When a Bangor City legend found himself alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

Remember when Bangor City striker Les Davies found himself alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in one of European football’s most prestigious lists?

It was a remarkable moment for the Welsh footballer, and one that still stands out as one of the more unlikely stories from the Cymru Premier.

There was Lionel Messi. Cristiano Ronaldo. Xavi. Andrés Iniesta. Andrea Pirlo. Robin van Persie. Wayne Rooney. Sergio Agüero. Zlatan Ibrahimovic. And then there was Les Davies.

The Bangor City striker had somehow found himself on a list containing some of the most famous footballers on the planet.

It was the summer of 2012, and UEFA had published its 32-man shortlist for its Best Player in Europe award.

Among the superstars of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Manchester City was a security equipment factory worker from the Cymru Premier. Les Davies of Bangor City.

One Welsh journalist’s remarkable vote

The reason Davies made the list was surprisingly simple. UEFA had asked journalists representing all 53 of its member associations to select their five best players of the season.

Wales’ representative was then Daily Post journalist Dave Jones. And Jones’ five choices were Messi, Ronaldo, Iniesta, Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart and Davies.

That meant the Bangor striker was officially being considered alongside the very best players in European football. Jones knew exactly how unusual his decision looked.

“People might look at the low seeding Welsh Premier clubs have in Europe and ask me if this is a wind up, but I am deadly serious,” he said.

Jones had watched Davies closely and believed the striker had been one of the outstanding performers in Welsh football.

“I feel Les is an outstanding striker whose reputation has rocketed in the last couple of seasons,” he said.

“Every time he plays for Bangor City in Europe he makes life hell for all defenders and I think he would also do this against better players at a higher level.”

It was a bold claim. But Jones stood by it.

Davies wasn’t the first Bangor City player Jones had backed

There was a reason Jones was prepared to ignore the obvious reaction to his choice. A year earlier, he had done something similar.

When UEFA’s Best Player in Europe award was introduced, Jones had included Bangor City defender Michael Johnston among his selections.

Messi, Ronaldo and Johnston had been his original three.

Jones eventually had to choose between Messi, Ronaldo and Xavi and selected Messi, who went on to win the award.

But people questioned whether he had really been serious about nominating Johnston. His response was unequivocal.

“Of course I was,” Jones said.

“I cover the Welsh Premier week in, week out and he’s one of the best defenders I’ve seen.”

The same thinking applied to Davies. Jones was not claiming the Bangor forward was a better footballer than Messi or Ronaldo.

He was saying that, judged on the football he had watched in Wales, Davies deserved recognition. And this time UEFA’s voting system allowed him to make that case.

‘I didn’t think in a million years’

For Davies, it was difficult to comprehend. One minute he was Bangor City’s imposing centre forward. The next, his name was sitting alongside the biggest names in European football.

“I didn’t think in a million years that I would ever see my name alongside players like Xavi, Messi and Van Persie,” Davies said after the nomination.

“I wouldn’t have expected this in a million years,” said Davies, who works in a factory making security equipment.

He told Newsbeat: “I’m overwhelmed, flattered and honoured. There are so many emotions running through me at the moment. It’s all just a bit mad.”

It was an entirely understandable reaction.

Messi was already one of the greatest players in the world. Ronaldo was his great rival at the top of the game.

Xavi and Iniesta were the midfield brains behind Barcelona’s extraordinary team. Van Persie was coming off a sensational season with Arsenal.

Davies was playing in Wales. Yet there he was. Les Davies – Bangor City FC.

Why ‘The Truck’ had earned the recognition

There was more to Davies’ story than the novelty of his name appearing on a UEFA list.

He had become a major figure at Bangor City.

Part of the 2010/11 side that ended a 16-year wait for the club to become champions of Wales, Davies developed into one of the Welsh top flight’s most recognisable forwards.

His nickname told you something about his style. ‘The Truck’.

At 6ft 3in, Davies was an imposing centre forward who could bully defenders, hold the ball up and bring teammates into the game.

But he could also finish. He scored 16 league goals during the 2011/12 season, the campaign that ultimately earned him Jones’ vote.

Gareth Bale received a nomination – but his story was only beginning

There was another Welsh connection to the award in the years that followed.

Gareth Bale, then emerging as one of the most exciting players in European football, would later make a much deeper impact on the award.

After his final season at Tottenham, Bale finished eighth in the 2013 UEFA Best Player in Europe voting.

By 2016, following his performances for Real Madrid and Wales, he had gone all the way to the final three. Bale’s trajectory was obviously very different to Davies’.

The award eventually went to Iniesta

Davies was never going to be travelling to Monaco expecting to lift the trophy.

The final three eventually consisted of Iniesta, Messi and Ronaldo, with Iniesta winning the second edition of the UEFA Best Player in Europe award for the 2011/12 season.

The Barcelona midfielder received 19 votes, while Messi and Ronaldo finished joint-second with 17.

He had gone from being Bangor City’s centre forward to being officially listed among the finest players in European football.

One vote, one extraordinary football story

Perhaps that is what makes the story so memorable.

Davies did not need to score 40 goals in one of Europe’s major leagues. He did not need to play for Barcelona, Real Madrid or Manchester United.

He simply needed one journalist to believe that, over the course of the season, he had been good enough to deserve a place among that initial group of nominees.

Dave Jones watched Welsh football every week.

He knew what Davies brought to Bangor City.

He saw a traditional centre forward who was powerful, effective and capable of causing problems for opposition defenders, including in European competition.

And when UEFA asked him to name his five players, Jones decided Davies belonged there.

So for a short period in 2012, the footballing world was presented with one of the strangest and most wonderful lists imaginable.

Messi. Ronaldo. Iniesta. Xavi. Pirlo. Van Persie. Rooney. And Les Davies of Bangor City.

For ‘The Truck’, it was a moment he could scarcely have imagined.

For Bangor City supporters, it was another chapter in the story of one of their great modern cult heroes.

And for Welsh football, it remains a reminder that sometimes the most remarkable stories come from the places furthest away from the bright lights of Europe’s biggest stadiums.