Dylan Ebenezer looks for the Welsh roots of our footballers
There’s a great picture of the Welsh rugby team on the back of the Western Mail. There’s a sentence I haven’t written before!
In the middle of the 6 Nations hype there was a striking team photo of the players wearing the shirts of their first club – or the club ‘they felt most synonymous with’ (Insert joke about not understanding ‘synonymous’ here).
They had all played for at least one club in the Principality Premiership – unfortunately you can’t say the same about the football team.
Most didn’t even start their career with a Welsh club never mind the league.
It’s hard and unfair to compare both sports because of the history. Whilst rugby grew and developed locally football has always existed in the shadow of one of the giants of the game – struggling for survival with envious eyes cast over the border.
It’s a simple equation. To compete at the highest level and make a living out of the game most young talented players will head for England.
Cardiff and Swansea are the exception these days but beyond that, young Welsh talent is up for grabs.
If you took the same picture of the Welsh football team from recent squads there would be 10 out of 25 players wearing a shirt from Wales.
Cardiff would win with seven Bluebirds, Joe Allen would be the only Swansea player and fellow Swan, Neil Taylor the only Dragon from Wrexham.
Cardiff could have had 10 on the list had Gareth Bale, Craig Bellamy and Danny Gabbidon not slipped under the radar.
The 10th in the crew is Danny Collins, the only one that has played in the Welsh system during his early years with Mold Alexandra and Buckley.
Boaz Myhill played for Oswestry Boys but that could be pushing it!
There haven’t been many Welsh Premier shirts over the years but you only have to go back nine months to include Bangor City thanks to Owain Tudur Jones.
So, less than half the players have started with clubs in Wales, but is that a problem?
The important thing is that players from Wales develop as well as players that are eligible for Wales too.
Nine of the latest squad qualify for Wales through family connections – maybe that figure of 10 players from Welsh clubs wasn’t that bad after all. Especially when remembering the behemoth next door.
The Football Association of Wales has recently launched a ‘Strategic Plan’. It’s an ambitious and all encompassing document that states clearly how the governing body intend to develop every aspect of the game.
At the core is the realisation that every single piece of the puzzle has to be perfect for football in Wales to be a success.
Football likes to use the pyramid to explain the structure of the game – the national team at the top and all the other leagues and factors building up creating a solid platform … blah blah blah.
The Welsh Premier comes somewhere in the middle in Wales – but it should be at the heart of everything.
With a strong competitive national league more young players will be tempted to start their journey with their local club.
The best will continue to cross the border but by making sure the basics are right we might see a few more Welsh premier shirts in the Wales squad of the future.
