By Paul Jones

Craig Bellamy has declared himself very happy with his back-room team, having brought in some trusted assistants to take Wales forward.

The new Wales manager has drafted in Brighton first team coach Andrew Crofts, who will continue to work primarily for the Premier League club.

Bellamy has also turned to James Rowberry, the former Newport County manager, whose short-lived spell as a No.1 had followed impressive work behind the scenes at Cardiff City.

Other appointments include Piet Cremers, who worked closely with Pep Guardiola during his time as head of performance analysis at Manchester City, and also linked up with Bellamy during their time together at Burnley.

Wales assistant coach James Rowberry. Pic: FAW/John Smith

The new coaching set-up will come together for the first time ahead of Wales’ Nations League opener against Türkiye on Friday September 6.

“I’m very happy with the group of staff that we’ve been able to bring in,” said Bellamy.

“I’ve worked with all of them previously, either as a coach or as a player. As a collective I believe the balance and various expertise between us is the best we could have asked for.

“The work off camp has been great so far and I can’t wait for us to meet up with the players and get things started with them.”

Former Wales defender Chris Gunter – who had begun working under Bellamy’s predecessor Rob Page – is staying with the FAW but will work with the age-grade teams.

✅ Andrew Crofts
✅ James Rowberry
✅ Piet Cremers
✅ Ryland Morgans

Craig Bellamy has announced his coaching staff.#TogetherStronger

— Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@Cymru) August 23, 2024

Page’s other assistants – Alan Knill, Jack Lester, Tony Roberts and Nick Davies – have all moved on.

Crofts was capped 29 times for Wales under John Toshack, Gary Speed and Chris Coleman and completed his UEFA coaching badges through the FAW.

He retired from playing in 2019, becoming a coach in Brighton’s academy prior to stepping up as U23 head coach in 2021. Two years ago, Crofts was appointed first team coach under Roberto De Zerbi.

Crofts said: “I’m very proud. As soon as I knew there was an opportunity to be Craig’s assistant it grabbed me straight away.

“To represent Wales as a player was incredible for me and my family, and to now represent my country as an assistant coach is an indescribable feeling. I’m obsessed with coaching, studying various trends in the game and bringing a team’s methodology to life, something which I can’t wait to do with this group of players and staff.”

Andrew Crofts, James Rowberry, Piet Cremers & Ryland Morgans 👏

Craig Bellamy has announced his coaching staff. ✅🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 pic.twitter.com/fxWuvSnW6R

— Wales Watch 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿⚽️ (@wales_watch) August 23, 2024

Former Swansea City and Liverpool coach Ryland Morgans is also coming on board, having previously worked as head of performance for the Wales side that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016.

Rowberry said. “I’ve known Craig for a long time, and we share the same ideas on football.

“Being the link to the player pathway will be a key part of my role and my previous work in that area will allow me to be the natural link as we look to showcase our young talent on the world stage.”

🗣️ “I’ve played the anthem and Yma o Hyd about 100 times in the last couple of months since I knew there could be an opportunity, and it’s spine tingling.”

Andrew Crofts after being announced as part of Craig Bellamy’s coaching staff ❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 pic.twitter.com/yvhFrQN9Sn

— welshfootie (@welshfootie) August 23, 2024