On 25 March 1876, the Football Association of Wales played its inaugural match, against Scotland in Glasgow. On that day 11 intrepid footballers became the first of over 700 players to proudly represent the senior men’s team of the world’s third oldest football nation.
Sons of Cambria is the first volume of a landmark three-part collection that will feature every footballer capped for Wales’ senior men’s team since 1876 and is the essential reference guide for all followers of Welsh international football.
Listed in the order in which they won their caps, every player has for the first time been assigned their unique player number, with Volume I containing biographical listings of the 374 players capped between 1876 and 1939 (as well as the 30 players who represented Wales in uncapped war-time matches) including photographs of almost all the players. In addition to the players, Sons of Cambria also lists every international match (capped and uncapped) played between 1876 and 1946, and includes team photographs from 38 of those games.
Packed with incredible stories, fascinating facts and hundreds of photos, Sons of Cambria is a book all Welsh football fans will treasure.
An essential reference guide for all followers of Welsh international football, Sons of Cambria, also includes:
Appendix 1 - The complete listing of every official Wales international match from 1876 to 1939
Appendix 2 - Details of every unofficial and friendly international match, including wartime games, from 1876 to 1946, and the uncapped players who represented Wales.
Appendix 3 - A tribute to Edward Robbins, appointed FA Wales Secretary in 1909, who served Welsh football with distinction for 35 years
Appendix 4 - The listing of players in the order of most caps awarded 1876-1939
Appendix 5 - The listing of players in the order of most goals scored 1876-1939
Appendix 6 - The listing of Wales captains in the order of most appearances as captain 1876-1939
Appendix 7 - The listing of clubs that provided players to the senior men's team 1876-1939
Apendix 8 - The places of birth of every capped player 1876-1939
Included amongst the 274 capped players are:
Samuel
Llewellyn Kenrick (#8) from Ruabon, who won 5 caps but, more importantly, founded
the Football Association of Wales;
James Patrick (Jimmy) Murphy (#349) from Rhondda,
who won 15 caps and, as manager, took Wales to the 1958 World Cup;
Frederick Charles (Fred) Keenor (#266),
from Cardiff, who was capped 32 times, scoring 3 goals, and lifted the FA Cup
as captain of Cardiff City in 1927;
John Edward
(Eddie) Parris (#347) from Chepstow, who played for several clubs including
Bournemouth and Bradford, was Wales’ first black international, winning a
single cap in 1932;
William Henry (Billy) Meredith (#161),
from Chirk, who won 46 caps, scored 11 goals and was the first superstar of
Welsh football;
Caesar
Augustus Llewellyn Jenkyns (#138), from Builth Wells, won 8
caps and scored a single goal. A powerful no-nonsense player, ‘the Mighty
Caesar’, who played for Woolwich Arsenal and Newton Heath (Man Utd) was sent
off three times in a colourful car
