| Premier influence on Welsh stage |
| Tuesday 05 October 2010 |
by Mark Pitman* THE attention of the Welsh football public turns to the national team this week as caretaker-manager Brian Flynn prepares his already dwindling squad for the vital European Championship qualifier against Bulgaria at the Cardiff City Stadium on Friday night. The International stage that Wales appear on this week may seem a long way away from the country's domestic league but the national team and the Welsh Premier League do have a number of connections.Currently there are ten players in the Welsh Premier League who have enjoyed some sort of involvement in the full Wales squad over the years, these ten players are spread over seven clubs with former champions Llanelli boasting the highest number with four of their current squad earning an impressive total of 31 caps for Wales. Leading the list at Stebonheath is defender and club assistant-manager Steve Jenkins (pictured) who won sixteen caps for Wales between 1995 and 2001 and he is followed by former Wrexham striker Chris Llewellyn, who has also played in the Welsh Premier League for Neath. Llewellyn gained seven caps for Wales during his career in the Football League, making his Welsh debut in 1998 and eventually scoring his first International goal against Liechtenstein in 2006. Llanelli manager Andy Legg has also represented his country, this time on six occasions, his debut arriving in 1996 against Switzerland while winger Jason Bowen won the first of his two caps in 1994. Former Nottingham Forest and Swansea City star Christian Edwards is currently registered as a player at Aberystwyth Town and doubles-up as assistant-manager at Park Avenue. Edwards surprisingly made just a two-minute appearance for Wales when he came on as a substitute in the defeat against Switzerland in 1996, the same match that Andy Legg made his International debut in the starting line-up. One of Bala Town's key summer-signings has also played for his country at the highest level. Former Wrexham star Mark Jones progressed from the Wales Under-21 squad to make his debut for the full national team in the 2006 match against Liechtenstein, the same game that Chris Llewellyn scored his first International goal. Jones was also then called-up for games against Iceland and the Netherlands as recently as 2008. Three other current Welsh Premier League players have also received call-ups for the full national team but did not receive a cap. In 2003 Port Talbot Town captain Matthew Rees was the captain of Millwall Reserves and was called-up by then-manager Mark Hughes for the away friendly defeat against the USA. Rees was named on the substitutes bench but did not make an appearance and it is a similar story for recent Haverfordwest County signing Matty Collins. The former Swansea City defender was named in John Toshack's squad for the match against Georgia in 2008 but also remained on the substitutes bench for the 90 minutes. Carmarthen Town defender and coach Deryn Brace, who was forced to pull out of his only full International call-up due to pneumonia, completes the list of current-almosts. While Llanelli have the highest number of Welsh capped players in their current squad, Welsh Premier League champions The New Saints boast defender Steve Evans in their ranks. Evans is the only current Welsh Premier League player to have also played in the league before he made his International debut. Impressive performances for The New Saints brought a move to Wrexham for Evans in 2006 and in November that year he was called-up by John Toshack for the match against Liechtenstein, the same match that Mark Jones made his debut and in which Chris Llewellyn scored his first Welsh goal. Evans continued to impress for Wrexham and his efforts were not missed at International level as he went onto earn seven caps for Wales that included a call-up in September 2008 despite Wrexham being relegated from the Football League the season before. His appearance made him the first non-league player to represent Wales for 76 years as he came off the bench in the 2-1 defeat against Russia. After leaving Wrexham, Evans returned to the Welsh Premier League with The New Saints to become one of the leagues highest profile players through his recent International experience. And so that covers the current crop of Welsh Premier League players who have previously gained national team experience at the highest-level. But Steve Evans is not exclusive in the list of players who have played for Wales after coming through the ranks of the Welsh Premier League in their early careers. Mark Delaney (Carmarthen Town), Owain Tudor-Jones (Bangor City), Glyn Garner (Llanelli) and Eifion Williams (Caernarfon Town and Barry Town) have all had some experience with the full Welsh national team after progressing into the Football League. Sadly only one player has been selected for Wales for a full International while he was still playing for a Welsh Premier League club. Barry Town were the flagship side in the league back in the 1990's and defender Gary Lloyd received a call-up from then manager Bobby Gould for the match against Belgium in 1997 but did not come off the bench. The move was a huge boost for the