Yep that's Will in the Orange..
Today I am going to tell you a story that has been told thousands of times since 19th of May, a story of a university football team that will later this month play in the Europa League!
Last year I went through an experience that millions of new students go through every year, you’ve just arrived at Uni and its fresher’s week, you want to get to know people and you want to get involved. The sport I love is football, but I know I am never going to get into a university football team because I’m just not good enough, I’ll do 5-a-side instead much more enjoyable and I don’t look to out of place. Meanwhile 230 miles away from me, new Students of Cardiff Metropolitan University were going through exactly the same thing. Except unlike me those students were about to set the bar for university football in the UK above and beyond any possible expectations. I wonder now that if Cardiff Met advertise their football team with the potential of European football. They will now.
Cardiff Met Uni have successfully qualified for the preliminary qualifications of the Europa League after successfully winning the Welsh Premier League play-offs, on the third time of asking, back in May thanks to a penalty shootout victory over Bala Town. On the 27th of this Month while the former Premier League outfit of Cardiff City prepare to face “Taff’s Well” in pre-season, the students of Cardiff Met will fly to Luxembourg to face Progress Niederkorn in the first of two legs in the first preliminary round of the Europa League. However, to get to this stage the club had to play a whole season finishing 7th then enter a play-off, reach the final as they have done twice in the last two years and then win, which they had never done before and it still went to penalties! Plus they only had to pay £150 quid membership to join, bargain?
But being an outsider, I don’t think we can fully understand what this possibly means to each of these players, luckily enough I’ve had the opportunity to talk to play-off penalty shoot-out hero Will Fuller who saved 3 penalties in the final vs Bala Town! I spoke to him about playing for his Uni, the surreal nature of this whole situation and what this achievement means for him, his team and all of Student sport.
Last year I went through an experience that millions of new students go through every year, you’ve just arrived at Uni and its fresher’s week, you want to get to know people and you want to get involved. The sport I love is football, but I know I am never going to get into a university football team because I’m just not good enough, I’ll do 5-a-side instead much more enjoyable and I don’t look to out of place. Meanwhile 230 miles away from me, new Students of Cardiff Metropolitan University were going through exactly the same thing. Except unlike me those students were about to set the bar for university football in the UK above and beyond any possible expectations. I wonder now that if Cardiff Met advertise their football team with the potential of European football. They will now.
Cardiff Met Uni have successfully qualified for the preliminary qualifications of the Europa League after successfully winning the Welsh Premier League play-offs, on the third time of asking, back in May thanks to a penalty shootout victory over Bala Town. On the 27th of this Month while the former Premier League outfit of Cardiff City prepare to face “Taff’s Well” in pre-season, the students of Cardiff Met will fly to Luxembourg to face Progress Niederkorn in the first of two legs in the first preliminary round of the Europa League. However, to get to this stage the club had to play a whole season finishing 7th then enter a play-off, reach the final as they have done twice in the last two years and then win, which they had never done before and it still went to penalties! Plus they only had to pay £150 quid membership to join, bargain?
But being an outsider, I don’t think we can fully understand what this possibly means to each of these players, luckily enough I’ve had the opportunity to talk to play-off penalty shoot-out hero Will Fuller who saved 3 penalties in the final vs Bala Town! I spoke to him about playing for his Uni, the surreal nature of this whole situation and what this achievement means for him, his team and all of Student sport.
Sorry for using this photo Will but it is brilliant!
Cardiff Metropolitan University Football Club Goalkeeper: Will Fuller
Q. First off Will just tell us a little bit about yourself?
A. “I’m 25, a goalkeeper, playing at Cardiff Met in the Welsh Premier League.”
Q. How long have you been at Cardiff Met and how did you get involved with the football team?
A. “I’ve been at the club since 2011, I moved to Cardiff for University and moved in July so I could join the club and start pre-season at that point.”
Q. Since joining how far has the club progressed?
A. “There’s been a massive transformation at the club, we’ve transitioned from being a team into a proper club. When Swanny (manager Christian Edwards) took over, there was a first and second team and that was it, we played on a pitch at the back of the Uni and we weren’t taken very seriously. Now, we have three teams in national leagues on the weekend, six BUCS teams, an academy with over 300 children and a purpose built facility at the University.”
