
The next generation of Cymru stars head to Scotland this week as Drew Sherman’s MU16 squad prepare to compete in the prestigious Victory Shield competition.
First competed for in 1925, the tournament has firmly-established itself on the international intermediate team calander with Cymru being named winners and joint-winners four times in the last decade. More importantly, the competition has provided a platform for players to showcase their talent and eventually represent Cymru at senior team level.
Most-recently, Ethan Ampadu, Neco Williams, Charlie Crew, Liam Cullen and Dylan Levitt have completed the journey from the MU16 squad into the senior team, following on from the likes of Tyler Roberts, Matthew Smith, Joe Ledley, Lewin Nyatanga, Chris Gunter, Ben Woodburn and others before them.
In 2005, Cymru were joint-winners of the Victory Shield with England, ending a 16-year wait, before winning the competition outright in 2014 and again in 2015 for the first time since 1949. Sherman is currently in charge of the current generation, but his father Rob was the head coach when Cymru claimed the Victory Shield in 2005, an era that saw a number of future stars of EURO 2016 come through the intermediate ranks.
“He was very successful with that group of MU16’s and I think we probably must be the the only father and son group to have coached in the in the Victory Shield with the same country,” said Sherman to FAW.cymru. “I can’t imagine that’s a very common thing. He basically looked after a lot of what would become the golden generation and it’s come full circle now almost 20-years later as I’m looking after the same age group.
“I remember those players coming through and him talking positively about the players who did eventually make it, and a few others that you know probably didn’t quite reach the same heights. Some of those guys have been the most capped most successful players we’ve ever had, and were all in that four-year age group really. He still talks about how proud he is to have played some part in their journey and to just have been involved along the way.”
Despite a 4-0 defeat to England in that opening game of the 2005 edition of the Victory Shield, Cymru would claim 1-0 victories over Scotland and Northern Ireland through goals from Sam Wade and Jamie Price respectively to eventually share the trophy. In 2014, the side completed a clean-sweep with three wins from three games, and then retained the Victory Shield the following year.
However, England announced in 2015 that they would no longer take part in the competition, and were replaced by the Republic of Ireland. Since then, the Republic of Ireland have claimed the Victory Shield four times, including the last two editions of the tournament. This year Scotland will host the competition with all six matches taking place at the Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld and will be live streamed by the SFA.
Tuesday, 8 October
11:30am – Scotland v Republic of Ireland
3:30pm – Wales v Northern Ireland
Thursday, 10 October
11:30am – Scotland v Northern Ireland
3:30pm – Republic of Ireland v Wales
Sunday, 13 October
11:30pm – Northern Ireland v Republic of Ireland
3:30pm – Scotland v Wales
Cymru MU16: Oscar ABBOTSON (Southampton), Alex GODFREY (Swansea City), George ROBINSON (Southampton), Ashton WILLIAMS (Bristol City), Carter HEYWOOD (Swansea City), Enzo ROMANO (CF Damm), Shea PITA (Everton), Lennon MOSS (Aston Villa), Leo PAPIRNYK (Cardiff City), Paul UJOBOLO MORENO, Jacob NORRIS (Cardiff City), Jack LINES (West Brom), Logan CARTWRIGHT (Cardiff City), Keane CONATY (Cardiff City), Theo PITT (Blackburn Rovers), Isaac THOMAS (West Ham United), Alfie JONES (Swansea City), Rob TANKIEWICZ (Cardiff City), Archie LORIMER (Burnley), Louis EVANS (Bolton Wanderers), Oliver SALTER (Tottenham Hotspur), Max HAWKINS (Liverpool).