Taylor aims to make Wales a force in deaf football

Wales Deaf men's manager James Taylor is a former Swansea City youth player [WDFA] Wales and England come face-to-face in Llandarcy on Friday, 11 September, the latest chapter in the rollercoaster story of the Wales Deaf men's football side. Re-established in 2023, they drew with England and beat both Scotland and Ireland in their first three matches. However from such a promising start the Wales Deaf Football Association (WDFA) found themselves going backwards. In 2024 the squad travelled to Turkey, full of hope for the EuroDeaf Championships but lost all four of their group games. A review led to a change of the organisation's backroom staff structure and the appointment of a new head coach, former Wales Deaf forward James Taylor. Despite a 7-1 hammering by England in his first game in charge, Taylor has big plans for Wales - and knows all about dealing with the ups and downs football can through at you, for 'Jamo' has quite the story himself. Jamo's story Taylor was an experienced Welsh league player who once aspired to be a professional, but total deafness in his left ear prevented him from reaching his potential. "It's probably one of the reasons that let me down in the professional world, because anything that was coming to the left-hand side, I didn't hear," Taylor said. He did get pretty close though. "I started grassroots football for the local team, Afan Lido. I was fortunate to be in a successful team from the age of eight to 16. "We won everything that was possible for us." Taylor's goal for the under-16 team against Swansea City caught the eye of Swansea scouts and he later spent two years in the Vetch Field club's youth training scheme. Taylor's youth team manager at Swansea was Alan Curtis, who he described as a "legend and a gentleman". "I grew up in a Swansea sporting household. My father was a massive Swansea City supporter," Taylor recalled. "I was born in the morning and he was on the North Bank in the afternoon watching the Swans. His idol was Alan Curtis, so that just made my father proud as punch. "When we went to places like Cheltenham and Bristol, we'd normally stop off and pick up my old man, and you can imagine him in a minibus with Alan Curtis driving -he chewed the ear off him!" Taylor made a single senior appearance for Swansea, against Haverfordwest in the West Wales Senior Cup in the 1997-98 season. But a serious ankle injury thwarted his second season and he was subsequently told he would not be taken on as a professional. "They did reassure me that if I went to any team and carried on scoring goals, they'd put me back in and keep looking at me, but unfortunately, those goals died away," said Taylor. He returned to Afan Lido before stints at Port Talbot, Neath and Goytre. Then at the age of 43, Taylor won the first of three caps for Wales Deaf men's team. In February 2026 Taylor took charge of his first match, facing England at the FA's training headquarters, St George's Park. But Wales' visit proved a sharp lesson, with that 7-1 defeat. "It hurt, and I believe it hurts harder as a manager. However, it provided a valuable benchmark for where we are as a squad," Taylor said. As part of the re-building process, a talent identification day was held at Dragon Park in Newport in June, which saw more than 20 new players attend. "It was a real success with a great turnout. There are a few new faces coming in, as well as a couple of familiar faces from old returning," he added. "The standard of football was good, the players took on board the information really well, and their attitudes and commitment were excellent." Wales - like England - are hoping to send a squad to compete in the inaugural Deaf International Football Association Deaf Football World Cup in Australia in November 2027, and then six months later to the 2028 European Deaf Football Championships in Italy. So, for Taylor, their schedule leading up to the tournaments needs to be filled with as many matches as possible. "We're not going to be going camp, camp, camp... it's only in a game when you can really see the development in the boys and the squad," he said. They recently played a friendly against Newport Corinthians, who play in the third tier of the Welsh pyramid, losing 6-4. "The thing that stood out for us against them was that our boys haven't had those minutes in their legs, where Newport Corries I'm sure have had a good pre-season," said Taylor. He also knows the international against England in Llandarcy on Friday (19:30 BST) will be another big step up. "We need to start making waves and noises," he said. "I haven't taken on this management role just to post a load on social media. My hopes are to make Wales a force in deaf football. "I'm only interested in the players who are 100% committed to Wales now. "I'm not saying they haven't in the past, but maybe seeing a bit more competition coming into camp will give them that push, not only for Wales, but in their personal football journeys as well. "That's all I ever want to do is make the players the best version of themselves on a football pitch."