Football

Footballers born in Swansea have won more Wales caps than any other birthplace

Published

4 months ago

16th November 2022

Editor

Swansea is the most successful birthplace of Wales footballers. That’s according to new research conducted by Barratt Homes ahead of the opening game of the FIFA World Cup on November 20^th.

Research conducted by Barratt Homes has analysed the birthplace of over 3,000 footballers who have played for the home nations, to reveal which cities and towns are the leading hotspots for Wales footballers.

Swansea has been revealed as one of the most prominent places for producing footballers who have gone on to be capped by the Welsh national team.

The 47 Wales internationals who were born in Swansea have won 942 caps for the national team, the highest total for any town or city.

Players born in Swansea have won the most Wales caps

	Birthplace	Total Number of Wales Caps
1	Swansea	942
2	Cardiff	866
3	Wrexham	468
4	Newport	349
5	Neath	307
6	Llandudno	190
7	Bangor	188
8	St Asaph	183
9	Chirk	171
10	Merthyr Tydfil	169

Birthplaces were categorised into towns/cities, boroughs/districts, counties, and regions to provide like-for-like comparisons based on the size of each birthplace.

Although both Wrexham and Cardiff can claim to be the birthplace of more Wales internationals, the 47 players born in Swansea have been capped by the national team a total of 942 times, an unmatched total by any other town or city.

The most capped player from Swansea is Dean Saunders (pictured top left) with 75. Ivor Allchurch (pictured top centre) with 68, Andy Melville (pictured top right) with 65, Cliff Jones (59), Leighton James (54) and John Hartson (51) have all won 50+ caps for the Welsh national team.

Chris Coleman who won 32 caps and famously led Wales to the semi-finals of the 2016 European Championships was also born in Swansea.

The 47 players born in Swansea are:

Dean Saunders – 75 caps
Ivor Allchurch – 68 caps
Andy Melville – 65 caps
Cliff Jones – 59 caps
Leighton James – 54 caps
John Hartson – 51 caps
Robbie James – 47 caps
Jack Kelsey – 41 caps
John Charles – 38 caps
Trevor Ford – 38 caps
Gary Sprake – 37 caps
Chris Coleman – 32 caps
Mel Charles – 31 caps
Barrie Hole – 30 caps
Terry Medwin – 30 caps
Joe Rodon – 30 caps
Ray Daniel – 21 caps
Jeremy Charles – 19 caps
Jeff Hopkins – 16 caps
Barrie Jones – 15 caps
Adam Matthews – 14 caps
Richard Duffy – 13 caps
Jazz Richards – 13 caps
Mel Nurse – 12 caps
Len Allchurch – 11 caps
John Morgan – 10 caps
Billy Hole – 9 caps
Pat Glover – 7 caps
Chris Marustik – 6 caps
Steve Lovell – 6 caps
Bill Harris – 6 caps
Wilf Lewis – 6 caps
Mark Harris – 5 caps
Shaun MacDonald – 4 caps
Nigel Stevenson – 4 caps
Ernie Jones – 4 caps
Herbie Williams – 3 caps
Des Palmer – 3 caps
Dudley Lewis – 1 cap
Cyril Davies – 1 cap
Roy Evans – 1 cap
Michael Johnson – 1 cap
Vic Rouse – 1 cap
Harry Griffiths – 1 cap
Jack Parry – 1 cap
Jackie Roberts – 1 cap
Harry Thomas – 1 cap

Swansea has produced the third highest number of Wales footballers

	Birthplace	Players To Play for Wales
=1	Wrexham	49
=1	Cardiff	49
3	Swansea	47
4	Merthyr Tydfil	16
5	Newport	15
6	Chirk	13
7	Neath	11
=8	Bangor	10
=8	Llandudno	10
=8	Oswestry	10

Birthplaces were categorised into towns/cities, boroughs/districts, counties, and regions to provide like-for-like comparisons based on the size of each birthplace.

47 players born in Swansea have been capped by the Welsh national team. This is the third highest total for any town or city, behind only Wrexham and Cardiff (both 49).

Despite 2022 being only Wales’ second appearance at a World Cup, 19% of the 47 players born in Swansea have represented Wales on the biggest stage, with Joe Rodon and Mark Harris set to become the eighth and ninth this year.