Wales manager Rhian Wilkinson on national pride, sports inequality and prospect of history

Sometimes football managers are just football managers.

But sometimes their responsibilities extend far beyond what they do on the touchline.

When you’re the manager of the Welsh national side, a significant part of the role is going up and down the country, spreading the gospel of Welsh football and inspiring youngsters.

For Rhian Wilkinson, this is not just a significant part of her role as manager of the women’s side, it’s part of the reason she wanted it.

One of three siblings, she was born in Canada to a Welsh mother and an English father. She spent a small part of her childhood growing up in Cowbridge, in the Vale of Glamorgan.

But the family moved back to Canada, in no small part due to the lack of sporting opportunities which were available specifically to Wilkinson and her sister.

It is not a decision that would have been taken lightly by her mum, Shan, a proud Welsh woman.

"My mum was very clear that we were Welsh, even though we are equally English!" Wilkinson says with a smile.

"She’s just a hugely passionate woman about her country.

"[Getting the job] felt very full circle for me, but also my family, because when I was a student in Cowbridge, the girls were not even participating in PE.

"I've been vocal about that because I think there are still a lot of schools in Wales where the girls are not given as many opportunities as the boys.

"I truly believe that my mother and father made the decision to move back to Canada, partially because of their daughters, knowing that we had already seen different opportunities in the Canadian athletic and school system.

"And then we were made to feel different from our brother in our school in Wales, which is not meant to be a dig - it's just where they were at that time. And I feel like this is a time where I can help change something that really affected my family.”

Upon moving back to Canada, Wilkinson’s interactions with the Land of her Mother were restricted to holidays to see her grandparents.

Beaches in Ogmore and Southerdown were firm favourites, along with Dunraven Castle.

"It felt so ancient, my history and that my people were from there - and the castles," she remembers warmly.

"It was such a different existence than the winter wonderland that is Canada, wonderful upbringing and life that I had there.

"I am Canadian, but I feel very connected to Wales because of those experiences."

Her parents’ decision paid off.

Wilkinson had an illustrious career as a player, representing Canada on more than 180 occasions before going into a career in coaching.

"There was no possibility for my mother to play sport," she continues.

"There was very little opportunity for me to play sport. And then I come back as the granddaughter who made a career in football, who won two Olympic medals.

"I don't think they would have even comprehended that I would be given this privilege now to be the manager of my country.

"But success in this moment for me is being able to put my players in the best possible position to create a moment in football history in Wales that will really impact change."

And so attention turns to the impending Euro play-off final against Ireland, played across two legs on 29 November and 3 December.

In her first campaign, Wilkinson is looking to lead Wales to a place they have never gone before: a major tournament.

To this point, their qualifying campaign has been near faultless. From the outside, there is a sense that this group of players has never been more ready to write their names into the history books.

"I think they will have had that same sense the last time," Wilkinson explained, two years after Wales went further than they had before in their major tournament bid, in a World Cup play-off final against Switzerland which saw the women in red defeated in the dying seconds of extra time.

"To be the first to do something is scary, but it's also exciting. This team is ready, but football is not fair.

"So the only thing that we can guarantee of ourselves or ask of ourselves is that we don't regret one thing and we give it everything.

"I've talked a lot in this preparation that we should be fearless because we have nothing to protect. We've never done it before, so there's nothing to be fearful of.

"The worst-case scenario is we are exactly where we are now and that will be disappointing.

"But this team has already done incredible things and is already leaving a lasting legacy of change in this country.

"The passion part is to not forget the shoulders that you stand on and the women that you're inspiring."

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