Happy birthday John Owen – the Criccieth Cannonball!

Happy birthday to the Criccieth Cannonball – 29 today.

Born on August 18, 1992, John Owen is a highly respected player at both tier 1 and 2 levels in Wales, having extensive experience of playing in the Cymru Premier and Cymru North leagues.

Renowned for his fierce shooting, hence the cannonball nickname, John is an attacking player who can excel both as an out-and-out striker or a wide operator.

His ability to make something out of nothing is one of his biggest traits.

John made his Welsh Premier debut for Bangor City as a 16-year-old late substitute in a 1-1 draw with Caernarfon Town in April 2009.

In a second WPL appearance that season, he came on as a replacement again and on this occasion scored in a 3-1 win at Newtown.

John was on City’s books for five seasons and appeared in 26 WPL matches – all as a substitute.

He had loan spells at Llangefni Town and Conwy before serving Porthmadog in 2012-13 and 2013-14, scoring 10 times in 28 starts.

John spent 2014/15 at Caersws, where he netted 25 goals in all competitions before being signed by Gareth Owen at WPL club Rhyl in June 2015.

Although the Lilywhites did not enjoy the best of seasons, John provided some magical moments in attack, scoring nine times in 27 games.

A move to Llandudno FC followed, which saw John appear in two Europa League games against IFK Göteborg of Sweden, but by January 2017 he had left Maesdu Park.

The Wales C international next became a regular starter at Aberystwyth Town, where he spent 18 months before making a return to Llandudno in summer 2018.

Six months later he signed for Huw Griffiths at Cefn Druids.

In 2019-20 John rejoined Porthmadog on loan and ended up leading scorer with nine goals in 18 matches.

January 2021 saw the Llyn Peninsula-based front man re-sign for Aberystwyth Town, where he scored some useful goals in the closing weeks of the season.

A true diamond – penblwydd hapus John and congratulations on recently becoming a dad!