Midfielder Joe Alen has finally spoke about his decision to quit playing international football for Wales with 74 caps underneath his belt.
The Pembrokeshire product, who in the early years played for Narberth and Ysgol Y Preseli at school, also Tenby juniors and Pembrokeshire Schools.
Went on to play for the Swansea City Academy before he secured in a first team place in the Swansea City when they played in the Premier League under then manager Brendan Rodgers. He also had spells at Liverpool and Stoke City before he returned to where it all started as he signed for the Swans who play in the Championship.
The 32-year-old had a successful career with Wales who reached the 2016 Euro Championships and 2023 World Cup staged at Qatar.
Shortly after the World Cup Allen announced his international retirement and he spoke with a lot of emotion about how proud and privileged to play for his country.
“The younger group of players that came through during maybe the difficult times, we did have the confidence and belief that we could improve things.
“Maybe it happened a lot quicker and we did even better than we probably imagined. I think every player, every staff member involved is really proud of it.
“It’s been an incredible journey, a privilege to be part of it and the way that we have young players coming through all the time, it’s a huge difference from the past and I think it bodes well for Welsh football in the future.
Speaking at the hard decision about retiring from international football Allen added: “It’s not something I didn’t take lightly. I gave it a huge amount of thought and time. You know it was a decision with a lot of emotion attached to it. As I said earlier, I think the time is right and I’m sad to finish but really, really honoured to have the Welsh career that I did.”