Gareth Bale backs Wales pledge to put £4m back in grassroots to find next superstar after World Cup qualification

GARETH BALE has backed Wales’ pledge to commit £4million into grassroots facilities after qualifying for their first World Cup since 1958.

Dragons captain Bale will lead his country at the finals in Qatar come November after play-off victory over Ukraine ended 64 years of hurt.

Wales captain Gareth Bale is in support of plans to improve the country’s grassroots facilitiesCredit: Rex

Qualification was worth almost £10m in prize money to Wales with the pot being shared on operations as well as players’ World Cup bonuses.

But the Football Association of Wales have announced they will re-invest a vast sum of their FIFA windfall to help bring through the next generation.

Bale said: “We are delighted that qualifying for the World Cup finals also means that grassroots clubs across Wales will benefit as the FAW support the development of inspirational, fit-for-purpose facilities.”

FAW chief executive, Noel Mooney believes there are ‘chronic’ issues with facilities at grassroots level.

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Mooney said: “As we strive to create a leading football nation, it’s vitally important that the FAW and its funding partners step up and take full advantage of the opportunity that qualification for the World Cup presents us.

“Grassroots facilities for football across Cymru are particularly poor and our key strategic objective is to tackle this now.”

FAW president, Steve Williams said: “We have a once in a generation chance to improve the health and wellbeing of the nation both on and off the pitch.

“Improvement in our grassroots facilities is crucial to this so that football and other sports can continue to be successful in the future.

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“We don’t want to wait another 64 years for a Cymru appearance at the World Cup.”

Wales enter a new era after Ryan Giggs officially quit as manager on Monday night with Robert Page, who has been interim boss since Giggs’ arrest in November 2020, set to lead them in Qatar.

Bale has already backed Page to be Wales’ long-term manager and talks over a new deal are expected to happen in the new few weeks.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk

Gareth Bale backs Wales pledge to put £4m back in grassroots to find next superstar after World Cup qualification

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