Midfield ace Dylan Owen reached a landmark birthday on January 2

Two well-known North Wales footballers celebrated their 35th birthday on January 2 and both retired from the game last summer.

One was former Prestatyn Town striker Ian Griffiths, who we profiled yesterday, and the other is Dylan Owen, affectionately known as Midge.

Dylan was a highly talented midfielder, particularly well-known for his long range shooting and ability from dead-ball situations.

He spent the last eight seasons of his career at Llanrug United, but before that was a scholar at Wrexham AFC and went on to represent Caernarfon Town, Colwyn Bay (loan), Rhyl, Llangefni Town, Caernarfon Wanderers and Nantlle Vale.

Father-of-three Dylan joined Llanrug in August 2012.

He made 229 appearances for the Arfon club, netting 68 goals and gaining 36 man of the match awards.

Twice club Player of The Season in 2013/14 and 2015/16, he was top scorer with 14 goals in the latter campaign.

Dylan’s greatest achievement at Llanrug was undoubtedly lifting the coveted FAW Trophy in 2013/14, the Welsh Alliance side defeating Chirk AAA 3-2 in the final at Belle Vue, Rhyl, under the managership of Aled Owen.

He also won the Cookson Cup in 2014/15 and Mawddach Cup in 2016/17.

When interviewed by Grassroots North Wales about his career in 2019, Dylan said his three top moments in football were winning the FAW Trophy with Llanrug, scoring from a wonder free kick on his home debut for Caernarfon against top of the league Aberystwyth to beat them 3-2, and signing a scholarship for Wrexham.

After an enjoyable spell with Wrexham, where he was coached by the legendary Joey Jones, Dylan was released from the Racecourse in December 2003 and joined his hometown club Caernarfon Town.

One of his most memorable moments at The Oval club was scoring the winner as a sub in a 3-2 Welsh Premier victory at Porthmadog.

In June 2006 he moved on to Rhyl and in May 2007 signed for Llangefni Town, representing both in the Welsh Premier, and then had a brief stay at Caernarfon Wanderers before in August 2009 he re-joined Caernarfon Town, staying loyal to the club through a difficult stage in their history.

Dylan switched to Llanrug United in August 2012, and had a short time away at Nantlle Vale from July 2017 until his return to Eithin Duon in December 2017.

Blwyddyn newydd dda Dylan.