Progress and development through the Welsh football pathway remains the priority for the Cymru intermediate teams, but there was been significant moments of success on the field too, headlined by the MU17 side again reaching the UEFA Championship Finals.
There were significant changes across the board during the summer of 2024 with new head coach appointments across the U17, U18 and U19 age groups for both the men’s and women’s teams, while Cymru U21 head coach Matty Jones was rewarded with a new contract. Meanwhile, the number of players moving through the pathway continues to increase as new players emerge into both senior teams. Here we take a look back at some of the key moments from 2024.
Cymru U21 – So near, yet so far
The Cymru U21 squad were high in confidence heading into 2024 following a successful start to their UEFA U21 EURO qualifying campaign and were joint top of Group I with Denmark as they prepared to take on Lithuania at Rodney Parade in March. It was a camp would also include a friendly against the Moroccan U23 squad in Turkey, and head coach Matty Jones highlighted the positive mentality within his squad ahead of another key match of the campaign.
Despite the optimism Lithuania would take an early lead, but Cymru levelled through Rubin Colwill shortly afterwards. The goal sparked Jones’ side into a dominant performance, but the crucial winning goal would not come until the introduction of teenage Lewis Koumas for his U21 debut. The Liverpool striker made an immediate impression to decide with the game with a well-taken goal to make it 2-1. “It was great, obviously a good feeling to do it for my country,” said Koumas to Sgorio after them match. “Coming on, I just knew that if I had a chance I’d take it.”
Although the Moroccan U23 team would claim a 2-0 victory a few days later, Matty Jones was rewarded with a two-year contract extension in August to take him through to 2028. “To commit to Welsh football for another two years is exciting for me and my family as they have also been a huge contribution and help in my role and I love them for that,” said Jones. “They have allowed me to go above and beyond in something I am passionate about.”
Cymru were well-placed in Group I with just two qualifiers remaining as they headed to Iceland in September. “We’ve got to go to someone’s backyard, we’re going to be fighting for the three points, and we’ll be disappointed if we come away with anything less,” Jones explained before the match. Joel Cotterill would prove to be the hero with both goals in a superb 2-1 victory to keep Cymru level with group leaders Denmark ahead of their final match at home to Czechia. A positive result would deliver either a play-off place or automatic qualification for the finals in Slovakia next summer.
Joel Cotterill celebrates for Cymru U21 in Iceland
Almost 2,400 fans were in attendance at Rodney Parade, Newport for the decisive game. However, it was Czechia who would claim the points with a 2-1 victory. Luca Hoole scored an injury-time consolation for the home side, but the defeat left Cymru’s fate out of their own hands having played their final match of the campaign. A few days later, Czechia would defeat Lithuania 3-0 to claim the runners-up place above Cymru on their better head-to-head record, and with it a play-off place.
Despite the frustrating end to a campaign that had promised so much, the U21 squad more than delivered in other areas with a number of players progressing into the senior Cymru squad during 2024. “I’d rather see ten players in the senior squad than having the success in our age group because I always know there’s a pathway,” said Jones in September. “There’s an abundance of quality talent and high potential coming through the system, so I’ve always got faith within that and I always trust that process. So my attitude has always been about pushing the players as hard as we can to get those senior experiences.”
Cymru WU17 – We are staying up
Nia Davies was head coach of the Cymru WU17 side for Round 2 of their UEFA qualifiers back in March following their promotion to League A in November 2023. Drawn against hosts Norway, Switzerland and Sweden in Group A4, a goal from Teagan Scarlett earned the side a valuable 1-1 draw with Sweden on the opening day. Elena Cole then scored a crucial equaliser in another 1-1 draw with Norway before a final day 3-1 defeat to Switzerland. Charlotte Salisbury-Williams scored the consolation for Cymru, but they would finish above Sweden and maintain their place in League A.
A new era would begin in August as Davies moved up to the Cymru WU19 squad and Pete Wilson took charge of the WU17 side. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for myself to be able to work with this talented group of players and staff as we look to hopefully get more success building through the pathway,” said Wilson, who had previously worked with the WU16 side. “Working with these players previously over the last few years and working with younger age groups has given me an appreciation of the needs of the game.”
Following two friendly defeats to the Republic of Ireland in September, the WU17 squad headed to Portugal the following month looking to retain their place in League A. Despite a 3-0 defeat to Switzerland and a 5-2 reverse against the hosts, with Nia Lewis and Layla Drury on target for Cymru, they claimed a crucial 2-1 win over Slovenia on the final day to avoid relegation. Ellen Marsh had equalised for Cymru before Skye Hair scored a dramatic winner from the penalty spot deep into added-time.
Cymru MU17 – Qualification and a new era
Craig Knight would make history with the Cymru MU17 side as they reached a second successive UEFA Championship finals. Competing the Elite Round of qualifying back in March, goals from Elliot Myles and Oliver Bostock earned a 2-1 win over hosts Romania, but Ronan Kpakio’s goal against Sweden could not prevent a reverse by the same scoreline. However, Myles and Bostock were again on target in the decisive final match against Bulgaria as they claimed automatic qualification with a 2-1 victory.
