Inside the Dragon’s Den: A football story like no other

A Hollywood scriptwriter would struggle to dream up the drama surrounding the Wales football team over the past three decades. It is quite simply a football story like no other, one featuring some of the biggest names in the history of the beautiful game.

Ryan Giggs, Gareth Bale, Mark Hughes, John Toshack and Gary Speed are among the central characters at the heart of a remarkable rollercoaster ride of exhilarating highs and gut-wrenching lows.

Now a compelling new book tells the inside story for the first time of crazy moments, controversies, trauma and thrilling triumphs which gripped an entire nation.

Award-winning sports journalist Paul Abbandonato has had the best seat in the house during that boom or bust period, covering football as Head of Sport for the mainstream Welsh newspapers and Wales Online. Often travelling with the team, the unrivalled rapports he built with managers, players and powerbrokers places him in a unique position to tell this quite extraordinary 30-years-in-the-making tale which takes you right into the dressing room and up into the boardroom corridors of power.

In The Dragons’ Den reveals what really happened with a host of scarcely believable, but very true, stories which followed the Wales team around, often ensuring they were on the front pages of the newspapers, as well as back.

With fresh interviews offering a new insight, the book tells of:

*The bombshell phone calls Welsh football bosses had to deal with over Ryan Giggs and Gary Speed which saw them lose two popular young managers who were doing brilliant jobs

*How Gareth Bale was incredibly snubbed by the Wales Schools team and nearly didn’t make the grade in football before going on to become his country’s greatest player

*Rows, chaos, conflict and confusion which dominated Bobby Gould’s quite remarkable four-year spell as manager

*Unknown behind-the-scenes tales from the Euro 2016 magic carpet ride under Chris Coleman as Wales suddenly went from the world’s biggest under-achievers to biggest over-achievers

*The dramatic Sliding Doors rise-and-fall moments from heartbreaking win-or-bust qualifying losses under Terry Yorath and Mark Hughes which saw Wales enter the wilderness years

*Why a bold move to land Terry Venables as manager fell through

*John Toshack’s Good Cop, Bad Cop six-year period in charge which divided opinion but helped transform a nation’s fortunes.

Everything is brought right up to date under current manager Craig Bellamy, who is described as “a football genius destined to lead one of the world’s biggest clubs” by his FA of Wales boss.

In The Dragons’ Den is also littered with fascinating personal anecdotes from the author. These include how he was asked to captain a Welsh Press XI versus a fully-loaded Wales as bizarre preparation for a crunch Euro qualifier with Germany, and a major row with Manchester United’s fearsome Sir Alex Ferguson after heavily criticising a young Giggs’ constant withdrawal from international matches.

Wales’ feast or famine era, from the early 1990s to the modern day, is a unique football story and this inside account makes for a fascinating read.

In the Dragon’s Den by Paul Abbandonato (£14.99, Y Lolfa) is available 17 October 2025. You can pre-order HERE

About the author:

Paul Abbandonato has led coverage of sport in Wales for more than 30 years. He has witnessed all the highs and lows close-up, as well as covering the World Cup finals, European Championships, Olympic Games, world heavyweight title fights, Ryder Cup golf, Ashes cricket and rugby’s biggest events.

He has the annual Wales vote for the Ballon d’Or trophy.