Aaarrrggghhh - It's not difficult.

I'm not one of those Welsh people who hate England. I can't really. England has given me a home, an education, a load of friends, a job and a wife! I don't have an inclination towards hatred.  Don't get me wrong, I love good old fashioned banter and in sport, beating England is always better than beating anyone else. I was at Twickenham this year when we won the Triple Crown. Even at the age of 32, I still found it necessary to leap around like an idiot and passionately hug a man I have never seen before or since!!

During the Olympics we are all supposed to come together as British to support our athletes. I have always found this relatively easy. I love the British Lions tours in rugby. I care not that Bradley Wiggins is English, Dai Greene is Welsh or Heather Stanning is Scottish. The important thing is they are not American or Australian! The GB football team is a different matter though.

Divisions are being caused that need not be caused. We all know that the FAW did not support the team, but the 5 Welsh players in the squad individually chose to take part. I don't have a problem with this. The FAW have done what they think they have to do to maintain their position within FIFA. The players, not being blessed with the knowledge of certain qualification for any tournament, have done what they feel is right for them. Many Welsh people don't support the team, but sensibly most of them just pay no attention to the games.

Joe Allen - Welsh and British BBC!

Divisions are being caused by the media. The obsession about the Welsh players not singing God Save The Queen is ridiculous. Yes, God Save The Queen is the official anthem of Great Britain, but all of the time that it is used as the anthem for English sporting teams, no Welsh / Scot / Northern Irishman / woman will sing it. It is not the end of the world! According to certain journalists though, the Welsh players are a disgrace. This is pathetic, weak journalism. Save your anger for the convicted drugs cheats who will be running in the 100m, not for players who are representing their team with skill and passion. What makes the whole thing all the more laughable is that the England football team don't all sing their anthem, and the players who are being vilified, with the exception of Joe Allen, don't even sing the Welsh anthem. Singing is a personal thing. Some players use it to motivate themselves, others don't. It doesn't matter.

I have watched the games, more out of curiosity than of any great passion for the team. On each occasion at least one member of the BBC commentary / presenting team has referred to the team as England. So, that is the British Broadcasting Corporation forgetting that this team represents Great Britain. It is bad enough when the Americans get this wrong, but it is unforgivable for the BBC. This is the broadcasting equivalent of the people who go to Spain on holiday and shout English slowly to communicate with the locals. It is embarrassing.

Why does football have this problem? The swimming / athletics / hockey commentators have no problem in differentiating between GB teams and separate home nation teams. The problem comes from the fact that BBC football offers 'jobs for the boys'. Employment is based on who you are or who you know, not how good you are. There is no other reason for the continual presence of Crooks and Jonathan Pearce. We pay for these clowns through our licence fee. Can some of that money please be spent on sending them to Geography and History lessons.

Education. You can't knock it.

The Case For Bala -

On the face of it, the case for me choosing to follow Bala Town is less obvious as I have no family connection to the area, but there are certain aspects that make Bala unique!

Founded sometime in the 1880's they are a much older club than Carmarthen, but they didn't achieve promotion to the WPL until 2009. In their first 2 seasons in the top division Bala could have been relegated, but were let off by the fact that the teams who would have been promoted did not reach the required criteria to play in the WPL. Since then there has been a dramatic improvement in fortune for the club. They finished in the top 6 last season, qualifying for the Championship play offs when the league split. Infact, they finished one game away from Europe, when a final game defeat at Llanelli stopped them from competing in the same competition as Liverpool and Spurs.

Bala are a club that is constantly moving up. 10 years ago they were playing in the Welsh League (Wrexham area). A series of promotions and cup wins later and they have finished as the 5th best team in the Welsh football pyramid. The only team that I can think of to compare this sort of rapid promotion with is Wimbledon. It represents a fantastic achievement to go from being not much more than a standard Saturday team that you or I could turn up to play for, to becoming a decent semi professional team. I admire this sort of thing. Ambition is great. Too often clubs are laughed at for dreaming, but if a club is run correctly dreams can happen in reality. If they keep moving upwards in the next 12 months, following them could be a lot of fun!

Maes Tegid

Bala remind me of a local team who I have a lot of time for, Forest Green Rovers. Not only because of a series of promotions from a very low level to becoming a respected club at a much higher level, but also because of the fact that they are small town teams. According to the 2001 census, 1980 people live in Bala. They can get 400 / 500 people watching a game. Bearing in mind that people are not likely to travel a long way to support them, this could represent 25% of the local population supporting their team. It suggests to me that there is a real spirit of community about the club. That the players are seen as representatives of the town, and that the people of the town are right behind the players when they stick the shirt on. This appeals massively to me, as it is how I used to feel about my local rugby team.

