The Dyfed football enigma

Iwan Williams

As a Caerfyrddin/Carmarthen born, Ceredigion raised Cymro, I’ve long been fascinated by the lack of international football players coming from Ceredigion, Sir Gâr/Carmarthenshire and Sir Benfro/Pembrokeshire aka Dyfed or south west Cymru.

Dyfed’s population is around 388 thousand, accounting for around 12.5% of Cymru’s population. In 1901, Dyfed’s population was around 284 thousand, accounting for around 14.2% of Cymru’s population.

Yet of the 747 players that have represented Cymru men since 1876 to date, only 24 players (and I fully accept that the birthplaces of some players are disputed) are Dyfed born, some 3.2% of the entire player list. North west Cymru, by comparison, represents 4.6% of the entire player list (at least 35 players born in Gwynedd and Ynys Môn/Anglesey).

Why the low return?

Let’s look at the obvious one: rugby. “West Wales is rugby country, and if you show any sporting talent, then rugby’s the game for you”. Well goalkeepers David Davies of Llanelli (3 caps from 1904), Ron Howells of Ponthenri (2 caps from 1954), and the great Dai Davies of Rhydaman/Ammanford (52 caps from 1975) certainly bucked that trend.

Players who showed real talent in both rugby and football had to choose: Felinfoel’s Phil Bennett, for example, was offered a contract by Swansea Town, as was Gareth Edwards, who grew up a stone’s throw away from Sir Gâr/Carmarthenshire.

Whilst Dyfed, and particularly Sir Gâr/Carmarthenshire, has regularly produced rugby internationals, visit any village or town and you’re likely to spot a football pitch, even in the rugby heartlands of the Gwendraeth Valley.

Rugby and football co-exist successfully in most places, with player participation, supporters and coaching fairly even.

Things have certainly moved on from the early days. As described in Phil Stead’s ‘Red Dragons’, the creation of a football club in Llanelli was greeted by suspicion by the Llanelly Mercure “This game…has never yet been played in the town, nor in the County…which explains perhaps the light-hearted indifference which has been manifested towards it by local footballers”.

Dyfed is a football hotbed as much as it is a rugby one, with a long historical attachment with the game. ‘Red Dragons’ mentions a game played between St David’s College Llambed/Lampeter and Ystrad Meurig Grammar School in 1876, whilst Aberystwyth Town, Llanelli Town and Haverfordwest County were formed in 1884, 1896 and 1899 respectively.

The Ceredigion League (formed in 1921) has 32 teams. The Aberystwyth League (formed in 1934) has 7 teams, the Sir Gâr/Carmarthenshire League (formed in 1932) has 65 teams, and the Sir Benfro/Pembrokeshire League (formed in 1904) has 62 teams.

As mentioned in the Pembrokeshire Herald, “From local grassroots clubs to professional players on the global stage, football is woven into the fabric of Welsh culture”.

Visit any destination with ‘Wales Away’ and you’ll see flags from Llangadog to Llanboidy, Bow Street to Aberteifi, Ffostrasol to Tenby.

Is it a lack of talent? Hardly. Carmarthen born, Arberth/Narberth raised Joe Allen would make the list of most Cymru supporters as they assemble their greatest ever Cymru XI. Pembrokeshire boys Ian Walsh (18 caps and 7 goals from 1980), Mark Delaney (36 caps from 2000) and Simon Davies (58 caps and 6 goals from 2001) had excellent Cymru careers.

Before his sending off against Türkiye in 1979, Llanelli’s Byron Stevenson (15 caps from 1978) had a solid international career. Fellow Llanelli boys Matthew Jones (13 caps from 2000) and Emyr Huws (11 caps from 2014) were talented midfielders and would have won more caps were it not for injuries.

Josh Sheehan of Pen-bre/Pembrey and Liam Cullen of Cilgeti/Kilgetty are doing very well under Craig Bellamy’s leadership.

Although they didn’t win international caps, Ceredigion footballers John Davies (Cardiff City, Hull City and Notts County) and Alan Morgan (Tranmere Rovers) had good Football League careers.

School age squads

Dyfed players regularly feature in Welsh school boys and girls squads. In recent years, players from Ysgol Penglais, Penweddig, Bro Myrddin as well as Coleg Sir Gâr and Pembrokeshire College have represented the Welsh Schools FA Under 18 boys team, with some contributing to the Centenary Shield success in 2022 and 2023 (Cymru’s first titles since 1981).

Since 1994, Dyfed schools have won the Under 18 boys Welsh Schools Cup twice (my old school, Ysgol Dyffryn Teifi, in 1994 (joint) and 1995 – not bad for a small rural school!), and the Under 16 boys Welsh Schools Cup twice (again, Ysgol Dyffryn Teifi, in 1995 (joint) and Ysgol Greenhill, Dinbych-y-pysgod/Tenby in 2011).

