G.O.A.T. - Wrexham

Arfon Trevor Griffiths MBE was born in Wrexham on the 23rd of August 1941 and was spotted in local junior football by former Wrexham player Frank Blew, and signed amateur forms for the club in 1957. He made his first team debut in November 1959 aged 17, having as a youngster turned down offers of trials from both Liverpool and Sheffield Wednesday, which was the beginning of a 22 year association with Wrexham as both player and manager.His debut resulted in a 2–1 home win over Reading, having been a member of the previous season's successful Welsh Youth Cup winning side. He kept his place in the side for the rest of the season, collecting a Welsh Cup winners' medal from a 1–0 win over Cardiff City. During his first season his impressive performances led to him moving to Arsenal in 1961 for £15,000 but he made only 15 appearances at the Highbury club, scoring twice. Whilst here he gained international recognition as a member of the Wales under-23 side but was eventually allowed to leave, making the decision to return to Wrexham, where he was to cement his legacy.

Affectionately known to Wrexham fans as the 'Prince of Wales' he played a major part in some of the most successful years in Wrexham Football Club's history. These include guiding the club to promotion in both 1962–63 and 1969–70; winning the Welsh Cup four times; playing in three European campaigns, which included reaching the quarter-final stages of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1976 before losing out to the eventual winners RSC Anderlecht 2–1, on aggregate. He was awarded a testimonial match in 1972 against Bill Shankly's Liverpool, which netted him £3,000 for his testimonial fund. Hightown-born Arfon Griffiths made 591 appearances for his hometown club in a record-breaking Reds; playing career spanning 20 years and culminating in managing the club in the glorious promotion season in 1977/78. He scored 120 goals in total for Wrexham, the second highest total in the club's history.

 

Arfon scoring the winning goal against Austria.

After making just the one appearance for Wales as a substitute against  Czechoslovakia in April 1971 he must have thought his international career was over. However four years later he was back, scoring four times in seven games for Wales, including the goal the 34 year old scored on his home turf in Wrexham, in a crucial 1-0 victory over Austria that saw them to the Quarter Finals of the 1976 European Championships.The 'old man' went on to get another eight caps. 

He also spent a summer playing for Seattle Sounders in 1975.Arfon recalls, "I’ve got a picture of me playing against Pele and New York Cosmos. It was the first televised game in America to be screened coast to coast. I was still with Wrexham but John Neal let me go out there and I really enjoyed it. I remember it being 90 degrees in that game and when you see the picture, that’s as about as close I got to Pele!"

 

 

Arfon Griffiths was also to become one of the most decorated managers in Wrexham's history after becoming the first boss to lead the Dragons to the old Second Division (now known as the Championship).