FA Cup national anthem debate rages

Apr 14 2008 by Paul Abbandonato, Western Mail

I WON’T go as far as to say we’ve never had it so good in Welsh football, but these are certainly heady days.

Cardiff City are in the FA Cup final, something we haven’t been able to say for 81 years.

Swansea City are back in the second tier of the English game, something we haven’t been able to say for 24 years.

The future for the Wales national team has rarely been more rosy after the painstaking work John Toshack and Brian Flynn have put in with the youngsters.

The only blot on the copybook is Wrexham’s inevitable relegation into the Conference.

But even they can regroup and come back stronger.

Carlisle and Doncaster were playing non-league football three and four years ago respectively. In the coming weeks they are seeking to join the Swans in the Championship.

It’s not so far in the distant past that the Swans themselves had to beat Hull on the final day of the season to avoid going down.

Just look at the way they have revamped and moved forward at such a rate of knots that next season they will be setting their sights on pushing for the Premiership.

Last weekend it was quite rightly Dave Jones’ Bluebirds who dominated the headlines after their historic FA Cup exploits.

Seven days on it is the turn of Roberto Martinez’s Swans to deservedly capture the majority of the attention.

They have a fantastic set up down at the Liberty Stadium these days. The ground itself will be amongst the best in the Championship; there is a completely new fan base of youngsters, male and female; the club are virtually debt-free.

And in Martinez the Swans have, not just one of the best young managers in British football but arguably the best.

Bright, eloquent, passionate about football; Martinez has done a remarkable job in transforming the fortunes of the team.

He has recruited wisely at home and from abroad and has his team playing in the thrilling pass-and-move tradition they have been accustomed to down west.

Toshack, Frank Burrows and Jan Molby each had their sides playing in that manner; Kenny Jackett didn’t, one of the main reasons many Swans fans never took to him in the way they did the afore-mentioned trio – and Martinez, of course.

The problem for the Swans is that things get noticed in football. As such, bigger clubs are already going to be eyeing up Martinez and trying to lure him away from the Liberty.

Better that way, though, than not, because if other clubs want your manager at least it shows you are successful. Anyway, Martinez has enough of a challenge in the Championship next season to satisfy him.

Speaking of luring individuals away, Manchester United and Arsenal were linked again yesterday with a swoop for Cardiff’s precociously talented 17-year-old Aaron Ramsey.

Coincidentally or not, since he has come into the Bluebirds’ team, their fortunes have been transformed. Ramsey was involved in every one of Cardiff’s goals in their 3-1 victory over Blackpool at the weekend.

Whether he plays off the main striker, in the central midfield position he is best suited to, or at right-back, as he did in the FA Cup semi-final, Ramsey is majestic.

There will be a time, a few years down the line, when Ramsey and fellow Welsh teen star Gareth Bale are regarded as the best players in their positions in the Premiership.

They each have that potential to be genuine greats of the game.

It is quite possible, looking at his development, that Wayne Hennessey will be regarded in that same light, too. There are other Welsh youngsters – Joe Ledley, Chris Gunter, Lewin Nyatanga, Jack Collison and Ched Evans amongst them – who also look to have big futures ahead of them in the top flight. Which, of course, augurs so well for the national team.

Craig Bellamy, Jason Koumas, Simon Davies, Danny Gabbidon and James Collins should still have their best years ahead of them for Wales.

Blend the experience and ability of those five with the zest, pace and energy of the young guns and it could be quite a potent mix for Wales.

The superstars, like Rush, Hughes, Giggs, Southall, Speed and Hartson, have gone.

But will the new breed achieve something those big names never managed by actually qualifying for something?

With the way Welsh football appears to be booming at the moment, don’t bet against it.