“Last year to qualify was really special and to do it in two consecutive years is really beyond our wildest dreams to be honest,” said Knight. “All credit to both age groups who’ve got themselves into these finals tournaments and given themselves an opportunity to really experience what a finals tournament feels, what it looks like and hopefully stand them in good stead moving forward.”
The finals would take place in Cyprus during May and June with Cymru joined in Group B by Austria, Denmark and Croatia. However, the side would not make out of the group stage of the competition as a 2-0 defeat to Denmark was followed by a 3-0 loss to Austria. Cruz Allen would salvage a point for the side in the final game against Croatia as the match finished 1-1. A new era would begin following the tournament with Knight taking over the MU18 squad and Wayne Hatswell appointed as the new MU17 head coach.
Wayne Hatswell took charge of the Cymru MU17 squad during the summer
In preparation for his first qualifying campaign, Hatswell took charge of friendlies against Gibraltar, Qatar, Portugal and France. “We’ve had two positive camps and the lads have gained a lot of belief on the back of that,” he explained ahead of the November fixtures in San Marino. “They want that winning feeling and everyone wants success. I’ve seen how much it means to players at this age group. The way the French celebrated against us was a learning curve for me, and I hope we can be the ones celebrating next week.”
There was plenty of drama in the opening Group 9 match against Norway as despite goals from Louie Bradbury, Carter Heywood and Hayden Allmark, it was Norway that took maximum points in a 4-3 win. Cymru suffered a further setback in their second match with a 4-0 defeat to Italy, but ended the mini-tournament on a high as a hat-trick from William Grainger set the tone for a 6-0 win over hosts San Marino with further goals from Oliver Newman, Ollie Dewsbury and Allmark completing the scoring.
Cymru WU19 – Promotion achieved
Nic Anderson’s Cymru WU19 squad headed to Moldova back in April looking to gain promotion from League B after dropping down from League A at the end of 2023. The mini-tournament began in perfect style as Tianna Teisar and Amy Richardson scored the goals in a 2-0 win over Lithuania before a 3-0 win over the hosts was delivered courtesy of a penalty from Olivia Francis and further goals from Lauren Davies and Chloe Mcmahon. However, a goal from Francis was not enough to prevent a 2-1 defeat to eventual group winners North Macedonia on the final day, and deny the side a return to League A.
Nia Davies was promoted to WU19 head coach in the summer. “It’s an honour to represent Wales as a coach in any age group,” she explained. “I think the under 19s is the age group where we can really prepare players for the step-up to the seniors. I think it’s a really big opportunity to progress the players and hopefully give them the best opportunity to make that step into senior football. The standard obviously gets higher as the age group goes higher. So it’s important that we don’t get complacent within our environment.”
Davies and her squad prepared for Round 1 of the next campaign with two friendlies against Portugal WU18. “We had a really good camp in Portugal,” Davies explained. “We lost the second game narrowly (2-1), but played really well and it was a really good performance even though we didn’t get a win. It’s put us in a really good place going into this camp as there’s only around four weeks between them. It was really beneficial.”
The Group B3 would take place in Bosnia and Herzegovina in November and it was Francis who made a big impression with a hat-trick in the opening 4-0 win over Lithuania with Teagan Scarlett also finding the back of the net. Their form continued with a 4-0 win over Georgia through goals from Charlotte Salisbury-Williams, Emily Cole, Ffion Bowen and Scarlett with her second of the campaign. Promotion was sealed as Francis and Charlotte Lee scored the goals against the hosts to claim a 2-1 win for the group winners.
Cymru MU19 – Elite Round reached
Having failed to make it through to the Elite Round, head coach Rob Edwards took his side to Belgium for two friendlies in March, with a 1-0 defeat in the opening match followed by a victory by the same scoreline thanks to a goal from Gabriele Biancheri. However, Edwards would leave his post in in the summer to take up a senior coaching role with Forest Green Rovers. Replacing him would be another former Cymru international in Chris Gunter.
“I’m really proud to be given the opportunity and really excited now to get going in a different role,” said Gunter following his appointment. “For me personally, it’s a really a good opportunity to learn and improve and the most important bit is to try and give my support and experience to the younger players coming through. I’m really excited to get stuck in and to meet the players, for me to learn about them, but also for them to get to know me and to see how we want to do things leading towards the qualifiers in November.”
Gunter would oversee two preparation camps as a 2-2 draw with Turkmenistan was followed by a 3-0 win over Azerbaijan in Spain in September. The squad then headed to Italy for two games against the hosts in October, claiming a 3-3 draw before an impressive 4-3 victory. “They should take great pride and confidence from the performances in Italy,” said Gunter. “They weren’t just two results where we were fortunate to come out on the right side.”
The UEFA qualifiers would take place in Scotland in November and it was Biancheri who scored the only goal against the hosts to start the campaign with a 1-0 win. Oliver Bostock was then on target against eventual group winners France in a 2-1 defeat, but a hat-trick from Biancheri and two goals from Kai Andrews sealed a 5-0 win over Liechtenstein to ensure that Cymru would progress to the Elite Round.
