CARDIFF AND SWANSEA IN THE PREM BAD FOR WELSH SUPPORT.

Alot of people think its great for welsh football.. but in reality IMO we can only field so many players in one team so bar one or 2 stars being developed its neither here or their for wales as good players will get signed and spotted and given trials regardless...

another problem we have is the support for wales, when we were both in the lower leagues we could almost sell out the millenium stadium.
then wales tasted success in rugby and cardiff and swansea improved massively and coincedently the attendances dropped for welsh football.
Granted we were on the decline, but we still have fantastic players, such as bellamy, bale, ramsey so a star studded its not an excuse.

I personally feel with englang they have A star studded team and any english fan will be happy to attend a game or a world cup etc.

when we were both very poor sides wales games were a chance to watch a good team... now both cardiff and swansea have teams in the premier league with better players than the national squad its going to badly influence support for welsh football in a downward spiral especially with the younger generation who hold no sentiment for what we've been through over the last, 10/20/30/50 years or more.

I really think we need a major tournament to save the nation and bring back the passion and motivation for professional players to want to work harder

I thought the Serbia game was heading for a sell-out?

Unless we have many home grown talent coming through the ranks Welsh football won't have that much benefit although to have 2 welsh clubs in the Premier League is good for the Welsh government, Welsh cities ect.

It's laughable when people say 2 welsh clubs in the premiership is good for the national team. It's the same when English clubs win European trophies, the English national team hasn't benefited whatsoever.

The club success has nothing to do with poor attendances at international games.

By having two welsh clubs in the premier league many more kids around south Wales will be inspired to play football, and watch it. In turn this will mean in the next 10 years players like, Bellamy, Ramsey and Bale will become more common, and hopefully enough will come at some point to make a full team.


The crowds issue are purely down to the Welsh FA, stupid ticket prices no incentives or schemes for kids/families, no advertising or marketing.

I like to think my knowledge of football is very good I am always on forums, or reading up and still find it difficult to find out game details when wales are playing, like times,prices ect.. If i find it a choir to follow Wales I cant imagine how the average family man will be inspired to attend.

Of corse its good. We both can now afford better facilities and academies to nurture the countries talent. Wnt do anything for crowds though i wouldt have thought.

IMO it is a totally flawed argument by OP. The attendance at Wales games is directly related to a) whether we have a chance of winning and b) whether or not it matters in the context of qualifying. If we have a chance of winning and qualifying we would have sell outs every time particularly against bigger sides like Italy, Germany etc. This has been proven in the past.

Having two clubs in the Prem will eventually benefit Wales because a) They have a better chance of attracting the best young welsh players b) any Welsh players that come through will be playing in the Prem therefore will be playing at a higher standard. Take Ben Davies and Taylor as examples, if Swansea were In the championship or League 1 they may play for Wales but would be lower division players, as it is they compete in the Prem and are therefore playing at a higher standard... that has got to benefit wales.

Does that make Welsh supporters plastics, fickle or just selective... who knows

rugby success has nothing to do with crowd size at Wales football games - we've had plenty of that in the past; nor does the presence of Swansea and the City in the Premiership.

like others I think the reason we have poor crowds is that we are playing some piss poor football, with virtually no chance of an end result (like qualifying for something).

I thought the Serbia game was heading for a sell-out?

Really? I'm going but I was going to buy tickets on the day. Is it worth getting them online?

if the national team does well and has a chance of qualifying the crowds will turn up otherwise our support will continue to be poor. its the same with club football when we were proper shit we struggled to get a few thousand when we become half decent we started getting decent gates. its the same wherever you go. When Wales rugby were shit in the 90s they never had massive crowds

Of corse its good. We both can now afford better facilities and academies to nurture the countries talent.

Yeah and then fill them up with the Worlds talent. We signed a Chilean, a Dane, a few Englishmen and a frenchman among others. Any welsh players??

Of corse its good. We both can now afford better facilities and academies to nurture the countries talent.

Yeah and then fill them up with the Worlds talent. We signed a Chilean, a Dane, a few Englishmen and a frenchman among others. Any welsh players??

the academies have only been upgraded to premier quality in the last year or two. Do you really want 12 year old welsh lads in the team? The academy improvements are for the future of welsh football, not immediate results of welsh football.

Utter clap trap.

We have 2 top class development and academy facilities that Welsh kids from 6 or 7 can now get the benefit and even if they dont make the grade at Cardiff or Swansea then with the coaching theyve had they may be able to make the grade eldewhere.

The kids of Wales have never had it so good. I am sure there are many talented kids and now they got the best facilities.

When I was a kid the nearest we could get to go to an academy was to train twice a week with a Swansea coach who held a session at the local youth club but you had to pay to get in!!!

Luton and Southampton were scouting more talent around Merthyr than Cardiff. Swansea in fairness have always scouted the Merthyr area because of Ron Walton and he unearthed a few proffesional footballers.

Now with the set ups both Swansea and Cardiff have got they shouldnt be missing out on any talented kid from South and West Wales.