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FOOTBALL EUROPE: Evans opens old Welsh wounds

/noticias.info/ by Trevor Haylett

He was an unlikely full international debutant with his first cap arriving at the ripe old age of 27. Yet more remarkable still in the belated recognition achieved by Wrexham FC defender Steve Evans is the fact that it is only since the start of this season that he has been performing in a professional league.

Welsh debate
Evans' elevation to the Wales squad for November's friendly gane against Liechtenstein just a few months after making the step up from the club formerly known as Total Network Solutions FC to the English third tier side reopened the debate on the lack of representative honours that flow towards players peforming in the Welsh Premier League, which remains largely semi-professional.

Overlooked league
Officials believe their best players are overlooked, only forcing the hand of national team managers when they have left for more high-profile clubs. They cite the example of Owain Tudur-Jones who was named in the senior Wales squad the season after he was transferred from Bangor City FC to Swansea City FC. However, the 22-year-old received no such invitation from his country's Under-21 bosses when he was the Welsh League's outstanding performer.

Bitter issue
National team manager John Toshack recently said of the domestic league players: "If they are good enough, I will have no hesitation in picking them." For Welsh league secretary John Deakin that was encouraging, but the prejudice remains. Deakin said: "It does rankle with us that someone like Tudur-Jones can be doing really well at Bangor without getting a look in for Wales. Then he goes to Swansea and is suddenly flavour of the month.

'Outstanding player'
"The Welsh league has always produced good players and Mark Delaney, who began with Carmarthen [Town AFC], has been a mainstay of the senior international side for many years," he added. "Steve Evans was an outstanding player for TNS and held their defence together for a number of years. Wrexham would have taken note of his performances in the two games against Liverpool [in the first qualifying round of the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League] when he did not look out of place at all."

Authorities mystified
Disappointment over the representation issue even spread earlier this year to the Wales semi-professional team when only a third of the squad summoned for the Four Nations tournament comprised home-based players. Even though Wales ultimately triumphed in the competition - for the third time in five years - officials remained puzzled that even so prolific a talent as Port Talbot Town FC striker Rhys Griffiths, last season's Golden Boot winner with 28 league goals, could not win a place in the squad. notas_de_prensa_archivo