'This is Welsh Football'
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
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The commitment to grassroots football was highlighted at a unique photo exhibition in the Welsh capital.
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Welsh grassroots football is set to share the limelight with some of the most iconic moments in European Cup history thanks to a special exhibition at the UEFA Champions Gallery.
Held this year at the iconic Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, the UEFA Champions Gallery has become a popular annual feature of the UEFA Champions Festival, taking visitors on a photographic journey through the last 61 years of Europe's premier club competition.
Ahead of the 2017 final, the UEFA Champions Gallery showcases images of grassroots football in Wales, chosen from submissions to the 'This is Welsh Football' photo competition held earlier this year. Organised by UEFA and the Football Association of Wales (FAW), the competition offered the prize of UEFA Champions League final tickets and a range of photographic equipment to the winners.
Ian Rush, and Jayne Ludlow, ambassadors of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Women's Champions League finals, selected the four lucky winners:
Category: Off the pitch
Over-16: Keivan Edwards
Under-16: Craig Rattenbury
Category: On the pitch
Over-16: Will Cheshire
Under-16: Garry Taylor
Ian Rush
"Every picture tells a different story, and some of the winners there were incredible. It definitely brings back memories of when I was a kid, even putting the nets up and taking the nets down and things like that. I think you don't appreciate the people who do that: they're the unsung heroes."
Jayne Ludlow
"I think there's a few examples down there now this evening, but one jumped out at me straight away, because it actually highlights lots of things that we are trying to bring together with the identity of the female game in Wales. So for me, a picture says a thousand words."