With a population a twentieth the size of England, and with the same number of professional clubs as lie in Devon, it’s really quite remarkable how much talent Wales has produced down the years.
From Champions League winners to maverick geniuses, Cymru has consistently unearthed players of timeless, outstanding quality.
10) Terry Yorath
Father of television presenter Gaby Logan, the midfielder played for six clubs but is chiefly associated with Leeds United during their late-Sixties-early-Seventies heyday.
After winning the league with the Yorkshire giants, Yorath captained Coventry City before moving to Spurs for £300,000, a chunky fee for that era.
Post-retirement, he was appointed Wales manager, coming oh-so-close to guiding them to the 1994 World Cup. He did however lift the Dragons to their highest ever FIFA ranking of 27th.
A box-to-boxer who was equally at home pinging a thirty-yard pass as ‘mixing it’, he would be worth considerably more than £300,000 today.
9) Gary Speed
The heartfelt tributes that flooded in, on a chilly November morning in 2011, when a shocked nation learned that Speed had died, told us everything we needed to know about the measure of the man.
He was loved and admired by everyone, club allegiances not mattering a jot.
Across two decades we all saw his dedication and honest work-rate. Here was a player who never cried off from a Wales fixture, even the meaningless friendlies.
That’s how he accrued 85 caps. And as for his ability, he was magnificent in the air, with a left foot that was the very definition of cultured.
As manager of his country, Speed was revolutionising Welsh football at the time of his passing, ripping up the stale, institutionalised notion of valiant failure and bringing through a vibrant young side. He is greatly missed still.
8) John Toshack
The third consecutive former player to later become Wales boss, Toshack inherited the gig from Yorath, who remained extremely popular among the fans.
When the ex-striker insisted he would stay at Real Sociedad, and manage Wales on a part-time basis, it’s fair to say that went down like a lead balloon. He was gone within six weeks.
As a player though he was idolised, a targetman who always seemed taller than his 6ft 1 frame.
His partnership with Kevin Keegan up front for Liverpool has gone down in lore, Toshack firing 74 goals in 172 appearances for the Reds.
7) Cliff Jones
Quick, nimble and prolific within sight of goal, Jones was an archetypal winger for his era, forever seeking to isolate his full-back before putting him on his rump.
As effective on both flanks he was a key figure in Wales’ successful 1958 World Cup campaign, that saw them reach the quarter-finals and from there he returned to Tottenham, soon after becoming a key figure in them winning their famous double.
A year later, Spurs turned down an official bid by Juventus to the tune of £125,000, a world record fee at the time. He was some player.
6) Neville Southall
For several years Wales repeatedly failed to qualify for major tournaments despite being blessed with having the best goalkeeper in the world.
Really, he was. For Everton and for his country, Southall regularly demonstrated extraordinary reflexes, sticking out a limb when all hope seemed lost.
Across the Eighties and Nineties, the former bin man was responsible for a whole catalogue of incredible stops, the kind that forever stay with those fortunate enough to witness them at close quarters.
In 1985, he was voted FWA Footballer of the Year, the last keeper to be given the award. In 1999, World Soccer magazine included him in their greatest 100 players of the 20th century.
5) Ryan Giggs
Born in Canton, Cardiff, the Manchester United winger started out a teenage prodigy compared to George Best. A human firework, back then it was all searing pace and mazy dribbles. Excitement and unpredictability.
He adorned the bedroom walls of boys and girls in equal measure.
By the time his lengthy career was drawing to a close, longevity was his finest attribute, his immense experience used by Sir Alex Ferguson to calm proceedings down. He played an astonishing 672 times for the 13-time Premier League champions.
Giggs is marked down here due to his poor attendance record for his country, available only 57% of the time.
4) Ian Rush
Our memories can trick us sometimes, such is the way we recall Rush as the ultimate poacher, tucking away chance after chance from close range.
Of course he scored a good many like that, but when revisiting the trophy-laden career of this Liverpool legend, it becomes clear that an avalanche of goals came from beating the offside trap and rounding the keeper. Or firing an accurate Exocet in from 20 yards, through a forest of legs.
You simply don’t score 372 career goals from exclusively inhabiting the six-yard box and from any range, and in any situation, this ridiculously prolific finisher was deadly.
A Lewandowski of the Eighties, Rush would be worth an absolute fortune today, while he would be heavily backed in the live betting markets on a weekly basis.
3) Billy Meredith
Football’s first bona fide superstar, Meredith played 300-plus times for both Manchester clubs, showcasing supreme excellence and encountering controversy at every turn.
By the time he retired at the age of 49, he had changed the blueprint of British sport forever.
After inspiring the Blues to FA Cup success, the former miner – Meredith was sent to the pits when only 12 years old – was accused of attempting to bribe an opponent during a crucial league clash.
Though it was one man’s word against another, it didn’t stop City suspending their star talent for 18 months, without pay.
Aggrieved at this, the winger turned whistle-blower, informing the authorities that his club were routinely paying their players more than the allowed £4 a week wage cap.
Now ostracised, Manchester United took full advantage and swooped, with Meredith leading them to two league championships.
The controversies didn’t end there though. Meredith went on to form the first ever player’s union, an act that so incensed the FA a further suspension followed.
He died aged 83, buried at his own insistence in an unmarked grave. A pioneer and activist. A stonewall legend.
2) Gareth Bale
When Bale was about to play in a big game the general rule of thumb was to back him in the football betting to score. Whether it was a European clash or El Clasico, the Welsh wizard rarely disappointed.
When not scoring ridiculous bicycle kicks in Champions League finals however, Bale had a complicated relationship with the Real Madrid fanbase, who believed his priorities lay elsewhere on the putting greens.
Willingly holding aloft a flag that read ‘Wales, golf, Madrid, in that order’ probably didn’t help matters.
There was no such ill-feeling from his countrymen, who had nothing but love and gratitude for Bale’s dedication to the national cause, inspiring the Dragons to a Euro semi-final in 2016.
His 41 goals in 11 appearances is a staggering return given that Wales were often underdogs and he so seldomly played up front.
1) John Charles
The Gentle Giant’s attributes run long, each of a calibre that has him still regarded as one of the greatest all-round footballers the world has ever seen.
He had pace coupled with technique. He was unbeatable in the air and had vision to spare with the ball at his feet. Naturally his physique had opponents bounce off him.
He was robust but never less than fair. Whether up front, banging in a ton of goals, or deployed as centre-back, quite simply, Charles was peerless.
Swansea’s finest was granted the freedom of the city in 2003 while there is a stand named after him at Leeds.
At Juventus, the club he joined for a record British transfer fee of £65,000 he remains revered, voted the Bianconeri‘s best ever foreign player during their centenary celebrations in 1997.
He was later inducted into Italy’s football Hall of Fame.
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Alamy*
