Cod Almighty | Article
by Dan Humphrey
2 September 2020
Their connections to the country may be thin, but nevertheless Grimsby have three Welsh-qualified players on their books
Congratulations to our own Harry Clifton on his most recent Wales under-21 call up, even though it means he'll miss Saturday's League Cup tie at home to Morecambe.
Our recent acquisition of full international winger George Williams means that we now have three Wales-qualified players on our books, although only Elliott Hewitt was born in Wales. Wales manager Ryan Giggs has spoken about his team needing at least two players for every position to cope with fixture congestion; perhaps he should be sending a scout along when we play Newport, or Salford if it's more convenient for him.
Incidentally, none of our Welsh trio has ever played for a Welsh club. But there is a current Town player who has played for both Newport and Cardiff. Any guesses, before I answer below? Nor are they exactly ancient- Hewitt in 26, Williams 24 and Clifton 22 - so there is no reason why they shouldn't win further caps. Clifton still qualifies for the under-21s as his birthday was in June, when Euro qualification was already under way.
In Clifton's absence on Saturday, how will Holloway fill the gap in the ranks without diluting the Mariners' celtic content. A tenuous option will be Alhagi Touray Sisay, the Catalan who came to us via Aberystwyth Town. Or we could bring coach Ben Davies out of retirement. Although he was born in Birmingham, Davies represented Wales in a semi-professional tournament when he played for Chester. As Cod Almighty's resident Welshman suggested some years ago, national identity is fluid, and Town are all the better for it.
*The Town player to have appeared for Cardiff and Newport is Matt Green.