How Spurs and Wales may just owe Cristiano Ronaldo a ‘Thank You’

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Scott Jenkins assesses the impact of Cristiano Ronaldo on Gareth Bale…

Every aspiring footballer idolises that one special player who is headlining the domestic league or leading their own team to glory and in turn tries to replicate their latest highlight reel moment on the local park and pitches. For my era when growing up and playing junior league football every time a free kick was won or lost, a familiar sequence would play out. Continue reading

Has Welsh Football ever had it so good?

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In the wake of Swansea’s glorious League Cup triumph, The False Nine editor James Dutton explores the state of the Welsh game…

As the dust settles on Swansea’s emphatic Capital One Cup victory over the unlikely opposition of Bradford City, Blue Square Conference leaders Wrexham are due to travel to Wembley next month for the FA Trophy Final. Cardiff City sit eight points clear at the summit of the Championship with a game in hand, whilst Newport County sit just two points behind their North Walian countrymen, also with a game in hand.

Swansea’s meteoric rise from the basement of the Football League pyramid in 2004 to the heady heights of the Premier League, and now League Cup winners just nine years later, is an astounding tale. Next year the Swans will be playing European football; a chance for Welsh football to showcase its burgeoning ascension on the continent.  Continue reading

The Welsh Derby Preview: Newport County v Wrexham

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Ahead of an intriguing Welsh derby at the top of the Blue Square Conference, James Dutton pays special attention to a club looking to relive past glories…

The beginning of the new calendar year marks the fifth year since the oldest football club in Wales graced the Football League. After 87 years, during which the club experienced fluctuating fortunes as it traversed through the lower leagues of English football, Wrexham were eventually relegated from League Two in May 2008.

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