The irony of Dyffryn Teifi’s success isn’t lost: as mentioned in ‘Red Dragons’, in 1957 Llandysul pupils had to fight against the introduction of rugby as the sole sport in grammar schools. “This district is a soccer stronghold” protested one pupil.

Dyfed has been well represented in the Cymru Premier courtesy of Aberystwyth Town, Carmarthen Town, Llanelli Town and Haverfordwest County over the years, with all producing local talent and providing pathways to the first team.

Dyfed clubs have helped develop Cymru players born elsewhere e.g. Llanelli Town and Glyn Garner, Aberystwyth Town and Rhys Norrington-Davies and Tom Bradshaw, whilst Cymru C sides have regularly featured Dyfed players e.g. Wyn Thomas from Pont-Tyweli/Llandysul, Caerfyrddin/Carmarthen born Gethin Jones and Kevin Aherne-Evans, Mael Davies from Castell Newydd/Newcastle Emlyn, and Emlyn Lewis from Aberaeron.

Is it history and geography? That is, the origins of Welsh football began in north east Cymru, and with time gravitated down towards south Cymru, thus cementing Dyfed’s place as a peripheral region?

As a comparison, and due to historical factors and population density, at least 125 Cymru players were born in the Wrecsam/Wrexham area, 55 players in Caerdydd/Cardiff, and 50 players in Abertawe/Swansea.

Research undertaken by Barratt Homes in 2022, ‘The Most Common Birthplaces of UK Footballers’, placed Dyfed joint ninth (16) in the ‘Most Players Produced’ list of the former Welsh counties, and eighth (256) in the ‘Most Caps’ list.

Unsurprisingly, Clwyd topped both lists (151 players and 1902 caps).

Wrexham

Whilst most Cymru players in the early days were from the Wrecsam/Wrexham, Y Waun/Chirk and Sir y Fflint/Flintshire areas, as Gareth Davies and Ian Garland’s “Sons of Cambria” point out, a few Aberystwyth boys ‘made it through’ and were given opportunities: John Hughes (2 caps from 1877), Jack Rea (9 caps from 1894), Jack Garner (1 cap in 1896), William Roberts Jones (1 cap in 1897), Jack Edwards of Ystumtuen (1 cap in 1898), Arthur Green (8 caps from 1901), Thomas Jenkins of Borth (1 cap in 1902), and Ernest Peake (11 caps from 1908). Bert Hodgkinson of Doc Penfro/Pembroke Dock (1 cap in 1908) was another exception to the rule.

Dyfed players then feature occasionally in the following decades e.g. in addition to the aforementioned players, Billy Hughes of Caerfyrddin/Carmarthen (10 caps from 1938), Donato Nardiello of Aberteifi/Cardigan (2 caps from 1978), and Terry Boyle of Rhydaman/Ammanford (2 caps from 1981). A few have come close to winning senior caps e.g. Dafen’s Glan Letheren and his son, Llanelli’s Kyle Letheren, Gwion Edwards from Llambed/Lampeter.

Then there’s the curious case of Frank Donovan from Penfro/Pembroke, who played football for Great Britain at the 1948 Summer Olympics but never won a Cymru cap.

It’s a similar picture in women’s football, with Dyfed footballers few and far between for the Cymru senior team. Current Cymru captain Angharad James of Llandysilio and Ffion Morgan of Llandeilo fly the flag for the south west, as did Aberystwyth’s Milly Durrant and Alice Evans and Tyddewi/St David’s Jo Price in previous years.

Aberystwyth Town represent Dyfed in the Adran Premier, joined by Castell Newydd/Newcastle Emlyn in previous seasons. Llanelli Town currently compete in the Adran South.

Dyfed’s connectivity with the rest of Cymru and further afield is surely a factor. For a promising Aberystwyth footballer, the nearest professional clubs, Wrecsam/Wrexham, Shrewsbury and Abertawe/Swansea, are all roughly two hours away.

For a promising Aberteifi player, Swansea is ninety minutes away. ‘Bois yr Academi’, the 2022 S4C documentary, showed the huge sacrifice of young players and their parents as they travelled regularly to the Swansea City Academy from all corners of Dyfed and beyond.

Iceland

Dyfed’s population is roughly the same as Iceland’s, and yet our sporting facilities and geographical distribution – all-weather pitches, floodlights, indoor pitches etc – pale in comparison.

Whilst the £4m funding provided by the Football Association of Wales (FAW) and Cymru Football Foundation to improve facilities at grassroots level across Cymru is very much welcomed, there is a long way to go.

So why the dearth of Dyfed born, Cymru international players? Rugby? Geography? History? It’s probably a combination of all of these.

The talent and appetite for the game is certainly there. Interestingly, the situation is mirrored across the border in England.

As reported by ‘The Forester’ in 2024, south west England is one of the least likely regions to produce international footballers, with only seven players from 204 male England players born in the region since 2000.

“West is Best” said the eternal Ray Gravell. Here’s hoping we see more Dyfed players develop over the coming years and go on to win senior caps and have successful careers for the Cymru men and women national teams.