‘Back then I’d have been surprised that it would take another 60 years for us to play at the World Cup’
As Wales today prepare for their first match in the 2022 World Cup, Wales legend Cliff Jones sat down for an exclusive chat with Tom Coleman to look at that historic World Cup campaign 64 years ago...
“CONSIDERING it’s been out for about four hours, it still looks pretty good.”
Despite everyone and everything, the buffet for the gathered media is still here.
Every now and then a voice muffled by damp, cold pork pie tries to splutter their way through an opinion on whether or not Ollie Cooper has done enough to warrant a place on the plane. Whether Gareth Bale still has that sprinkling of star dust. Whether taking Jonny Williams and Chris Gunter is really a good idea.
The debates are admittedly pretty surface level. Clearly getting in the way of the serious business of refuelling ahead of the next chapter of what’s become a long and, for some, an emotionally-charged day in the Rhondda.
A pool table smeared in lettuce and half-eaten sandwiches isn’t the sort of setting I really had in mind ahead of meeting a legend of the game, but luckily Cliff Jones seems at ease when he eventually arrives, slaloming his way through a gauntlet of admiring handshakes and approving messages, proudly donning his black Wales tracksuit top.
A downstairs room at Tylorstown Welfare Hall feels a million miles away from the titanic setting of New York’s iconic Empire State building where, at the time of our sit down, USA boss Gregg Berhalter is hours away from naming the squad he hopes will burst the bubble of pride that’s been steadily swelling under Rob Page’s watch.
The building itself is lit up in a fiery red, burning like a Tolkien-esque beacon next to the comparatively indifferent Mayfair chip shop. Members of the Red Wall young and old patiently shuffle their way inside, eager to be a part of history. The modest surroundings seemingly enhancing, rather than holding back, any enthusiasm.
Cliff, one of only four surviving members of the last Wales squad to grace a World Cup, is no different: “I just love talking about Wales,” he says with a wry smile. “I’m very proud to have represented my country.”
But, while Cliff’s boundless enthusiasm remains unblemished by his advancing years, it’s obvious the Wales team he played for was lightyears away from the class of 2022.
Back then, squad announcements were done by letter rather than on social media, with a couple of tickets often thrown in to sweeten the deal. Even training facilities were nowhere near the levels of sophistication enjoyed by Bale and co.
“When we went to the World Cup, we stopped in a hotel in London and we actually did some of our training over in Hyde Park. On one particular day we were doing a five-a-side and some ball skills and two park keepers came over and chased us off the park. You weren’t allowed to play ball games there, they pointed to the sign.
“So that was it, we were sent off and had to find somewhere else to train then! I don’t think that’s going to happen with Rob Page and the team today.”
Welsh preparations, while already basic, admittedly weren’t helped by what was something of a whirlwind of a qualification process. Israel had advanced through the Asian and African qualifying zone without playing a single game after Turkey, Indonesia and Sudan all pulled out, so Fifa decided to pair them with a team from Europe for a place in the World Cup.
Belgium were initially chosen but, again, rejected the chance to play the Israelis, with Wales the next team out the hat. On January 15, 1958, they flew out to Israel’s Ramat Gan Stadium.
“They were very intense games,” Cliff says. “We were very fortunate to be drawn out against Israel. For political reasons, teams had refused to play Israel. So we were pulled out of the hat and we were very fortunate because we went over to Israel and we beat them 2-0.”
Cliff admits he remembers very little of that game, although he does remember that it was played in pretty sweltering conditions. In any case, what’s for definite was that Wales headed back to Cardiff with a solid advantage heading into the second leg.
It was the first time Wales had won a match outside the United Kingdom and, with the prospect of a World Cup drawing ever closer, they pinned their hopes on one man in particular.
“John Charles was one of the greatest players ever,” Cliff says, clearly still in some level of awe at the forward’s ability. “He took Italy by storm with Juventus.
“They called him the Gentle Giant, but you wouldn’t mess with John Charles. At 6ft 3, he weighed something like 14 and a half stone, but he played like a featherweight. Just so skilful. But if he was ever upset, he could easily become quite an aggressive character. There were one or two players who lived to tell the tale about that!
“I think there was some sort of doubt over whether Juventus would let him come to the World Cup. There was some negotiating behind the scenes between the Welsh FA and Juventus. John did arrive at the hotel the Hyde Park and the Welsh selectors, all lovely people, most of them from north Wales, they all stood up and sang ‘For he’s a jolly good fellow’.
“John was here. That’s something that would never happen now. He was, for me, the best Welsh player of all time. I remember he took a team of players over to play charity games in Italy. One of them, there were 50,000 people there.
“When John came out, they all stood up and started chanting his name. ‘CHAR-LES, CHAR-LES’. 50,000 people all singing it.
“That was just a charity game, but that’s the effect he had on people and the supporters of Juventus. They just loved him and he was a special player.
“People always used to ask what his best position was. Centre-forward or centre-half. I’ve always said I don’t know what his best position was, but he’s the best centre-forward I’ve ever seen. He’s the best centre-half I’ve ever seen. He was just pure class... but you daren’t upset him.”
Charles might have been the headline act, but boss Jimmy Murphy was also a vital influence inside the dressing room, providing a steady presence throughout the twists and turns that were to come, despite balancing his role with his position as assistant to Sir Matt Busby at Manchester United.
