Granddaughter of Denbigh Town legend is selected for Wales Under-19s

Report: Ollie Beech

The granddaughter of a Denbigh Town legend has been selected to represent her country.

Grace Dunkerley is in the Wales Under-19 squad for two internationals against Scotland.

Her grandfather is Clwyd (Bach) Williams, current Denbigh club president and a standout player for Town in their 1970’s heyday as Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) giants before later turning out for Caernarfon Town, Rhyl and Colwyn Bay.

Grace is a former Denbigh Town junior and recently joined The New Saints of the Adran Premier.

The 17-year-old arrived at Saints from the FAW North Girls Academy, for whom she made 39 appearances across the last three campaigns.

Born in Denbigh, Grace epresented her hometown team at U10s level, before future spells with Wrexham’s under-12s squad, and Penrhyn Bay U14s.

The versatile defender has also represented Wales twice at U16 and U17 level – including in a match against Switzerland, played at Park Hall as part of a Girls Development Tournament in in April 2022.

She is now named in the Wales U19 squad for a friendly double-header against Scotland later this month.

Wales U19s are building towards Round 2 of the UEFA Women’s Under 19 Championship where they will face North Macedonia, Lithuania and hosts Moldova in Group B1.

Grandfather Clwyd told the DTFC website: “We are so proud of Grace.

”She has worked and trained so hard to achieve what she’s done.

“From when she started playing for the Denbigh girls team at the age of 10 she has been so dedicated and focused on her football.

“We were thrilled when we found out that she has been selected for the Welsh under 19’s squad to play against Scotland and then to be asked to sign on for TNS in the Adran Premier League.”

Grace made her top-flight debut on Sunday as a substitute away at Aberystwyth.

Her sister, Erin Dunkerley, is also involved in the game, currently studying at Northwest Community College in Nebraska and representing Northeast Hawks.