Where I may have concerns about Bala it is in the way that they are funded. A couple of people have suggested that they have a principle backer who bankrolls them, enabling their continuous improvement. If this is true, it raises a problem. Part of the reason I have become so disillusioned with professional football is because of the game becoming less of a sport and more of a rich mans plaything. Even at the lower levels, Macclesfields are gradually being replaced by Fleetwoods, Herefords by Crawleys. I admire ambition, but only if it is through a gradual growth and that the club is sustainable in its own right. This will need a bit of research to see if it is true. I love the little team punching above it's weight if it is done properly.

Bala do apparently have a reputation for getting the ball down and playing. This ties in nicely with my belief of how football should be played. Premier League to Sunday League I believe a football is made to travel predominantly on the floor. Sport wise there is nothing so upsetting as watching 9 / 10 year olds lumping channel balls on a Saturday morning. If Bala play the right way it will definitely tempt me.. 

Another positive in Bala's favour is the fact that Mid / North Wales is my favourite place on Earth! Picking Bala would give me an excuse to spend the occasional weekend sat by Llyn Tegid.  Another plus side is that, according to the census, Bala has one of the highest percentage of Welsh speakers in the country. This would give me a great chance to practice, even if they do say milk in a funny way!!

Bala are said to be a friendly club, they certainly replied to my weird tweets and humoured my grammatically non-sensical Welsh. Both Bala and Carmarthen have replied to my messages and I am left in the odd position of feeling that both teams actually want me to follow them, even though I am a total stranger to them. I can't remember ever thinking that my League 1 team wanted me to support  them, they just take my love for granted!


I'd welcome the views of any Bala supporter.. Feel free to leave a message, it might help me make a decision!!

The Case For Carmarthen - The Everton of the WPL?.. Yr achos dros Caerfyrddin - y Everton Cymru?

Checking through my Twitter timeline yesterday I noticed that both Bala and Carmarthen were underway with their pre season friendlies. There is only a month until the season starts, and I need to make a decision on which team I will give my support to. For those with any interest,  Bala ventured into England and beat the magnificently named Glossop North End 1-0. Carmarthen gave the entire squad a run by playing 2 games on the same day, beating the once mighty Barry Town 2-3 in the morning, and then dispatching West End 2-4 in the afternoon. I'm massively impressed by the commitment of one D.Thomas who played in both games for Carmarthen!

I need to consider both clubs in detail and hope that after this an obvious decision comes forward. So here is the case for Carmarthen Town.

Founded in 1948, the Old Gold reached the WPL in 1996, just 4 seasons after it was formed. They can then, justifiably, claim to be an established WPL club. Their presence in the league is something that can be almost guaranteed. To make a weak comparison they are an Everton. Always in the top flight, with occasional forays into Europe mixed with intermittent relegation fights. By the looks of it, what you can guarantee with Carmarthen is an interesting season. There could be cup glory, there could be relegation. On the face of it, this is exactly the sort of team I am after. I have never followed a team in any sport that were nailed on for success. The fact that I can't predict where they will finish is a massive plus point. 

Looking at the squad on the clubs website, I don't immediately recognise any of the players, but I do know the manager. Mark Aizlewood is a player I remember from his Charlton days. I remember his sticker in my Panini Football 87 album, and a player I remember representing my country with pride and passion. This could be important, having someone who I respected as a player when I was young in charge could tip the balance. I am, after all, trying to find the love for football I had as a 6 year old!

A quick look on Wikipedia brought bad news though. Standing out from the squad list was the name J.Alsop. A man who largely made his name at the detested (by me) Cheltenham Town, and who then, as a senior pro at Oxford, at best bullied a youth trainee and at worst did something untoward with a banana. The truth of that will never be known, but Alsop took a 4 month ban for whatever did happen. The fact that this ban was not fought by the player suggests he was guilty of something.  It led me to the conclusion that I could probably get over the dressing room misbehaviour, but I'm not sure that I could forgive the crime of playing for Cheltenham. On the plus side, he is nearly 40 and may well not be playing in 2012/13!  Lets hope so!!

Richmond Park - Carmarthen

I'm reliably informed by Mr A.Nonymous, posting on my blog, that the club itself is a well run community club, with large amounts of volunteers helping out. As I work in community sport myself, this is important for me. I'm also impressed with the facilities on offer at Parc Waun Dew. The new stand is impressive, and suitable for European competition, meaning that, unlike many WPL clubs, they won't have to borrow a stadium if they do qualify for the UEFA Cup (I will never accept the Europa League!). This suggests a board with a long term vision for stability, a crucial thing at this level of sport.

Finally, there is the personal aspect of it. Although I've always lived on the wrong side of the bridge (apart from my 3 years at University in Wales), my family come from Pembury & Burry Port, about 15 miles away from Carmarthen. I am also trying to learn Southern Welsh, not Northern, so I should, in theory, be able to practice my learning a bit better if I was to visit Carmarthen.

I hope I've done the club justice here. There are several reasons for me to choose Carmarthen Town, but as I now move on to consider Bala, I know there will be good reasons to follow them too! Being decisive does not come easily to me! Carmathen fans, I'd appreciate your views!!