Would be good if they were aware of this, need to look after our old boys.
I'm sure they visited him at home/care home a couple of years ago for CCFCFPA tie presentation. It's a real shame, owing to his mobility problems that we probably won't see him at future legends gatherings. Never saw him play, read up lots on him over the years and I will certainly drop him a line.
 

Grendel

Well-Known Member
Did he really have a stroke at 51?
 

Sky Blue Kid

Well-Known Member
He had a stroke while working at the "Ford Motors Plant" in Bridgend, I posted about Ronnie last year being in a home and hardly able to speak. A great winger back in the day and got the City loads of penalties with his speed getting round the RB. Pens that Ron Farmer used to convert with ease.
 

rupert_bear

Well-Known Member
Ronnie Rees was Jimmy Hill's little bit of luck that helped kick start the Sky Blue era. JH had bought 5 forwards with the chairmans £30k gift Willie Humphries, Hugh Barr, Terry Bly, Jimmy Whitehouse and Bobby Laverick, 6 foot 2 and crap so after a few games Hill brought in this little kid, just 18 and he was brilliant every match. Would be worth a few million in today's market.
 

blueflint

Well-Known Member
one of our best ever players watched him for the six years as that was my era
 

rupert_bear

Well-Known Member
Harsh words especially for a reverend I believe Rees had a major stroke at the young age of 51 which left him wheel chair bound and seriously disabled and in need of regular medical care
 

bringbackrattles

Well-Known Member
Up there with the Hud as one of my favourite ever players. Didn't know he was in a home though bit of a shock to be honest but if he did have a stroke that may account for it.Now he is a proper Sky Blue legend !
 

Johhny Blue

Well-Known Member
When I started going to football as a kid Ronnie Rees was my first fav player. Always comfortable on the ball and seemed to go past full backs with ease. I used to stand, on a stool, behind the goal at the Spion Kop and shout his name throughout the game. Happy happy days. I think I will send him a letter


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This could have been exactly my response
 

lifeskyblue

Well-Known Member
It know it was my wonder at Ronnie Rees ability to go past defenders that made me a winger in my playing days and then also made Tommy Hutchinson my fav player of all time. Wingers are so exciting and always get the crowd buzzing


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maddog

New Member
When I was really little my dad used to take me to Highfield Road with a box and we would stand by the half way line. You could overhear Ronnie cue Welsh accent (when he came mear the opposition fullback) "I'm going to fuckin skin you today". The next time Ronnie had the ball the fullback would slide in trying to cripple him. Ronnie would speed past him and be away. Ronnie was pure class.
 

Johhny Blue

Well-Known Member
There is a great clip of him on YouTube from a game against Bolton in 1967. Picks the ball up in his own half at the Kop end of the ground, beats several players before crossing for Bobby Gould to score at the West End.

Well worth a watch. A young Francis Lee playing for Bolton and two future City Managers on show.
 

lifeskyblue

Well-Known Member
Watched it earlier. Rees' turn of speed and skill in the move setting up Gould shows just the talent he was


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Wheelfass

Well-Known Member
My first season at HR was 1962 and so I remember him so very well. He had a trick of pushing the ball passed the full back on one side and then running around him on the other side and then back on to the ball before running on towards the line and crossing it over.
I have many programmes from those brilliant years so I'll sort some out and send them on to him.
 
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Grendel

Well-Known Member

cloughie

Well-Known Member
There is a great clip of him on YouTube from a game against Bolton in 1967. Picks the ball up in his own half at the Kop end of the ground, beats several players before crossing for Bobby Gould to score at the West End.


Just watched that wow memories No wonder I am still a fan, not madness after all, just hoping for those type of times again. ( top flight quality football)

The thing that struck me apart from Ronnie Rees being a superb player was the pace of the game and how good the players still seem compared to nowadays.
 

bringbackrattles

Well-Known Member
Ronnie on the left wing Humphries on the right shinning full backs and getting us fans on our feet with their skills.Rees before Hutch would beat his marker then to take the piss do it again !
 

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