Bellamy names 20-year-old Joe Duncan in Wales squad as non-league goalkeeper pathway highlighted
Wales head coach Craig Bellamy included 20-year-old goalkeeper Joe Duncan, on loan at National League side Southend United from Bristol City, in his squad for this month's Nations League matches against Norway and Portugal on Wednesday. The selection came alongside discussion of how non-league loans have aided other keepers such as Arsenal's David Raya and Everton's Jordan Pickford.
David Raya had a loan spell at Southport before winning the Premier League with Arsenal, while Jordan Pickford spent time with Darlington and Alfreton Town on his way to a European Championship final and two World Cup semi-finals with England, examples the article cites when noting that a non-league apprenticeship can help a goalkeeper reach higher levels. That background, the story says, appeared to form part of Bellamy's thinking in naming his latest squad.
Duncan, born in Bristol, had been involved with Jamaica's youth set-up before committing to Wales and had earned two under-21 caps prior to his surprise first call-up to the senior squad on Wednesday. He will not be expected to make a debut immediately in Oslo, with Bellamy indicating the 20-year-old will be assessed rather than thrown straight into a match against "Erling Haaland and company."
Explaining his approach to young keepers, Bellamy said: "You have to start somewhere as a goalkeeper, you have to learn your trade. I love goalkeepers playing lower leagues, especially development goalkeepers, the ones who are looking to push through, because they [non-league players] are going to bump you and ask questions of you. Maybe you get over-protected the higher you go but, in those leagues, I think we quite enjoy watching those games because you're not getting anything. It's perfect, the way I see it, for a young goalkeeper. He's not someone who's always been on our radar because he hasn't been available to us. I have to be honest, everything I've seen with him at Southend, I really like."
Bellamy noted a personal connection to Duncan's loan club: Southend manager Kieron Dyer is one of his best friends from his playing days and a former Newcastle and West Ham team-mate. "Kieron loves [Duncan] and I respect his view on football," Bellamy said. "His IQ on the game is one of the best I've been involved with." He also said he watched Duncan play discreetly: "That was the same week [England manager Thomas] Tuchel was watching PSG in the Champions League, so the world's different, but enjoyable," the ex-Wales captain grins.
The squad selection reflects Bellamy's assessment that Wales has few younger goalkeeping options, a point he made by describing his current first-team regulars Karl Darlow, 36, and Danny Ward, 33, as "old." Everton reserve Tom King and Sheffield United's Adam Davies, normally third choice behind Darlow and Ward, are not playing for their club and, at 31 and 34 respectively, are approaching the latter stages of their careers, the article notes, prompting Bellamy to "widen his search for successors."
Bellamy contrasted his need to look deep into lower leagues with England's situation, citing manager decisions over Jordan Pickford and Leeds United's James Trafford. He said: "You've got to earn your stripes. I've seen it with Traffs, who had really good loans with Bolton before he came to us. We paid a lot of money for him but if we didn't do it then we were going to miss him." The piece states Trafford is 24 years old and "has already cost clubs nearly £100m in transfer fees," with Burnley having paid a portion of that sum while Bellamy worked at Turf Moor as Vincent Kompany's assistant boss.
Bellamy acknowledged he cannot use the transfer market to solve Wales' goalkeeping shortage, describing it as "an area where we're lacking at the moment," and said he will continue to search widely, including in lower leagues and unexpected places. As Raya, Pickford, Trafford and others have shown, the article concludes, there are precedents for progress from such routes "as Duncan plots his route to the top."
