The Aberdare footballer who’s a hit in the Scottish Premiership
WELSH footballer Lee Lucas says his move to Scotland represents a fresh start – after 15 years at Swansea City ended following two serious injuries which kept him on the sidelines for two years.
Lucas, 24, a former Wales under-21s captain, has secured a deal with Scottish Premiership side Motherwell until January 2017, and came off the bench to make his debut against Hearts on Friday evening.
Originally from Aberdare, he joined Swansea City at the age of eight and spent 15 years there, until his contract came to an end over the summer.
Having impressed in a series of friendlies in preseason, he’s now earned a contract at the Fir Park club – hoping to leave his injury nightmare in South Wales.
He said: “I was pretty much out for two years through injury. I ruptured my ACL [anterior cruciate ligament] in a training session in 2014, and that put me out for seven months. And then in coming back from that, it happened again in a reserve game which saw me out for another year.
“It was more frustrating mentally than it was hard physically – I’d worked so hard in the gym for seven months only for it [the injury] to happen again straight away.
“My contract was up at the end of last season, and it was just a case of talking to clubs, and a few managers, in Scotland and England.
“My agent called one day to say there was an opportunity at Motherwell, and I drove up the next day.”
During pre-season the midfielder was given his chance by the Scottish club – and he said moving away from Swansea City, a club he’d played for since he was in primary school, was a “different” challenge.
“It was quite an extended trial – they obviously knew about my injuries,” he said. “I played in some friendlies and had a run of games having signed a contract to play in those, then I was given a deal until January.
“It’s different [than playing for Swansea City]. Only Ryan Giggs plays for one club, and I knew you have to be prepared to go away if you want to make a career in football.
“I’ve settled in now – they are a great bunch of boys up here – and I’m moving into a place later this week. My biggest ambition is to earn a first senior cap for Wales – at the moment I’m focusing on training well and playing games and getting a bit of momentum. And with that there’s the international set-up.”
And although his debut ended in a 3-1 defeat to Hearts, Lucas said he enjoyed his first Scottish Premiership appearance.
“It was a difficult game to come into – very fastpaced,” he added. “I came on because of an injury to someone else, in the 25th minute I think. I enjoyed it, and I think we deserved more out of the game.”
And, when he gets the time, Lucas still takes the opportunity to go home to the Cynon Valley and watch his friends play on the local pitches where he learned to play the game.
He added: “I still come home as much as I can. I’ve got my friends back there, and still go and watch local games in Aberdare and Aberaman with my dad.”