Another departure from my usual style. Hope you like it!


Kicking The Ball Around

- part one of a series of articles for Soccer Times by Mikel Tannerman

Say the name Owain Jones in the middle of a crowd of people and it's a sure bet that everyone will have heard of him. Some will remember the way he rocketed the ball into the opposition net with the force of a meteorite in the dying minutes of the 4718 cup final clash with Primera to win the match for the Tornadoes. Some – mainly the women - will sympathise with him for the tragic loss of his partner, actress Orla Orlabovitch, and want to help raise his young daughter. Some will criticise him for the wild parties which have often led to riotous behaviour by him and his guests. A lot will consider him wasting his talents and a poor role model for youngsters.

He is loved and despaired of in equal measure and all this at only twenty five years of age.

Who is the real Owain Jones? What makes him tick? Is he a soccer genius or just lucky? How much does his upbringing as the eldest son of legendary Torchwood Director Captain Jack Harkness and respected businessman Ianto Jones have to do with his career and life choices?

During the summer of 4723 I was privileged to spend a month with Owain in an attempt to find answers to these questions. He let me stay in his home, introduced me to his family and friends and was open about just about all aspects of his career and his life. I wrote a note of my expectations on the day before I left to join him. I anticipated attending drink-fuelled parties with beautiful women in attendance. I thought he would be marked by his upbringing and be emotionally distant.

I was so wrong.

When I arrived at his luxury apartment in Toulouse, home of the Tornadoes, I found a man enjoying a lazy afternoon beside his swimming pool. There were two beautiful women in attendance but they turned out to be his sisters - theatre designer Holly, 29, and Torchwood operative, Melinda, 20. The siblings - including their brother, intern chef Luke, 23, who I was to meet later - are close and often spend time together. The two girls were returning from a trip to Italy and stopped off for an afternoon with Owain on their way to Cardiff where both are based. Made welcome immediately, I was encouraged to join them in the pool. Born and brought up in Sydney, I consider myself a strong swimmer but I was outclassed that day. They all swim like fish and I learnt later that Holly qualified for the Planetary Games but declined to compete. After my humiliation in the pool, we sat on the terrace with a fruit punch (non-alcoholic) and talked.

What did the girls think of their brother's success? My question was greeted with hoots of laughter. "Him? All he does is kick a ball around once or twice a week," said Holly. "And he's overpaid!" added Melinda, known as Minda in the family. A typical sibling reaction and I pressed for a more serious response. "Of course we're proud of him," said Holly. "Professional soccer, professional sport of any kind is competitive and ruthless and Owain has to be at the peak of fitness and skill if he's to retain his place in it. His success hasn't come easily. He has to work damned hard and we all appreciate and respect that." And success did not come overnight as Minda explained. "My earliest memory is of Owain kicking a ball around in the grounds of the house at Ogmore where were spent our weekends and breaks from classes. He was repeating the same move over and over again and I clearly remember watching him from the window. I was barely two so he was only seven but his dedication made an impression on me even then."

In fact, Owain's love affair with soccer began even earlier than that, as any regular reader of Soccer Times will know. A lively and energetic boy, Owain started to kick a ball around as soon as he could stand. He joined a kids' soccer club on his fourth birthday and played for the Unicorns until he was ten years' old, appearing in many competitions and winning medals and cups galore. "The first medal is the one I remember best. A little thing that I insisted I keep under my pillow until I had a display cabinet for it," he told me with a laugh. He still has it in a small, discreet cabinet in his home that holds many more mementoes of an illustrious career. At ten, he joined youth club Medusa and remains the youngest player ever to appear in the Youth Cup finals a year later. He also holds the goal scoring record for the club with over six hundred goals in his six years with them. His association with the Tornadoes began at age sixteen when he signed up as a novice player but he was in the senior team within months, again another record. He has played in so many important and memorable matches it would take an article the length of this one just to list them all but which are the ones he remembers?

"My debut in '14 when I so scared, that'll always be a favourite especially as the whole family was there to see me. I was by far the youngest on the pitch and dreaded making an ass of myself. I also remember the game against Kennedy Kounty in '16. The weather was atrocious and we played in a sea of mud but the spirit of both teams was amazing. I've not known sportsmanship like it before or since. I made some good friends that day." Doesn't he have a special fondness for the cup final with Primera? "It's always rewarding to win a final like that and of course I was thrilled to score the winning goal. But the expectations of the supporters and the commentators are so high the pressure on the players is immense. They are not occasions to enjoy."