Q. A lot has been said about the team having to pay £150 quid to play in the team, worth it?
A. “100 percent! It keeps us all on a level playing field, it gives us a sense of ownership over what we have and of course, it helps to cover costs like transport and kit. “
Q. What is it like playing for a University team within a countries top division, do transfers work the same for you as everyone else and do other teams actually respect you?
A. “The BUCS leagues are bound by their rules and only University students can play on a Wednesday. In the Welsh Premier League, we have the same transfer rules as any other team, but we self-impose the students and alumni only rule upon ourselves. Throughout the years and as we progressed through the divisions teams would try to bully us physically but I think teams know what we’re about now and respect the way we try to play.”
Q. When you originally joined the team at the very beginning what were your expectations?
A. “I wanted to play for the first team and develop as much as possible, beyond that, I don’t think I had many expectations. I spent most of my freshers year captaining the reserves so my first target was to break into the first team, once that happened I just wanted to play as many minutes as possible and see what we could achieve as a group.”
Q. Before reaching the play-offs, how had the season gone?
A. “I think if we’re honest with ourselves, we underachieved in the regular league season and we’ll want to improve on that in 2019/20. We did win our first major trophy though, the Nathaniel MG Welsh Premier League Cup so that was a nice milestone for us.”
Q. Before playing in that final v Bala had the previous year’s final loses been brought up and did it effect the team?
A. “We spoke about using the disappointment and emotions from the previous years as fuel for this final. It was important to play the game though and not get caught up in the occasion.”
Q. What was your thought processes as the game progressed from normal time to extra time and then penalties?
A. “I don’t think it was a particularly great game, it was a stereo typically scrappy and nervy final for large parts, we had chances to score and a bit of a scare at the end of extra time when they hit the bar but to be honest, when penalties came round, I felt pretty calm about it all.”
Q. A lot of the plaudits have fallen to Eliot Evans for scoring the winning penalty, but you saved 3! Where does that penalty shoot out rank in the highlights of your life?
A. “Eliot has popped up with some important goals and assists throughout the years so it was quite fitting that it should fall to him, I’d definitely put him up there as someone who I’d back to score it anyway! It’s one of the best moments I’ve had in football and with so much riding on it that added to the emotion and the elation.”
Q. You would have been the closest player to Eliot when he took that winning penalty, I can’t possibly imagine what you were feeling and what you were thinking, What was it like?
A. “I remember hearing someone say “score this and you’ve won” from the stand and I sort of half watched but half didn’t. I just remember running over and there being a big pile on with our fans behind the goal!”
Q. I know personally what it’s like to celebrate a victory, especially with University students what were the celebrations like afterwards?
A. “It was brilliant, the dressing room after and the coach back were lively to say the least! We had a little stop at Will Evans’ Dad’s pub on the way back as well so we enjoyed ourselves.”
Q. When did it fully set in that you would be playing in the Europa League?
A. “I think it took a few days, maybe even as long as the draw being confirmed to be honest. It’s still a bit surreal to see all the attention and our name being drawn at UEFA headquarters.”
Q. Little over a week until you head to Luxembourg how are you and the squad feeling?
A. “We’re all excited but we know there’s a job to do. Progrès Neiderkorn are probably the toughest side we could be drawn against but there’s nothing we can do about that. We’ve been working for two weeks already and we’ve had a couple of warm up games where we’ve worked on different shapes so we’ll be doing our best to cause an upset.”
Q. It’s a two-legged affair how do you see your chances?
A. “Who knows, we’re away first so if we can keep it tight and get a result in Luxembourg and bring them back to Wales, who knows what we could do. They’ll be a strong side and we know it’s a big task but we also know the quality we have in the group so we’ll see.”
Q. I don’t speak for you, but this qualification must be the highlight of your football career, where do you go from here what is your future in this sport?
A. “It’s been amazing and to do it with a group of boys that aren’t just team mates but friends has made it even sweeter. I want to play for as many years as my body lets me and play at the highest level that my ability lets me but my only focus for now is on these two European games.”
