George Clay-Thomas’s initial letter to the Field on 8 January 1876, suggesting the creation of a Welsh national football team, would seem to have been well received. By the very next publication the following Saturday (15 January) two replies were awaiting him, both complimentary…in part!
Most (but not all) of the authors of the letters to the editor of the Field often liked to use pseudonyms. Lucky for us George Clay-Thomas decided to forgo this practice, but his respondents on this day unfortunately did not.
The first response was from a gentleman calling himself A. Highlander. Seemingly speaking from a Scottish perspective, he felt the idea was a good one but was concerned with the suggestion that the teams be selected from players who lived and worked in London. He felt that such teams could not “be representative of their respective countries”, however as long as that point was clarified and understood was fully supportive of the ‘London’ plan. He looked to Clay-Thomas for further guidance on the next steps and to either begin arranging things himself or to nominate someone else to take matters further, even suggesting London-based teams from which a Scottish side could be raised.
The second response came from a gentleman calling himself Half Back. He was also supportive, but equally cynical about only choosing from a pool of London-based Welshmen. He felt the match (from a Welsh perspective) could only go ahead and be considered a true international if the team consisted of players living in Wales. However, unlike Highlander, Half Back was not enamoured with the thought of a match played under Rugby Union rules and instead suggested the game be played according to Association (soccer) rules…indeed he seemed to echo Clay-Thomas’s suggestion from a week earlier that the game of rugby isn’t as popular in Wales when he elaborated that Association rules are “the rules chiefly adopted in the Principality”.
This by the way is the very first instance, anywhere, we’re aware of that the idea of a Welsh national football team playing under Association rules gets mentioned.
Would there be more responses the following week?