Football Association of Wales unveils six-year plan to make Wales leading football nation

Noel Mooney (L)Oisin Keniry/INPHO/REX/Shutterstock

Noel Mooney was named new chief executive of the Football Association of Wales in August 2021

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) has launched a new six-year strategy designed to make Wales a leading football nation.

'Our Wales' aims to increase participation, improve facilities and bring increased success on the field.

"There's so much support in Wales for football," said chief executive Noel Mooney as he launched the plan.

"Now is the moment to align our resources to become one of the world's great footballing nations."

The aim of the strategy for 2021-2026 is to ensure continued growth of football in Wales, with greater inclusivity and accessibility.

The FAW say they have a clear focus on reaching 120,000 registered footballers, doubling the size of the women's and girls' game and ensuring that grassroots facilities are developed in line with those targets.

A particular priority on gender imbalance aims to see the FAW work with partners across Wales to "guarantee the female game has the platform to reach its potential".

Mooney is looking to improve the grassroots infrastructure of the game and to make sure there are clear pathways into the nation's senior teams for stars of the future.

"We are striving for excellence both on and off the field, where Welsh football and the FAW are synonymous with high performance," he said.

"We have identified six strategic pillars and we will deliver these with our partners to create a happier, healthier and successful Wales.

"Despite the great love for football in Wales, it is clearly not reflected in our grassroots facilities, which need to be improved, and the FAW, along with our partners, will need to demonstrate leadership and courage to reach the standards we require."

The FAW launched its last strategy in 2015.

Since that time the men's national team have qualified for the European Championship finals for the first time, going on to reach the semi-final at Euro 2016. They then progressed from the group stages at Euro 2020 after reaching the tournament for a second time in a row.

Wales women have never qualified for a major tournament finals. They missed out on a play-off spot for the 2021 European Championships due to an inferior head-to-head record with Northern Ireland by virtue of away goals, but have won their opening two group matches in qualifying for the 2023 World Cup.

Steve Williams, FAW president, said: "We've got the vision, but we can't go it alone. Our strategy is called 'Our Wales', and means we need partners like Welsh government, Sport Wales, local authorities, and businesses to work together to help usher in an era of Wales as a leading football nation.

"Wales, like anywhere, is on the road to recovery from coronavirus. If we are to build back better, then people's health and wellbeing is very much part of that, and that includes making sure anyone is able to take part in our nation's favourite sport in their local area as well as nationally."

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