Northern lites

UNDER-19 EUROS

You didn’t have to travel all the way to the US to watch Spain coast to an international trophy this summer. The same experience was also available in north Wales as the finals of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship descended on the region for two weeks.

Beyond the eventual champions comparisons between this and FIFA’s World Cup are minimal – Caernarfon is no Kansas, Denbigh no Dallas – and while 48 teams toiled away in North America, only eight made the cut here. Among them, for the first time, were Wales, fast-tracked to the finals as hosts and faced with the daunting task of a group containing Spain, Germany and Denmark.

It played out pretty much as expected for Chris Gunter’s side – three defeats from three that began with a 7-0 humbling from the eventual champions. It was a result that not only dented confidence, but also impacted local appetite for the tournament, with little over 1,500 fans rattling round Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground for the hosts’ second game, a 4-0 defeat to Germany.

It’s not that Wales were bad, more that their opponents were operating on a different level. Ollie Bostock and Cruz Allen, who have enjoyed Championship game time with West Brom and Derby, were Wales’ standout players, but that was never going to be enough to overcome a Spanish side whose star men – José Antonio Morante, Xavi Espart and Thiago Pitarch – feature in the first teams at Betis, Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively. By contrast, full-back Jac Thomas, another of Wales’ most impressive performers, ended last season on loan at Merthyr.

But then for Wales, hosting was about much more than what happened on the field. Two of the four match venues, Denbigh Town’s Central Park and Caernarfon Town’s Oval (Bangor City 1876’s Nantporth made up the quartet), saw big investment ahead of the tournament.

The Oval in particular had its notorious sloping field levelled as well as a new stand and new changing rooms constructed – a £1 million-plus project that has already enabled Caernarfon to host their first UEFA Conference League match at their own ground. Second-tier Denbigh meanwhile have welcomed a new gantry, new dugouts, two new stands and a clubhouse which club official Ollie Beech described to the BBC as “the crown jewel of Denbigh”. One in the eye for the castle and town walls.

There were boosts too for clubs selected to serve as training venues for the competing nations. Ruthin Town benefited from a brand new playing surface, while additional pitch support and equipment was provided for Rhyl, Buckley Town, Brickfield Rangers, Colwyn Bay and Penmaenmawr Phoenix. At Phoenix, the only third-tier venue used, the tournament earned a particularly warm embrace, with the club’s junior sides and MP Claire Hughes descending on a training session to introduce the Serbian squad to barra brith and Welsh cakes.

The Serbs’ subsequent performance suggests they may have become a little too fond of the local delicacies, losing all three of their Group B matches to Italy, Croatia and Ukraine. The Ukrainianswere the group’s standout team. Noisily backed by their UK diaspora – with particular love for Peterborough’s Patryk Sykut – they racked up three wins, including a 1-0 victory over Italy, that opened the door for Croatia to take the second semi-final slot.

In the semis Ukraine gave Germany a real test with the latter needing a late Francis Onyeka goal to set up a final with Spain; a rematch of a group game which the Spanish had won 4-0 in front of a stadium record crowd at Denbigh one week earlier. The final at the Racecourse was a closer affair, but goals from Hugo López and defender Mario Rivas secured a deserved title for a Spain side who not only excelled in pos - session, but also didn’t concede a single goal across their five games. Even though crowds in Wrexham underwhelmed as much as the Welsh team performance, UEFA officialdom left big sections of small stadiums at Caernarfon and Denbigh closed off to supporters and I didn’t once witness 25 identically tracksuited teenagers looking bored on Llandudno prom - enade, the Football Association of Wales can still chalk these finals up as a success. Not least because in paying little more than a tenner to watch remarkably talented footballers up close at no point did I feel I was being extorted. And few who saw Spain lift their other football trophy in New York this summer can say that. Glen Wilson