Wales national amateur football team

Wales Amateurs

Association	Football Association of Wales
Most caps	Gilbert Lloyd (32)
Top scorer	Graham Davies, Idwal Davies, Jack Nicholls (5)
FIFA code	WAL
First colours Second colours
First international
England Amateurs 1–0 Wales Amateurs (Edgeley Park, Stockport; 22 February 1908)
Biggest win
Scotland Amateurs 1–5 Wales Amateurs (Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh; 2 April 1932)
Biggest defeat
Wales Amateurs 0–9 England Amateurs (Penydarren Park, Merthyr Tydfil; 24 January 1920)

The Wales national amateur football team was the amateur representative team for Wales at football. It was formed in 1908 and continued until 1974.

History

The Wales amateur national team played the majority of its fixtures versus the amateur representative teams of the other four Home Nations – England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. ^[1] It had a losing record against each nation and won the British Amateur Championship on two occasions, outright in 1967–68 and jointly in 1973–74. ^[2] The team fared better in its matches against overseas opposition, winning its three matches versus Norwegian and South African representative teams, winning and drawing versus India, ^[3] but losing on both occasions to the Netherlands. ^[1]

Squads were predominantly composed of players from Welsh domestic league clubs such as Lovell's Athletic, Cardiff Corinthians, Bridgend Town, Bangor City, Llanelli and Porthmadog. ^[4] Players playing on amateur terms with clubs in the English Football League were also selected, such as future full international Phil Woosnam. ^{[5] [6]}

The team's first fixture was a friendly match played versus England at Edgeley Park on 22 February 1908, with England's Vivian Woodward scoring the only goal of the game. ^[7] Thereafter the entirety of the team's fixtures took place against England until a friendly match versus South Africa in October 1924. ^[8] The team won its first match on 22 January 1921, ^[9] when the Welsh beat England 2–0 at Molineux. ^[8] The team was disbanded in 1974, when the FA abolished the distinction between amateurism and professionalism in domestic football. ^[1]

Venues

The team predominantly played its home matches at Farrar Road Stadium (Bangor), Vetch Field (Swansea) and Smithfield Athletic Ground (Aberystwyth). ^[1]

Records

Most appearances

#	Name	Position	Years	Appearances	Goals
1	Gilbert Lloyd	WH/FW	1962–1973	32	3
2	George Renton	WH	1965–1972	27	0
3	Arthur Evans	WH	1950–1959	26	0
4	Glyn Owen	WH	1953–1961	20	1
5	Alan Phillips	WH	1967–1973	19	0
6	Trefor Owen	CH	1952–1958	17	0
7	Brinley Powell	FB	1960–1967	16	0
8	Peter Rees	OF	1952–1958	16	3
9	David McCarter	FW	1962–1967	15	1
10	Phil Woosnam	FW	1952–1957	16	4

Most goals

#	Name	Position	Years	Goals [a]	Appearances
1	Graham Davies	FW	1960–1962	5	4
2	Idwal Davies	CF	1921–1926	5	7
3	Jack Nicholls	IR	1923–1930	5	10
4	K. E. Fitzgerald	FW	1960–1964	4	5
5	Graham Reynolds	CF	1958–1965	4	12
6	Geoff Anthony	OF	1966–1974	4	13
7	Phil Woosnam	FW	1952–1957	4	16

1. 9 players finished their amateur international careers with 3 goals – G. Davies, K. Davies, L.O. Davies, M. Griffiths, Phil Holme, Sam Jones, Gilbert Lloyd, Peter Rees and T. Reynolds.

Honours

• British Amateur Championship winners: 1967–68 (shared on one occasion) ^[1]

References

1. McColl, Brian; Gorman, Douglas; Campbell, George. "Forgotten Glories – British Amateur Internationals 1901–1974" (PDF). pp. 10–22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
2. McColl, Brian; Gorman, Douglas; Campbell, George (2017). UK Amateur International Football: The Complete Record 1901–1974 (2nd ed.). Lulu Enterprises Incorporated. pp. 279, 326. ISBN   978-1-326-35601-9.
3. "Indian Olympic team tour of Europe 1948". RSSSF. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
4. McColl, Gorman & Campbell 2017, p. 342.
5. McColl, Gorman & Campbell 2017, p. 332.
6. "Former Welsh international Woosnam dies". UEFA.com. 21 July 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
7. McColl, Gorman & Campbell 2017, p. 31.
8. McColl, Gorman & Campbell 2017, p. 64.
9. "Amateur results". www.welshsoccerarchive.co.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2025.