The funny reason Wales purposely mess up their team photo before every game
For more than ten years, the Wales national team has taken their pre-match squad photo in a quirky, uneven lineup. But why do they do it?
This odd photo style came up again before their Nations League game against Portugal, when Craig Bellamy’s team stood in front of the Estadio Jose Alvalade crowd in a purposely unusual formation. There was a big gap between captain Ben Davies and Jordan James, while David Brooks struck a classic Ashley Cole pose, leaving lots of space between himself and Neco Williams, who was crouched by Joe Allen.
It all started by chance. Back in 2016, Joe Ledley said the players weren’t very good at organizing themselves for team photos. Instead of trying to fix it, they decided to embrace the mess! After that, Wales went on a great run, including their amazing Euro 2016 campaign where they reached the semi-finals under coach Chris Coleman.
Because of that success, the strange photo tradition became a lucky charm for the team. “At first, we didn’t think much of it, but looking back at the photos, they were terrible,” Ledley said. “So, we just decided to keep it that way. We don’t practice it—we just chat and agree on how to do it. We’ll probably keep doing it since it seems to bring luck.”
In fact, Wales once took a photo using a “three at the back and eight up front” formation, like the one before their World Cup qualifier against Georgia in October 2016.
Recently, an injury-hit Wales lost 1-0 to Portugal, the defending champions, on Thursday night. Joao Felix’s deflected goal gave Portugal the win in Lisbon. Bellamy’s team nearly equalized late on, with Brennan Johnson coming close, but Portugal controlled much of the match.
After the game, Bellamy called it a “difficult” match and said, “We had to suffer a lot. I think that was the longest we’ve been without the ball. We could have done better with it, but I’m very proud. We’re missing a lot of players—that’s OK, we can manage it.”
He added, “Many players don’t get to play every week, so for them to bring that energy, you need a big heart. They’ve always shown that, and they did again.”
Wales will hope to bounce back with a win when they take on Denmark on Sunday, September 27.