REGIONS’ CUP UPDATE
You may have been aware via Social Media of our representative team competing in the UEFA Regions Cup Intermediate Round recently in Bulgaria where we met representatives from Belarus, Turkey and the host nation.
We started with a 6-2 defeat against a very strong Turkish team who ultimately won the group with a 100% record and followed up with a 5-2 defeat against Bulgaria at a time where we were weakened by absentees, suspension and injuries (to the point our substitute goalkeeper was on the bench dressed as an outfielder).The week finished on a positive note when we defeated the Belarus team 3-1. We now face a long wait to see if this is sufficient to improve our co-efficient to the point where the Welsh representatives can get direct entry to the Intermediate Round in the next competition rather than having to enter at the qualifying stage.
Manager of the squad, Steve Green has now stepped down from that role having been in post for eight years. He originally wanted to stand down at the end of the qualifying round in June but agreed to stay on while we remained in the current competition.
During Steve’s tenure, the South Wales FA team moved from one who had never even got out of the group in the Welsh stages to one that is now competing at the Intermediate Round of the UEFA Regions Cup. Under his charge, South Wales FA won the FA of Wales Regions Cup in 2016 and retained it in 2018. In the last two FAW Regions Cups, our playing record in total has been played 10, won 9, lost 1 (and the one loss was a group game when the group was already decided). We competed in the UEFA Regions Cup in 2016 in San Marino while the highlight of his reign was surely being the first Welsh team to qualify from any group at the UEFA stages in June.
The South Wales FA would like to thank Steve for all his work in developing the team and the great progress we have made under his tenure. We will be considering the appointment of a new manager shortly.