Frank Connah

Frank Connah was the son of the famous Welsh hockey player Charles Connah. Frank was regarded as being one of the finest Welsh half-backs. Although born in Warrington, he spent most of his life in North Wales around the Rhyl area, and played for the Rhyl, Colwyn Bay, and St. Asaph clubs.

While at Rhyl, Connah played for Wales as a 20-year-old. His brother Harold also played for Rhyl, and St. Asaph, and in 1907 the North Wales Hockey Association staged a match between the East and the West. Frank (Colwyn Bay) captained the West while Harold (St. Asaph) skippered the East. A month later the siblings played together in a North Wales representative side against South Wales.

The siblings were originally both selected for the Welsh team at the 1908 London Olympics, but centre-forward Harold never made the trip, while Frank played in Wales’ only match, the 3-1 defeat by Ireland, but, as losing semi-finalists, they were eligible for a bronze medal. At the time of the Olympics, Frank was playing for St. Asaph, but after the Games returned to play for Rhyl. Frank and Harold both worked in their father’s cycle business in Rhyl at the turn of the 20th century until it went out of business in 1906.