The seemingly unstoppable run of success was halted in 4717 when Owain was injured in a match against Jupiter Giants. A bad tackle from a defender brought him down and it was touch and go whether he would be able to play at the highest level again. The four months of his recovery and rehabilitation must have been distressing. "Sure they were. I had no idea if I would make the grade again and the physio and treatments were painful. It got me down, of course it did, and at times I despaired of ever being fit." What brought him though those times? "My family, particularly my tad." (Owain's 'Tad' – an old Welsh word for father – is hyper-successful businessman, Ianto Jones.) "He was patient and understanding and put up with a lot of anger and crap from me when I needed to lash out. He was a rock and I'll always be grateful to him."

Back to match fitness, Owain's career continued to thrive and he became and remains Tornado's highest scoring (and highest paid) player around whom the team was built by its current owner. Some would argue the adulation he received went to his head and reports of his wild parties and drinking bouts began to overshadow his soccer skills as he became the most talked about sportsman of his generation. When it looked like he would implode and lose it all he turned himself around. The parties continued but they were no longer riotous and the drinking stopped. He has been teetotal for three years. Did he see the light? "More like had it knocked into me!" he commented ruefully. "Dad made me get back on track." Despite pressing him on what happened, Owain would volunteer nothing more.

I found that in our discussions the one subject on which Owain was not willing to elaborate was his 'Dad', Captain Jack Harkness. He would answer my queries but refused to be drawn into detail when asked about being borne and raised by a man who cannot die and who has led Torchwood for several millennia, whose position has given him unique power over mere mortals. It is said that Captain Harkness is the keeper of the planet's secrets and knows 'where all the bodies are buried'. Even the most senior politicians dare not trifle with him. Was he a hard taskmaster to a growing boy? "Far from it. Dad was the ring leader in every form of fun and mischief going." So he was lenient? "No, he could discipline us kids with a look." What was the most important lesson he taught you? "To be honest, with myself and with other people. And not to be afraid to love and be loved."

Love. After a number of highly publicised love affairs, Owain fell heavily for actress Orla Orlabovitch who was fifteen years his senior. They were together for two years and had a daughter – Newlyn, now just over a year old - before Orla was killed when the shuttle taking her to Mars on the first leg of a theatrical tour suffered a catastrophic loss of pressure and was lost with all hands. "It was the worst day of my life," Owain told me quietly, sitting with head bowed and hands clenched. "I loved her so much, still do. Not a day goes by that I don't think about her." Looking at him it was clear that these were not mere words. He has loved and lost and his name has not been linked with anyone else's in the ten months since Orla's tragic death.

With Owain grief stricken, his family came to the rescue and took over the care of Newlyn. She now lives with her grandparents in Cardiff but Owain visits at least twice a week. He plans to look after her full time when she is a little older. "I adore her," he told me after showing me photographs of her at every stage of her life. "She already has the look of Orla and is cute as a button. It's hard being separated from her but she's best where she is for the moment. I know she's having the very best upbringing there can be." I met Newlyn many times that month and she lives up to Owain's claims for her. A pretty redhead, she is delightful and obviously dotes on her father – almost as much as he does on her. They play together for hours and there is a definite bond between them.

Having achieved so much in such a short time it is hard to know what more there can be for Owain Jones in the future. He is the lynch-pin of a soccer club that has won all the major tournaments, most more than once. Does he have any soccer ambitions? "I'd like us to win the Championship again and beat Primera's record [of three wins]. Other than that? No, not really. I love the game but I'm not sure I want to play for much longer." The dread words all Tornadoes fans never wanted to hear. Does he mean it? "Yes. I'll still be involved in the game but not at this level and not as a player. The training is constant and it means I have to be based here. I'd like to get more involved in youth games." As a manager perhaps? "Maybe, I really haven't thought that far ahead. I'm not saying I'll stop playing at the end of this season or even the next. But in five years, ten? I don't think I'll be playing then."

So there you have it. Owain Jones could well be available to manage a youth club in a few years' time. And any club lucky enough to attract him can only be enhanced by his dedication, determination and ambition.

Part two of this series will be published next month.


Would you like more of this?