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) |
The Wales national amateur football team was the amateur representative team for Wales at football. It was formed in 1908 and continued until 1974.
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 two occasions (one joint), in the 1967–68[2]: 279 and 1973–74[2]: 326 seasons. 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.[3]
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.[4] Thereafter the entirety of the team's fixtures took place against England until a friendly match versus South Africa in October 1924.[5] The team failed to register its first win[clarification needed] until 22 January 1921, when the Welsh beat England 2–0 at Molineux.[5] 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 | George Renton | WH | 1965–1972 | 27 | 0 |
3 | Arthur Evans | WH | 1950–1959 | 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[a] | 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
- ^ a b c d e 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.
- ^ a b McColl, Brian; Gorman, Douglas; Campbell, George (2017). UK Amateur International Football: The Complete Record 1901-1974 (2nd ed.). Lulu Enterprises Incorporated. ISBN 978-1-326-35601-9.
- ^ McColl, Gorman & Campbell 2017, p. 342.
- ^ McColl, Gorman & Campbell 2017, p. 31.
- ^ a b McColl, Gorman & Campbell 2017, p. 64.