Wales Women: Not ready for qualification until Ludlow success

Ludlow stepped down as Wales manager in 2021, being replaced by Gemma Grainger, who became the country’s first full-time manager focused solely on the senior team.

Since then, the FAW has significantly increased its investment in women’s football and the women’s national team and has also agreed an equal pay agreement for female players to gain parity with their male counterparts.

“When I arrived there was certainly a movement towards investing in this and I would like to think over the last few years we have really gone further and further,” said current chief executive Noel Mooney.

“We treat women’s football as a start-up almost because historically there has been no such investment.

“Now we are investing a lot in this, I think we are one of the national federations that spend the most as a percentage of our turnover on the women’s team and we are very proud of this because it is deserved.

“We need to invest in high performance to qualify for Euros that we haven’t yet won, to qualify for World Cups that we haven’t yet won, that men have already had.

“They’ve had the investment, they’ve had the qualifications, the women haven’t done it yet and we need to invest heavily and invest well to make sure they have everything they need to make sure there are no excuses not to qualify for the Euros and the World Cups. of the World.”

Under current manager Rhian Wilkinson, Wales face Slovakia in two matches this month, the winners will face Georgia or the Republic of Ireland in the play-off final, a potential chance to qualify for their first major tournament , Euro 2025 in Switzerland next summer.

However, they will be without midfielder Sophie Ingle for the play-offs after she suffered a serious knee injury, while Ceri Holland and Jess Fishlock are doubts.

“I’d love to think they’ll make it this time,” Ludlow added.

“I think the stars are aligned in a lot of ways, but there are a lot of challenges.

“The development of UEFA’s perspective in recent years means more teams can qualify, so the system is very different.

“But although there are more qualified teams, there are more teams around the world and within UEFA who are also investing in women’s football.

“So while many years ago you would look at another smaller nation and follow, these should have been three easy points, that’s not necessarily the case today.

“International football is a challenge for any team you face and Rhian Wilkinson will know that and his team will know that.

“So sometimes you need a little luck.”