Q. Finally I know I will be fully supporting you through both legs and I imagine many neutral fans will be the same, how do you feel when your team are spoken about as representing all university sides and the inspiration for student footballers?
A. “It’s brilliant, we’re not just flying the flag for the club, but also for the University, the league, Cardiff as a city and Wales as well. It’s been great to draw some attention to student sport because there’s a lot of quality athletes across all sports both here at Cardiff Met and across student sport as a whole. Hopefully we can continue to make people proud over the next few weeks with our performances.”
Will told me beforehand that since their result things have been hectic with Journalist from across the world latching onto this brilliant story so can’t thank him enough for taking the time to answer my questions. One thing that strikes me about this interview is the acknowledgement from Will is that he is a student and yet is able to balance this with the fact that he is now a European footballer. The ability to balance that must be so hard and to keep a level head. As someone who loves and plays football with a group of people that you just see as your mates, and then you look at your arm and you see the Europa league badge must be the stuff of dreams.
The Archers, as they are known, are by no means favourites in this tie and the odds of them getting very far in the competition are very much stacked against them. But either way this team of students cannot lose. They have set a president not only in University football within the UK but also top-level football in Wales! The speed at which they have developed is astounding; from the firsts and seconds who played round the back of the Uni on a Sunday to a team playing in the Europa League within 19 years of the club’s inception. If other teams had the aspirations and will to improve as quickly as they have who knows how good they could be.
A shining light for Students and for Wales, so keep your eye on results from the 27th of June and the 4th of July because you never know what could happen! I wish Will and the rest of the team the best of luck for their tie and hopefully plenty of successful seasons to come!
Thanks for reading
You can find Europa League and Cardiff Met GK Will Fuller on Twitter: @willfuller1
You can find myself: @Cam_Deacon21
Q. First off Will just tell us a little bit about yourself?
A. “I’m 25, a goalkeeper, playing at Cardiff Met in the Welsh Premier League.”
Q. How long have you been at Cardiff Met and how did you get involved with the football team?
A. “I’ve been at the club since 2011, I moved to Cardiff for University and moved in July so I could join the club and start pre-season at that point.”
Q. Since joining how far has the club progressed?
A. “There’s been a massive transformation at the club, we’ve transitioned from being a team into a proper club. When Swanny (manager Christian Edwards) took over, there was a first and second team and that was it, we played on a pitch at the back of the Uni and we weren’t taken very seriously. Now, we have three teams in national leagues on the weekend, six BUCS teams, an academy with over 300 children and a purpose built facility at the University.”
Q. A lot has been said about the team having to pay £150 quid to play in the team, worth it?
A. “100 percent! It keeps us all on a level playing field, it gives us a sense of ownership over what we have and of course, it helps to cover costs like transport and kit. “
Q. What is it like playing for a University team within a countries top division, do transfers work the same for you as everyone else and do other teams actually respect you?
A. “The BUCS leagues are bound by their rules and only University students can play on a Wednesday. In the Welsh Premier League, we have the same transfer rules as any other team, but we self-impose the students and alumni only rule upon ourselves. Throughout the years and as we progressed through the divisions teams would try to bully us physically but I think teams know what we’re about now and respect the way we try to play.”
Q. When you originally joined the team at the very beginning what were your expectations?
A. “I wanted to play for the first team and develop as much as possible, beyond that, I don’t think I had many expectations. I spent most of my freshers year captaining the reserves so my first target was to break into the first team, once that happened I just wanted to play as many minutes as possible and see what we could achieve as a group.”
Q. Before reaching the play-offs, how had the season gone?
A. “I think if we’re honest with ourselves, we underachieved in the regular league season and we’ll want to improve on that in 2019/20. We did win our first major trophy though, the Nathaniel MG Welsh Premier League Cup so that was a nice milestone for us.”
Q. Before playing in that final v Bala had the previous year’s final loses been brought up and did it effect the team?
A. “We spoke about using the disappointment and emotions from the previous years as fuel for this final. It was important to play the game though and not get caught up in the occasion.”
