Which Welsh Players Are Considered the Best?

In Wales, football is the most popular sport. The Welsh have a deep passion for the game, and have produced some of the finest players. Indeed, many Welshmen have been elevated to the status of “best of their generation.” In this article, we would like to discuss some of these players, and what made them so great.

Ryan Giggs
We can’t talk about the best Welsh players without discussing Ryan Giggs. Many view Giggs as not just the best player of his time, but the best Welsh player of all time. While we will not make those kinds of generalized remarks, to deny Giggs’ brilliance would be ludicrous.
Ryan Giggs served Manchester United for the entirety of his career. During his time with the club, United was widely considered the best English club, with most football betting enthusiasts putting a lot of stock on the team.

Nowadays, Manchester United has lost a lot of credibility, both among fans and bettors. Sportsbooks that focus primarily on football betting don’t view them as potential top dogs, and the club has fallen off quite a bit. However, for a long time, they stood atop the English football world.
Giggs, however, did not just play for United. He was also a member of the Welsh national team. During his tenure with that team, he played against some of the most notable players of his generation, including David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, and Gary Neville.

In 2012, Giggs got the chance to represent Great Britain at the Summer Olympics football tournament. At age 38, he showed that he still has what it takes, becoming the oldest goalscorer in the Summer Olympics, a title previously held by Egypt’s Hussein Hegazi.

Dai Davies
All too often goalkeepers get past up in discussions of greatest players. Though people like Lev Yashin or Iker Casillas are legendary in the world of football, their popularity does not come close to that of Pele, Maradona, or Cruyff. Unfairly so, as the goalie is the last line of defense in the world of football.
That is why, we would like to go over William David Davies, or Dai Davies. Wales’ best-known and most accomplished goalie. Davies made 52 appearances for the Welsh National Team, the first of which was against Hungary. Most Welsh fans remember him as one of the best goalies that the team had ever seen.

Ian Rush
Between the 1980s and 2000s, Ian Rush was the superstar of the Welsh football world. A proficient striker, many considered him the best of his generation. And that is saying a lot, considering the competition at the time.

Rush’s club career is mostly associated with Liverpool, for whom he is the all-time leading goalscorer to this day. Throughout his time with the Reds, he scored over 340 goals across a number of competitions. Rush also played at Juventus for a brief period of two years.

Internationally, Ian Rush represented Wales at several different friendlies. Sadly, he never had the opportunity to show his skill in a major tournament. However, he managed to shine internationally, scoring two hat-tricks against the Faroe Islands, and scoring the winning goal in 1991 at the Euro 1992 qualifier game against Germany.