| Nickname(s) | Young Dragons | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Football Association of Wales | ||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Head coach | Brian Flynn (2004–) | ||
| Most caps | Shaun MacDonald (25) | ||
| Top scorer | Ched Evans (13) | ||
| FIFA code | WAL | ||
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| First international | |||
| England U-21 0–0 Wales U-21 (Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton; 15 December 1976) |
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| Biggest win | |||
| Wales U-21 6–2 Cyprus U-21 (Ninian Park, Cardiff; 22 October 1993) & Wales U-21 5–1 Luxembourg U-21 (Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli; 31 March 2009) |
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| Biggest defeat | |||
| Italy U-21 8–1 Wales U-21 (Stadio Pietro Fortunati, Pavia; 5 September 2003) |
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| UEFA U-21 Championship | |||
| Appearances | None (First in n/a) | ||
| Best result | 1st of 5 in Qual. group, 2009. Lost in play off. |
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The Wales national under-21 football team, also known as the Wales U21s, is the national under-21 football team of Wales and is controlled by the Football Association of Wales. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years. To date Wales haven't yet qualified for the championship but in recent years have shown good form, losing in a playoff (5–4) to England in the 2009 qualifying campaign and finishing second in there group two years later, after leading their group until their last game Wales only needed a draw to qualify for the play-offs but lost 1–0 away to Italy.
The U-21 team came into existence following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976. A goalless draw in a friendly against England at Wolverhampton Wanderers' Molineux Stadium was Wales U21s' first result.
The national under-21 team is the highest level of youth football in Wales, and is open to any players who were born in Wales or whose parents or grandparents were born in Wales. This team is for Welsh players aged 21 or under at the start of a two-year European Under-21 Football Championship campaign, so players can be, and often are, up to 23 years old. Also in existence are teams for Under-20s (for non-UEFA tournaments), Under-19s and Under 17s. As long as they are eligible, players can play at any level, making it possible to play for the U21s, senior side and again for the U21s.
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The current manager is Brian Flynn, who previously managed two Welsh club sides playing in the English leagues: Wrexham and Swansea City. He also had previously coached the Under-21 team for a while in the early nineties.
In recent decades, the team has been viewed by the Welsh national management as more of a hole to be filled than a team to be used to nurture young international players, many of the great Welsh players of recent years having not spent long in the under-21 team. Ryan Giggs only made one appearance for the under-21 team before making his senior debut against Germany the next day.
More recently however, Wales's former manager, John Toshack and youth manager Brian Flynn have been seen to use the U21 team for the purpose of creating a pool of youthful Welsh talent. The team can now boast a much better tracking system of young Welsh players, and has seen a marked improvement in players and team results. Recent results have seen them achieve big wins against Estonia (5–1), Northern Ireland (4–0) and France (4–2).
Some of the young players who subsequently have made the step from the U21's to regular selection for the senior squad are Lewin Nyatanga, Joe Ledley, Chris Gunter, Gareth Bale, Sam Vokes, Ched Evans, Simon Church, Wayne Hennessey, David Cotterill, Neal Eardley, Andrew Crofts, David Edwards, Jack Collison, Andy King, Craig Morgan, Neil Taylor, Darcy Blake and current international captain Aaron Ramsey.
On 15 May 2008, they played a friendly against England U21s to mark the 100th match in the history of the side, losing 2–0.
A 3–0 victory against Romania in September 2008 meant that the Under-21 side finished top of their qualifying group for the first time in their history. It meant Wales would go into a two-legged play-off against England in October 2008 for a place in the finals of the 2009 UEFA U-21 Championship to be played in Sweden. Wales lost the playoff 5–4 over the course of two legs. Losing 3–2 at home in the first leg and drawing 2–2 away in the second.
Wales started their qualifying campaign for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship with a 1-0 away win against Andorra, a 3-1 away loss against Montenegro, a 1-0 home win against Montenegro, a 1-0 home defeat against Czech Republic and a 0-0 away draw against Armenia.
Wales squad for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification match against Armenia on 15 November 2011[1]
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| Name | DOB | Club | Caps (goals) | Most recent call-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | ||||
| David Cornell | 28 March 1991 | Swansea City | 3 (0) | v Andorra, 29 March 2011 |
| Defenders | ||||
| Tom Bender | 19 January 1993 | Colchester United | 3 (0) | v Andorra, 29 March 2011 |
| James Bloom | 11 August 1991 | Falkirk | 1 (0) | v Austria, 17 November 2010 |
| Kai Edwards | 29 January 1991 | Prestatyn Town | 2 (0) | v Northern Ireland, 10 February 2009 |
| Adam Matthews | 13 January 1992 | Celtic | 1 (0) | |
| Ash Taylor | 2 September 1990 | Tranmere Rovers | 0 (0) | v Andorra, 29 March 2011 |
| Midfielders | ||||
| Joe Allen | 14 March 1990 | Swansea City | 14 (2) | |
| Nathan Craig | 25 October 1991 | Caernarfon Town | 4 (0) | v Austria, 17 November 2010 |
| Reece Jones | 26 September 1991 | Wimbledon | 6 (0) | v Andorra, 29 March 2011 |
| Joe Partington | 1 April 1990 | Bournemouth | 8 (0) | v Andorra, 29 March 2011 |
| Aaron Ramsey | 26 December 1990 | Arsenal | 11 (2) | v Italy, 10 November 2009 |
| Forwards | ||||
| Jake Cassidy | 9 February 1993 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0 (0) | v Andorra, 29 March 2011 |
| Jordan Follows | 23 March 1990 | Llanelli | 0 (0) | v Northern Ireland, 10 February 2009 |
| Kayne McLaggon | 21 September 1990 | Bristol Rovers | 0 (0) | v Luxembourg, 27 March 2009 |
| Casey Thomas | 14 November 1990 | Swansea City | 2 (0) | v Austria, 17 November 2010 |
The FAW officially announced on 14 January 2011 that they would bid for Wales to host the UEFA Under 21 Championship.[2] The host stadiums would be the Millennium Stadium and Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff, the Liberty Stadium in Swansea and Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli. The host will be announced by UEFA on the 27/28 January 2011 from Valletta, Malta.
Wales were not awarded the 2013 UEFA Under 21 Championship. Instead, Israel will host the tournament.
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