Unknown Welshman in UEFA list of best player nominees

Little known Leslie Davies of Bangor City from the Welsh Premier League has earned a shock nomination for UEFA’s Player of the Year prize to be held in the middle of August. Davies, nicknamed ‘The Truck’, scored 16 goals in 31 appearances for the Citizens during the 2011-2012 season but his name in the 32-player long list has come as a shock to the footballing fraternity. The 27-year old has played for the Welsh U-21 side but has not featured in any club outside his homeland. The player has no Wikipedia page for himself and had played for clubs such as Caernarfon Town and CPD Porthmadog before joining Bangor City.

When enquired about the shock inclusion of Davies, UEFA explained the voting process, “A jury of journalists from each of UEFA’s 53 member associations has provided a list of their best-ranked players. The players are ordered from one to five, with the first receiving five points, the second four points and so on. On 14 August, UEFA.com will reveal the three players with the most points overall from the first round of voting. They will then proceed to the live vote in Monaco when the same journalists will use an electronic system to determine the winner from the three candidates.”

So now the picture gets clearer as to how the semi-pro Leslie Davies displaying his football skills in front of 3000 passionate Bangor City fans at Nantporth ended up rubbing his shoulders with the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mario Balotelli, Robin van Persie and others. The patriotic Welsh journalists are behind this shock inclusion using their votes to push one of their own at the centre of European club folklore. This is some story if you are a Welsh fan.

The complete list includes some of the most coveted names in European football. This is a wonderful commitment shown on the part of UEFA under the leadership of Michel Platini to bring smaller clubs and their players to the forefront of European football and the Frenchman carries on his initiative to bridge the gap between Europe’s rich and poor. Although it is highly unlikely to even think of Davies making at the top of the awards ceremony in Monaco come August, this in itself is a moment to cherish and hats off to UEFA and of course the Welsh journalists and congratulations to Leslie Davies. Now he will surely have a Wikipedia page, isn’t it?

The 32-player long list is as follows:

Sergio Agüero (ARG) – Manchester City

Xabi Alonso (ESP) – Real Madrid

Mario Balotelli (ITA) – Manchester City

Jakub B?aszczykowski (POL) – Borussia Dortmund

Gianluigi Buffon (ITA) – Juventus

Iker Casillas (ESP) – Real Madrid

Petr Cech (CZE) – Chelsea

Fabio Coentrao (POR) – Real Madrid

Leslie Davies (WAL) – Bangor City

Didier Drogba (CIV) – Chelsea (now at Shanghai Shenhua)

Cesc Fabregas (ESP) – Barcelona