Junior Sport News . . . from PembrokeshireSport.co.uk

Daniel does superbly at Plymouth and with Wales

A talented young footballer with strong Pembrokeshire connections is catching the eye down in the south-west of England with Plymouth Argyle – and has also settled into the Welsh squad at under 15 level.
Daniel Barrow is from Barnstable in Devon and has played for Plymouth Argyle since he started out at under 11 level and he is currently playing for Argyle’s under 14 squad – but also representing Wales under 15s since he has strong connections with Pembrokeshire, and already looking forward to the Welsh under 16 Victory Shield matches as part of the squad in 2010.

Local connections

Daniel’s mother Belinda was born Belinda Thomas in Little Haven and her immediate family include parents William Thomas, a former rugby player at Llangwm, and Dorothy James of Talbenny. His father Lee hails from Swansea, is ex-RAF and had spent time at Brawdy, where he met Linda and worked alongside Ronnie Beynon, now director of coaching at the Haverfordwest County academy team.  
Lee runs the Barnstable Soccer School and Daniel’s elder brother William went with Ronnie Beynon for trials at Peterborough when he was younger. Ronnie first noticed Daniel after seeing him play as a nine year old at the Haverfordwest County Soccer School when he was staying in Pembrokeshire and turned up at the Bridge Meadow.

Recommended by Ronnie

Ronnie renewed the acquaintance when he was later in the South-west on holiday and it was Ronnie who recommended Daniel to the Welsh selectors after watching Daniel play and finding out that Plymouth were going to recommend him to the English selectors. The Welsh top-brass were suitable impressed and had no hesitation in inviting Daniel to attend a three-day training session at Sophia Gardens later this month.
Daniel plays left back or left wing at Plymouth and has been included as a left back in the Welsh development squad, and after training for a week with Chelsea he will gain further experience by playing for Plymouth in the Milk Cup, due to be held in Ireland.

His family are very proud of all that he has achieved and it is nice to hear of someone with such strong Pembrokeshire connections doing so well in football ‘up the line’.