Four Welsh players are heading to Wembley and there could be a fifth by around 10pm on Friday night. Leeds United’s quartet of Ethan Ampadu, Joe Rodon, Dan James and Connor Roberts are all into the Championship play-off final after their 4-0 demolition of Norwich City. “Towards the end of the season, there was a lot of talk about how we were playing; how we weren’t on the front foot, how we weren’t aggressive, how we weren’t clinical,” said Ampadu.
Sophie Ingle can help provide Emma Hayes with the perfect send off to her spell at Chelsea with a seventh Women’s Super League title this weekend. Wales captain Ingle’s team are back in control of the race heading into Hayes’ final game in charge.
Ethan Ampadu has insisted he has never lost faith that Leeds United would make it back to the Premier League this season. The Wales star played another key role in guiding Leeds to a powerful 4-0 victory over Norwich City on Thursday night at a pulsating Elland Road.
Osian Roberts has achieved hero status in Como after winning promotion to Serie A but has no qualms stepping back for Cesc Fabregas to resume his managerial career. The Welshman masterminded Como’s return to the top flight of Italian football after a 21-year absence last Friday, and the town famous for its lake, tourism and being the home of Hollywood actor George Clooney partied long in to the night. Roberts’ great friend Ian Rush, the former Liverpool and Wales striker, has already been in touch over plans to watch his old team play Como next season.
Former Wales international pair Rob Edwards and Craig Bellamy are dropping out of the Premier League, with Luton Town boss Edwards admitting it is getting harder for clubs from the Championship to compete. For just the second time in Premier League history all three promoted sides are heading back down to the Championship after a season that has exposed the growing gulf between English football’s top two tiers.
Two coaches – both former Wales internationals – will walk the Premier League relegation tightrope this weekend, desperate to avoid the drop. Craig Bellamy and Rob Edwards were once Wales teammates, but they are now both fighting for survival on the penultimate weekend of the season.
Bolton’s Welsh striker Aaron Collins is 90 minutes away from playing in the Championship next season after his wonderful goal sent his club on their way to a Wembley play-off final. Collins – a former Wales U19 cap- secured his place in the League One play-off final despite Bolton being beaten by Barnsley at the Toughsheet Community Stadium as Ian Evatt’s side edged the visitors 5-4 on aggregate.
Swansea City head coach Luke Williams admits he has a busy summer ahead after the 1-0 defeat against Millwall in the final game of the season saw his side finish 14th in the Championship. Millwall climbed to 13th in the table off the back of eight wins in 13 games since their former Cardiff City boss Neil Harris started a second spell at The Den in February.
Rob Edwards has promised his Luton Town side will “keep going” after a 1-1 draw with Everton at Kenilworth Road saw them miss the chance to climb out of the Premier League relegation zone. The former Wales defender is battling to keep his club in the top flight and continue flying the flag for his country.
Seven Welsh players have the opportunity to head towards the Premier League on Saturday – although not all of them will make it. The Championship promotion odds are certainly stacked against the Leeds United quartet of Ethan Ampadu, Dan James, Joe Rodon and Connor Roberts.
Wrexham owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds plan to develop the club’s SToK Racecourse home into a stadium with up to 55,000 seats. The Red Dragons will be playing in League One next season after back-to-back promotions and attracting a worldwide fan-base following the success of the FX docuseries ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ and the presence of their Hollywood A-listers.
For 64 years, Terry Medwin was the last Wales player to score at a World Cup. Medwin, who has died at the age of 91, scored the winner in a 2-1 play-off victory over Hungary at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. The goal set up an ultimately unsuccessful quarter-final against eventual champions Brazil – a contest decided by Pele’s first World Cup goal – but Medwin’s place in Welsh football history was secure.
It seems appropriate that Swansea City can end their season with an identical record to their current high point, achieved back in October Nothing would more clearly illustrate a wasted few months in the club’s history. If the Swans beat Millwall at home on Saturday – they are 21/20 favourites with DragonBet to do so – they will have gained four wins and a draw from the final five matches of their Championship campaign.
Neil Gibson was full of praise for his Connah’s Quay Nomads teams after they ended The New Saints’ dream of the treble by winning the Welsh Cup Final, 2-1. That vision – which included going unbeaten in domestic matches in Wales – went up in smoke as Josh Williams produced a wonder goal to earn the Nomads their second JD Welsh Cup triumph.
Erol Bulut is still waiting for Cardiff City to tell him whether he will remain in charge at the end of the season. The Bluebirds manager admitted he is in the dark over his future, even though the club have just one match remaining of their current Championship campaign.
Cardiff City host Middlesborough in their final home game of the season on Saturday, looking to give the fans a happy farewell to this campaign. After a dramatic, late 2-1 win in their last match at the Cardiff City Stadium, the Bluebirds will hope for another three points to end on consecutive home league victories, for the first time since early March.
Wrexham plan to host another promotion party when they welcome League Two champions Stockport County at The Racecourse on Saturday, in their final game of this season. In what could once have been a match where Wrexham might have won the League Two title in front of their own fans, it is now a game where, regardless of the outcome, both teams’ futures are sealed.
Mike Harris – chairman of Cymru Premier dominant force, The New Saints – has welcomed the Football Association of Wales’ plans to improve the league. The FAW has promised an investment package worth more than £739,500 in the on-field product. As part of the revamp, the Cymru Premier is to be increased from 12 clubs to 14 or 16, there will be a switch to Friday night games, and VAR will be introduced to help referees.
Neco Williams could be in hot water with the FA after comments he made following Nottingham Forest’s controversial 2-0 defeat to Everton. The Wales defender has been asked by the FA to explain remarks he made after the match on Sunday which appeared to suggest officials were biased in favour of the top clubs.
Perry Ng has been one of the few Cardiff City consistent success stories this season, during a campaign that has had plenty of ups and downs. Before last weekend’s 2-1 home victory over Southampton, Bluebirds manager Erol Bulut confirmed that a number of other clubs had enquired about the availability of Ng ahead of the summer transfer window.