Former New Saints defender Connell Rawlinson has said more players from the Cymru Premier should be given opportunities to impress at a higher level.
Rawlinson, 29, spent eight successful years with the Saints, where he was a seven-time Cymru Premier title-winner and four-time Welsh Cup champion.
Since leaving Park Hall in 2018, the centre-back has proven his worth during a spell at League Two outfit Port Vale and his current club, Notts County of the National League.
Having had first-hand experience of making the move from the Cymru Premier to the English system, Rawlinson believes his route is one that could become more common.
“I keep quite a close eye on the league at the minute and there’s a lot of young players and even senior players that play in the division that deserve the chance to try and step up and make it in higher divisions,” Rawlinson insisted.
“There are so many good players in the Cymru Premier and has been over the years that kind of get looked over with the stigma that they had in the league.
Embed from Getty Images“I’d like to think, in the modern day, the likes of me, Scott Quigley, Sam Finley, lads who have come away from the league have gone on to have quite successful careers after playing in the Cymru Leagues. Craig Jones is another that springs to mind.
“I’d like to take that stigma away from the league and show that there’s so many good players are in that pond of Welsh football that, given the chance, they go on to have very successful careers in other divisions.
“I think it’s just the fact that people like to stick to what they know, not so much the stigma of the league because the league’s got so competitive and so much better over the years from when I first signed in it.
“The scouting system in England, you see a lot of players going from club to club and passed around, especially in the lower divisions. Go and try something new, go and venture out and spread your wings in other leagues like the Welsh league and the Irish League, the lower leagues in Scotland to find that hidden gem if you will.”
Embed from Getty ImagesAnother success story of a former The New Saints centre-back is Swansea City and Wales defender Ben Cabango.
The 20 year-old had a positive loan spell at Park Hall in the 2018-2019 season and has since found regular first-team football in the Championship.
The likes of George Ratcliffe and Sam Bowen have also made good impressions during recent loan spells in Wales’ top flight.
Connell Rawlinson believes the Cymru Premier can provide invaluable experience to young players coming through.
“I think it’s a league with a man’s game there,” he insisted.
“It’s sometimes hard when you’re a young pro at these top clubs, the likes of maybe Cardiff and Swansea, but you don’t even have to just say the Welsh clubs, you could say any club that play in the Premier League or the Championship in the English pyramid.
“It’s a great thing to go and play men’s football. There’s so many good players out there, you play under 23’s football and before you know it, you can’t play under 23’s and you haven’t really experienced the men’s game.
“For me personally, the quicker you can go out and get that experience of playing with men, playing with physically stronger people than you, it will only stand you in good stead.
“Like I say, I keep a close eye on TNS all the time and with Ben Cabango, he went there, all of a sudden, had a good season at TNS and he’s now playing quite regular for Swansea in the Championship.
“It just goes to show that if you play week-in and week-out for TNS and you go back to your parent club and you’re playing week-in week-out there, it just goes to show it can be used as a good catalyst to progress with your parent club.”
Embed from Getty ImagesHaving initially come through the ranks at Chester City, Rawlinson joined The New Saints in 2010 and enjoyed a highly successful time at the club.
Making a total of 142 Cymru Premier appearances, with nine goals to his name and 16 pieces of silverware, the defender holds his time at Park Hall in high regard.
“It was a great time for me,” he said. “I have some really fond memories of my time that I spent at The New Saints.
“It was great to win the Cymru Premier so many times and other competitions, the Welsh Cup was one of my favourites as well.
“It was just a great opportunity and as much as it sounds funny, when you leave the likes of TNS, you’re that used to winning so I always say that I look back and it was so enjoyable to be a part of a great team, a couple of great teams over the years there.
“If it wasn’t for the league and TNS taking me in at such a young age, I could have easily fell out of the professional game.
“For me, I learned an awful lot under a very good manager in Craig Harrison and under another good manager in Scott Ruscoe towards the end of my career at The New Saints and even looking back, the amount of experience I learned from the likes of Steve Evans, who’s now the assistant manager, I owe an awful lot to these players. Pip Baker was another one, these are legends of the Cymru Premier and I learned an awful lot.
“I’m very grateful to the league and to The New Saints for giving me that platform to learn and progress.”
During his time at The New Saints, Rawlinson was captain of the Wales C side, managed by Mark Jones.
The Wrexham-born defender values the experience of captaining his country very highly and feels it was paramount in making the step to the English pyramid.
“I think looking back at all my time in the Cymru Premier, that was the pinnacle for me,” he insisted.
“I remember Mark Jones giving me the armband before the game and it did a lot for me, it kind of propelled me into the shop window, which my move came off the back of, to Port Vale in the end and I just remember walking out with the armband.
“I had played with a lot of those lads for many years and against each other in the league as well. It was just a nice moment to captain your country and it was a massive shop-window for me personally and propelled me into the English system.”
After picking up every piece of silverware available in the Cymru Premier as an integral part of The New Saints’ defence, Rawlinson felt the end of the 2017-2018 title-winning season was the “perfect time” to depart.
The defender joined League Two outfit Port Vale, managed by Neil Aspin, who gave Rawlinson the opportunity to test himself in the Football League.
“I think I was at that age where I had achieved everything I could at that level and I wanted to go and test myself at a different level with a different challenge. It was the perfect time for me to leave when I did,” he acknowledged.
“Speaking with my agent, I was coming to the end of my contract and I was saying that I wanted a new challenge, I need to get that nervous energy before games and test myself with something I didn’t know.
“I wanted to see if I could make the step up to the English pyramid. There was interest from a couple of Football League clubs, interest from a couple of National League clubs.
“I just remember going and speaking with Neil Aspin at the time, who was the manager there. He sat me down and said we think you’re great, we’re looking for a centre-half, we’re willing to give you the opportunity to come in and see what you’ve got and there’s the contract. I was ready for that challenge.
“I thought it was a good fit for me at the time, Port Vale are a massive Football League club with great history and I’ll always be very thankful to Neil Aspin for putting his faith in me.”
Embed from Getty ImagesAfter making 32 appearances in his first season for the Valiants, Rawlinson has since signed for National League side Notts County.
Impressing in his first year at the club, the Magpies narrowly missed out on promotion back to the Football League, losing in the play-off final to Harrogate Town.
The former Saint says he has enjoyed his time so far at Meadow Lane, as the defender targets promotion back to League Two at the end of this season.
“When the opportunity arose for me to sign there, it was a no-brainer,” he said. “They had just come out of the Football League and I spoke to the manager and I just clicked with him straight away.
“The style of play is very similar to the style that The New Saints was and I love playing that way, total football. It’s a massive club, the facilities are great and I just went there and went from strength to strength.
“Last season, in my first season there, I managed to get the fans and players’ player of the season and we narrowly missed out on promotion straight back to the Football League through the play-offs.
“It was a bit disappointing that the season got cut short, we were on a great run of form, chasing down the likes of Barrow and Harrogate. Looking back, it was a great season but obviously, not getting promoted and the loss at Wembley will always play on the back of your mind.
“But hopefully this season, we can go on another good run, we’re doing steadily at the minute and still plenty of games to go. We’re looking to win that promotion back this year, whether that’s by winning the league or another trip to Wembley, hopefully we can do what we wanted to do last year and go that step further.”
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