league but unfortunately it has not been repeated since. Unsurprisingly a number of Welsh Internationals have chosen to play out their football careers in the Welsh Premier League. High-profile names in this list include Colin Pascoe (Carmarthen Town), Mark Aizlewood (Aberystwyth Town and Cwmbran Town), Jason Perry (Cwmbran Town), Terry Boyle (Barry Town, Ebbw Vale, Inter Cardiff, Carmarthen Town and Bangor City), Andy Dibble (Barry Town), Nigel Stevenson (Llanelli, Maesteg Park and Haverfordwest County) and Dudley Lewis (Inter Cardiff and Carmarthen Town). Most recently thirteen-cap Matthew Jones came out of retirement to play for Llanelli while record Welsh cap holder Neville Southall also signed for Rhyl. One former International that would become heavily involved in the Welsh Premier League however is Clayton Blackmore. The former Manchester United midfielder arrived at Farrar Road as a player for Bangor City 2000 after a long professional career that had earned him 39 caps for Wales. Blackmore then progressed to become player-manager at Bangor City and then took on the same position at Porthmadog in 2007. After a career that included winning the FA Cup in 1990 and the European Cup Winners Cup in 1991 as well as featuring for Manchester United in their first two Premiership titles, Blackmore returned to his hometown of Neath to spend three seasons at the Eagles up until 2009. Clayton Blackmore, Andy Legg and Terry Boyle are three former Wales Internationals who have also played and managed in the Welsh Premier League, but a host of other big Welsh International names of the past have also moved into management through the national league following their retirement from the game. After gaining a total of 73 caps for his country in a distinguished playing career, Peter Nicholas is currently part of the coaching staff at Neath but has previously enjoyed successful spells in charge of Barry Town and Llanelli while 54-cap winger Leighton James has also managed at Stebonheath where he played a part in developing future Wales goalkeeper Glyn Garner. John Mahoney is another former Wales star to have managed in the Welsh Premier League. Mahoney took charge of Carmarthen Town between October 1996 and November 1998 having previously enjoyed success during the first of two spells as manager of Bangor City. A cousin of John Toshack, Mahoney won 51 caps for Wales over fifteen years between 1968 and 1983. The two most recent managers with International experience in the league are once-capped Christian Edwards, who took charge of Aberystwyth Town on a caretaker basis in 2009 and currently remains at the club as assistant-manager, and Deryn Brace, who has been player-manager of both Haverfordwest County and Carmarthen Town but had to pull out of his only Wales call-up through illness. So there we have it, since its formation in 1992 the league has previously been and continues to be represented by a number of former Welsh International stars. From its current crop of former Internationals to those who have since retired, from the capped managers and coaches who have passed on their experience for the betterment of the league and to the players who have progressed in their early careers with Welsh Premier League clubs to eventually represent Wales at the highest level, adding much needed credibility and respect to the often criticised top-flight from their successes along the way. This article focuses entirely on the individuals who have gained full International honours with Wales. For each of these there are many more unmentioned players who have gained Under-21, Under-19, Under-17 and Schoolboy honours for their country who have previously, and continue to, represent clubs up and down Wales in the Welsh Premier League. As a result the league can be proud of its connections with its national team having been formed less than 20-years ago. The aim must now be for the Welsh Premier League and its clubs to develop the next generation of Welsh Internationals. This season marks a new era for the league with the reduction to twelve clubs brining increased press and media coverage and a better standard of football to the public while high-profile signings and a more marketable product have made the league interesting to a number of previously unconvinced Welsh football fans. More importantly for clubs and their player development projects however is the increased funding for youth and Academy football from the FAW and UEFA. With Welsh Premier League clubs now receiving an annual five-figure grant to develop their coaches and young players, a genuine programme of structured player development is being introduced at each club. For each success story that the Welsh Premier League generates, the league gains more and more respect from the public, press and media. Gary Lloyd remains the only player to have been called-up for Wales at full International level directly from a Welsh Premier League club, but with standards slowly but surely improving and with continued investment into the development of its clubs youth and academy systems, it may not be too long before the league is once again directly represented on the International stage. * Mark Pitman blogs at Wales Online |