After winning in Israel, the second leg in Cardiff presented Murphy with a dilemma. The biggest game in Welsh footballing history coincided with United’s clash with Red Star Belgrade in the European Cup. Murphy, a fiercely proud Welshman, decided to stay. It was a decision that may well have saved his life.
As Wales booked their place in the World Cup with a win at Ninian Park, the plane carrying Manchester United’s squad crashed while attempting to take off from a runway in Munich. Twenty-three people lost their lives and the incident cut a deep scar into the club, and perhaps Murphy himself, who was tasked with taking interim charge while Busby was recovering in hospital.
“He held that United team together,” Cliff says. “He managed the team while Sir Matt was struggling to get himself fit again. He did a fantastic job and he did it because he was a very enthusiastic character and he got that across to the players.”
But, while Murphy’s attention was divided, he clearly had a great knack for motivating a Wales side keen to impress on the world’s biggest stage: “He had his ways of managing teams and believed in a very physical way of doing things,” Cliff explains.
“That’s what he liked to see from the teams he coached. For him, he’d say representing your country is the biggest honour that any player can get. You’ve got it, so you’ve got to go out and prove yourself now. His team talks were very rousing, although some were a bit provocative, but it worked for us.”
When pressed on why exactly they were provocative, Cliff hesitates a little, seemingly glancing over to his wife Joan for approval.
“Well... he would basically tells us to kick the s*** out of them.”
Murphy’s powers of motivation helped guide Wales through the group stages and perhaps helped keep some colourful characters in check.
Well, almost.
Colin Webster, who himself would have been on that fateful flight from Munich were he not suffering from flu, was one of the more larger-thanlife characters in that dressing room. During their time in Sweden, Webster, along with Cardiff City goalkeeper Jack Kelsey and John Charles, decided to take a stroll down the quayside in Saltsjobaden, where they were based.
On a whim, they hired a boat for around 10 kroner an hour.
Long story short, the pair went full throttle out to sea and narrowly missed a yacht by a matter of inches, before the engine cut out. Kelsey was then forced to row the presumably despondent crew ashore.
“Colin Webster was a smashing lad,” Cliff remembers. “I don’t want to say too much about Colin because it doesn’t really show him as the person he was. He did have a very vicious temper. Sometimes that got the better of him.”
Case in point – a fiery group game against Mexico. Webster lunged into an early tackle on Miguel Gutierrez right in front of the Mexican fans, who were reportedly so incensed they tried to invade the field and chase Webster down the touchline.
When order was restored, the story goes that Webster was moved into a more central position in an apparent attempt to minimise any further altercations between him and the opposition crowd.
“He upset all the fans,” Cliff jokes. “He upset the opposition. But off the pitch he was a totally different character. A really nice lad.”
I soon realise that Cliff isn’t going to dish out any juicy gossip on his teammates. Perhaps it’s out of respect. He mentions the level of togetherness in the dressing room on three separate occasions and I wonder if that bond is still there.
There’s one man Cliff has no trouble talking about, however.
“The game I remember most was against Brazil in the quarter-finals, perhaps just for one reason. Pele. Nobody had heard of him before that. Garrincha, Didi, Vava, we’d heard of those players, but not Pele.
“I can remember him picking the ball up in his own half and he’s gone past three Welsh defenders, smashed the ball towards goal, Jack Kelsey’s
had to tip it over the bar and we’re all looking around at each other like, ‘Who is this kid? Who is he?’
“Nobody had heard of him, but my word they were going to. In that World Cup he showed everybody what a great player he was.
“I always say he’s the greatest player the game has ever seen. In many ways it was a privilege to see the emergence of such a player.”
A star was born, as the 17-year-old stepped over Wales and into the limelight, netting the only goal of a game that, for him, would become a mere footnote in an illustrious career.
Wales, in contrast, were cast out into the wilderness and Cliff admits he can’t quite believe it’s taken this long for his country return to world football’s top table.
“I think back then I would have been surprised that it would have taken another 60 years for Wales to play at another World Cup, but I’m sure the boys this time around will give a good account of themselves.
“The strength of a good Welsh team is togetherness off the field, which they’ll take on the field and there’s a connection there. That’s what worked for us. We all got on with each other. We were a team.
“We’ve some outstanding players this time around. Gareth Bale, for instance. Is there a better player at the World Cup? I don’t think so. Then there’s others like Ben Davies, who’s an experienced skilful defender.”
Some will understandably be unable to bring themselves to thing about it, but it’s difficult for any Welsh fan to plot a route to the knockout stages without thinking about the old enemy, England. Cliff, more than most, knows a thing or two about beating the folks across the Severn.
In only his second ever international appearance, he tasted one of his finest ever moments in a Wales shirt, netting the winner in a 1955 Home Nations Championship clash against the Three Lions at Ninian Park.
“We always played against England and that was the team you wanted to beat. For whatever reason, it was bred into us that you always had to beat England. To do that. To be in the team that did it. It was just great.
“The game at Ninian Park, I always remember the noise from the Canton End. To score the winning goal against them will always stay with me. To beat that England team with Tom Finney, Stanley Matthews, as a lad from Swansea was brilliant.
“That was on the Saturday. On the Monday, I was serving a five-year apprenticeship as a sheet metal worker. After scoring the winning goal against England at Ninian Park in front of 60,000 Welsh fans, I clocked on at Prince of Wales drydock at half seven in the morning and everyone was cheering.
“I met my foreman at about half seven in the morning. He said, ‘Well done for Saturday, Cliff. Now... here’s your tools, you’ve got proper work to do’.”