A painter and decorator with the Hoover company in Merthyr Tydfil, Gwyn Manning was an all round sportsman excelling at cricket and golf as well as his first love, football. He played for his local team Troedyrhiw and won the Welsh Amateur Cup with them in 1947, when they beat Llay United 5-0 in the final. The following season Troedyrhiw were runners-up in the Welsh League and lost to Flint Town in the Amateur Cup final. Captain of the Welsh amateur international team Manning played in Walesí famous 3-2 win over England at Shrewsbury in 1948 which helped gain him his selection for that year’s Great Britain Olympic squad. A full-back, he played only in the opening game against Netherlands at the Olympics. He joined Treharris Athletic in 1950, before moving to Merthyr Tydfil. A very humble man, he rarely talked about his Olympic success and nine years after his death his son found his commemorative medal from the Games wrapped up in a wardrobe in the family home at Pentrebach, near Merthyr Tydfil.
Great Britain