Wales national amateur football team
The Wales national amateur football team was the amateur representative team for Wales at football. It was formed in 1908 and continued until 1974.
Association | Football Association of Wales | ||
---|---|---|---|
Most caps | Gilbert Lloyd (32) | ||
Top scorer | Graham Davies, Idwal Davies, Jack Nicholls (5) | ||
FIFA code | WAL | ||
| |||
First international | |||
England Amateurs (Edgeley Park, Stockport; 22 February 1908) | |||
Biggest win | |||
Scotland Amateurs (Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh; 2 April 1932) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
Wales Amateurs (Penydarren Park, Merthyr Tydfil; 24 January 1920) |
History
The Wales amateur national team played the majority of its fixtures versus the amateur representative teams of the other four Home Nations – England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.[1] It had a losing record against each nation and won the British Amateur Championship on just one occasion, in the 1967–68 season.[1] The team fared better in its matches against overseas opposition, winning its three matches versus Norwegian and South African representative teams, but losing on both occasions to the Netherlands.[1] The squad was predominantly composed of players from Welsh non-league clubs Lovell's Athletic, Cardiff Corinthians, Bridgend Town, Bangor City, Llanelli and Porthmadog.[2]
The team's first fixture was a friendly match played versus England at Edgeley Park on 22 February 1908, with England's Vivian Woodward scoring the only goal of the game.[3] Thereafter the entirety of the team's fixtures took place against England until a friendly match versus South Africa in October 1924.[4] The team failed to register its first win until 22 January 1921, when the Welsh beat England 2–0 at Molineux.[4] The team was disbanded in 1974, when the FA abolished the distinction between amateurism and professionalism in domestic football.[1]
Venues
The team predominantly played its home matches at Farrar Road Stadium (Bangor), Vetch Field (Swansea) and Smithfield Athletic Ground (Aberystwyth).[1]
Records
Most appearances
# | Name | Position | Years | Appearances | Goals |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gilbert Lloyd | WH/FW | 1962–1973 | 32 | 3 |
2 | Arthur Evans | WH | 1950–1959 | 26 | 0 |
3 | George Renton | WH | 1965–1972 | 26 | 0 |
4 | Glyn Owen | WH | 1953–1961 | 20 | 1 |
5 | Alan Phillips | WH | 1967–1973 | 19 | 0 |
6 | Trefor Owen | CH | 1952–1958 | 17 | 0 |
7 | Brinley Powell | FB | 1960–1967 | 16 | 0 |
8 | Peter Rees | OF | 1952–1958 | 16 | 3 |
9 | David McCarter | FW | 1962–1967 | 15 | 1 |
10 | Phil Woosnam | FW | 1952–1957 | 16 | 4 |
Most goals
# | Name | Position | Years | Goals[lower-alpha 1] | Appearances |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Graham Davies | FW | 1960–1962 | 5 | 4 |
2 | Idwal Davies | CF | 1921–1926 | 5 | 7 |
3 | Jack Nicholls | IR | 1923–1930 | 5 | 10 |
4 | K. E. Fitzgerald | FW | 1960–1964 | 4 | 5 |
5 | Graham Reynolds | CF | 1958–1965 | 4 | 12 |
6 | Geoff Anthony | OF | 1966–1974 | 4 | 13 |
7 | Phil Woosnam | FW | 1952–1957 | 4 | 16 |
- 9 players finished their amateur international careers with 3 goals – G. Davies, K. Davies, L.O. Davies, M. Griffiths, Phil Holme, Sam Jones, Gilbert Lloyd, Peter Rees and T. Reynolds.
Honours
- British Amateur Championship winners: 1967–68 (shared on one occasion)[1]
References
- McColl, Brian; Gorman, Douglas; Campbell, George. "FORGOTTEN GLORIES – British Amateur Internationals 1901–1974" (PDF). pp. 10–22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
- McColl, Gorman & Campbell 2017, p. 342.
- McColl, Gorman & Campbell 2017, p. 31.
- McColl, Gorman & Campbell 2017, p. 64.