Transplant Football World Cup beckons for young Denbigh Town defender

Article: faw.cymru

Having an organ transplant doesn’t necessarily mean the end of your footballing career – just ask Denbigh Town’s Harry Lockley, who is celebrating an international call-up.

Lockley – who works as a teaching assistant and also runs a coaching business with his twin brother Ben – has returned to Denbigh’s starting lineup at the start of this season after a kidney transplant in October 2023 meant he missed the majority of the last campaign.

Now he has been called up to the England squad for the inaugural Transplant Football World Cup, to be held in Cervia, Italy, this month.

Diagnosed with Alport Syndrome as a child – a condition that damages the blood vessels in the kidneys – Lockley, 22, had managed it perfectly well with medication up until two years ago, when his kidney function deteriorated rapidly.

He began dialysis in April 2023 and was fortunate enough to get a kidney transplant in October – after six months on the waiting list.

“I got the phone call one afternoon – you don’t expect it,” he recalls, “and just like that, I was rushed in there and had the operation and it was finished.

“You don’t have a lot of time to process it. It was a tough time but you have to take it as it comes – you can’t do anything about it. I tried to get on with as normal a life as I could and now I’m back to what I knew before.”

Harry began his career with the former Rhyl FC and had spells at Flint Town United and Conwy Borough before joining Denbigh Town at the start of 2022-23, where he was part of the squad which lifted the Ardal North West title and Ardal North Cup double that season.

He is one short of 50 club appearances for Town, having featured in 39 first team games and 10 for the reserves.