Q. What was your thought processes as the game progressed from normal time to extra time and then penalties?
A. “I don’t think it was a particularly great game, it was a stereo typically scrappy and nervy final for large parts, we had chances to score and a bit of a scare at the end of extra time when they hit the bar but to be honest, when penalties came round, I felt pretty calm about it all.”
Q. A lot of the plaudits have fallen to Eliot Evans for scoring the winning penalty, but you saved 3! Where does that penalty shoot out rank in the highlights of your life?
A. “Eliot has popped up with some important goals and assists throughout the years so it was quite fitting that it should fall to him, I’d definitely put him up there as someone who I’d back to score it anyway! It’s one of the best moments I’ve had in football and with so much riding on it that added to the emotion and the elation.”
Q. You would have been the closest player to Eliot when he took that winning penalty, I can’t possibly imagine what you were feeling and what you were thinking, What was it like?
A. “I remember hearing someone say “score this and you’ve won” from the stand and I sort of half watched but half didn’t. I just remember running over and there being a big pile on with our fans behind the goal!”
Q. I know personally what it’s like to celebrate a victory, especially with University students what were the celebrations like afterwards?
A. “It was brilliant, the dressing room after and the coach back were lively to say the least! We had a little stop at Will Evans’ Dad’s pub on the way back as well so we enjoyed ourselves.”
Q. When did it fully set in that you would be playing in the Europa League?
A. “I think it took a few days, maybe even as long as the draw being confirmed to be honest. It’s still a bit surreal to see all the attention and our name being drawn at UEFA headquarters.”
Q. Little over a week until you head to Luxembourg how are you and the squad feeling?
A. “We’re all excited but we know there’s a job to do. Progrès Neiderkorn are probably the toughest side we could be drawn against but there’s nothing we can do about that. We’ve been working for two weeks already and we’ve had a couple of warm up games where we’ve worked on different shapes so we’ll be doing our best to cause an upset.”
Q. It’s a two-legged affair how do you see your chances?
A. “Who knows, we’re away first so if we can keep it tight and get a result in Luxembourg and bring them back to Wales, who knows what we could do. They’ll be a strong side and we know it’s a big task but we also know the quality we have in the group so we’ll see.”
Q. I don’t speak for you, but this qualification must be the highlight of your football career, where do you go from here what is your future in this sport?
A. “It’s been amazing and to do it with a group of boys that aren’t just team mates but friends has made it even sweeter. I want to play for as many years as my body lets me and play at the highest level that my ability lets me but my only focus for now is on these two European games.”
Q. Finally I know I will be fully supporting you through both legs and I imagine many neutral fans will be the same, how do you feel when your team are spoken about as representing all university sides and the inspiration for student footballers?
A. “It’s brilliant, we’re not just flying the flag for the club, but also for the University, the league, Cardiff as a city and Wales as well. It’s been great to draw some attention to student sport because there’s a lot of quality athletes across all sports both here at Cardiff Met and across student sport as a whole. Hopefully we can continue to make people proud over the next few weeks with our performances.”
Will told me beforehand that since their result things have been hectic with Journalist from across the world latching onto this brilliant story so can’t thank him enough for taking the time to answer my questions. One thing that strikes me about this interview is the acknowledgement from Will is that he is a student and yet is able to balance this with the fact that he is now a European footballer. The ability to balance that must be so hard and to keep a level head. As someone who loves and plays football with a group of people that you just see as your mates, and then you look at your arm and you see the Europa league badge must be the stuff of dreams.
The Archers, as they are known, are by no means favourites in this tie and the odds of them getting very far in the competition are very much stacked against them. But either way this team of students cannot lose. They have set a president not only in University football within the UK but also top-level football in Wales! The speed at which they have developed is astounding; from the firsts and seconds who played round the back of the Uni on a Sunday to a team playing in the Europa League within 19 years of the club’s inception. If other teams had the aspirations and will to improve as quickly as they have who knows how good they could be.
A shining light for Students and for Wales, so keep your eye on results from the 27th of June and the 4th of July because you never know what could happen! I wish Will and the rest of the team the best of luck for their tie and hopefully plenty of successful seasons to come!
Thanks for reading
You can find Europa League and Cardiff Met GK Will Fuller on Twitter: @willfuller1
You can find myself: @Cam_Deacon21