Bala Town’s Paul Rutherford has praised the setup of the Cymru Premier since joining Wales’ top-flight in the summer.
The winger signed for the Lakesiders from National League outfit Wrexham, where he made over 200 appearances.
Since arriving in the Cymru Premier, Rutherford has featured regularly for Bala and has been a huge asset to the club.
The 34-year-old expressed that he has highly valued the experience of playing for the Lakesiders so far.
“It’s been really good. I get the sense about a lot of the clubs in the league that it is a community.
“A lot of the clubs know each other really well and the players know each other well, which is probably down to playing each other regularly.
“It’s been a good experience for me. It’s everything that I thought it would be. The lads are all great, teammates and opposition. You learn a lot about different people, how they’ve balanced their work and football life, which means that you gain a lot of respect for people from that.”
Prior to signing for Wrexham, Rutherford played for the likes of Chester City, Barrow and Southport.
The winger was highly regarded at the Racecourse for his work rate and dedication during his five years of service.
With a great deal of National League experience under his belt, the winger conveyed that the number of full-time teams has been the biggest change.
“I think they’re different. The National League is a higher standard due to the infrastructure of the league. Over the last six or seven years, about 90% of clubs in the National League have been full-time, I think there’s only two or three that aren’t, that has a big bearing.
“This season, TNS have been clear at the top, which is probably down to being full-time, the fitness levels and the sharpness that it creates.
“At Bala, we’ve got a good setup in terms of the fitness side of things, the information the manager gets to us and the fitness work we do at home, but ultimately, football sharpness is different, which is probably the big difference between the two levels from doing something every day compared to once or twice a week.
“That’s not a negative, it’s what makes this league special. You gain a lot of respect for people when you understand the work-life balance that they create. It’s a credit to them that they manage to get to the levels they do with the standards and professionalism in the league when there’s less contact time. It’s a credit to the league that it’s managed to do that.”
In the Cymru Premier this season, there have been a number of players to catch the eye.
The likes of The New Saints’ Declan McManus, who leads the top scorers chart with 21 goals to his tally, has notably stood out.
Rutherford’s teammate at Bala, Chris Venables, is another whose goalscoring record has been hugely impressive in recent campaigns.
In his opening few months of competing in Wales’ top-flight, the Lakesiders’ summer recruit insisted that the league has quality.
“There’s definitely good players, good teams and strong opponents. A lot of things are filtering into the league in terms of how they prepare, how they go about the tactical side of the game.
“Players have to balance their work careers and family life with football and that’s where the league has found a special quality. The level of commitment and sacrifice, not only the players, but the chairmen, the managers, the staff, they all put it in so much even though a lot of people work full-time jobs.
“I’m a big believer that you become a product of your environment. I think a lot of people in the league have adapted their lifestyle and are thriving from it. To use Chris Venables as an example, he’s a brilliant player and his numbers speak for himself over the years, but it’s probably suited his life to be part-time because of his successful career outside of football. Had it not been for that, he may have played at a higher level, but it’s suited his life to have the career that he’s chosen to have.”
In recent seasons, the Cymru Premier has also seen talented players move onto higher levels.
The likes of Priestley Farquharson and James Waite have impressed for Newport County, while right-back Macauley Southam-Hales was picked up from Barry Town United.
Having faced Southam-Hales against Stockport County in the National League last season, Rutherford acknowledged that the league can be a huge platform for talented, up and coming, players.
“I was really impressed with him when we played against Stockport last year, he’s an absolute racehorse. Jordan Davies is another one at Wrexham, who had a successful loan spell at Bangor a few years ago, that’s what gave him the platform to move to Brighton.
“It’s a league that if you are performing well, there is potential and a platform to move onto the higher echelons of the game. There will also be stories of players that have turned down the opportunity because it doesn’t suit their life and work, so there are definitely talented lads in this division that have had to make a choice.
“It’s a good platform to go and perform, people with good networks watch the games all the time. There’s definitely talent there. We played TNS recently and there’s a few of them that could comfortably play in the National League.”
One of Rutherford’s teammates at Bala Town this season has been fellow summer recruit David Edwards.
The former Wales international, who made 43 caps for his country, is one of two players from Wales’ Euro 2016 squad to play in the Cymru Premier, along with Jazz Richards at Haverfordwest County.
Having high-profile players who have played at a high level can only be a benefit to the league, as Rutherford explained.
“That’s only a positive for the league in all formats. It’s positive for their teammates and the club’s infrastructure. I know Bala pick Dave’s brains quite a lot in terms of approaches towards the day-to-day running of the club, the matchday preparation and certainly, people on the outside see the big names in the league and are impressed.
“It’s great for me that I can go and have those chats with Dave about his experiences in football. It’s not often that you get to go and share a changing room that has performed in a European Championship for their country, so it’s great for everyone and is only a positive for the league. It does give it that extra layer of credibility.
“The one thing about Dave is his humility. You wouldn’t think for one second in the way that he carries himself that he’s any better than anyone else. That’s a great lesson for us all.”
Since his appointment as Chief Executive Officer at the FAW, Noel Mooney has expressed his desire to grow Wales’ top-flight.
Having gained experience of playing in the Cymru Premier in his opening months as a Lakesider, Rutherford expressed that there is potential to grow the league if there is a desire to do so.
“I think it depends on what the league wants to do. I interpret it as a very strong league with talented players, it’s a competitive league and the standard and professionalism is rising all the time.
“But it’s that balance and tipping point of trying to get all the teams to be full-time and maybe have less of a calibre of player coming in, so it’s that balancing act. It’s definitely establishing itself, it’s evolving, the standards and professionalism are filtering in.
“From my experience, there hasn’t been an easy game, it’s always competitive, which is a telling sign of a league that is strong.”
(Featured Image: Will Cheshire)
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