The Fin who started Wales' revolution to Euro 2025

BBC News

2 days ago

He's the man many credit with starting the revolution towards qualification for a first ever major tournament.Wales' long journey to Euro 2025 was achieved via various pivotal moments over the last 30 years, but was the unheralded arrival of a Finnish former history teacher one of the biggest?"The Wales women's senior team still holds a special place in my heart" says Jarmo Matikainen as he speaks to a smiling Jess Fishlock for the BBC documentary series, Iconic: The Rise of the Women in Red, telling the story of the national team ahead of this summer's finals in Switzerland.11 years have passed since his involvement in the team but the stars of today still remember how telling his contribution was.
The first full time manager
Prior to his arrival in 2010, eight different people had been manager of the 'official' Wales women's senior team, but Matikainen was the first to take the role on a full-time basis."I was interested because there was a possibility to build something," he said."The situation when I arrived was that there was very little in place."First of all, I felt that we needed to make sure that the structure is as professional as possible."There were quite a lot of actually good players, a lot of work to do but also a lot of potential.He may have been full-time, but the international set up was anything but.There was no permanent training base, and he had to manage not just the senior side but also take charge of the age grade teams as well."During the time I was there, I was putting forward proposals for the whole structure."We tried to increase the number of games we played in general."We managed to get to the Algarve Cup and you remember how important that was to us to be able to play against the best teams."That was an important part of that team building."
"We got caught doing a chocolate run to Tesco's"
Matikainen didn't just challenge the FAW for more, he also demanded ultimate professionalism from his players as he sought to transform the team."It's black or white with Jarmo, I think it's because he used to be a teacher," said former international Gwennan Harries who recalls his strict regime for episode two of the series on BBC Radio Wales and BBC Sounds."The expectations that he had, at first it took us all by shock, but when you were in camp you realised, he was just pushing us."He brought in a lot of rules that we weren't used to."We all laugh about it now but at meals we couldn't have any ketchup because it had too much sugar in it, and we needed to lose weight."But we'd never spoken to a nutritionist and none of us really realised those added things help towards your professionalism to get the best out of your body."We were so clueless in that aspect."He just made us realise that it's how it should be."You are elite level players, you are playing for your country, so you need to be treating every situation in a professional manner."We were sometimes a little bit desperate for some chocolate."Jess Fishlock and I did a team run once to Tesco's and got caught."He wasn't too impressed!"
His new rules brought results though and for the first time Wales seriously competed for a play-off place in their qualifying groups.They lost the decisive winner takes all final match against Scotland in 2012 to miss out on Euro 2013 in Sweden.The same thing happened two years later when they were edged out in Lviv against Ukraine, finishing three points behind their rivals in World Cup qualifying.That result brought an end to his four-year spell in charge but the foundations he put in place would allow the team to flourish in the years to come and ultimately secure their historic qualification for Euro 2025.
"He was the start of the change for us"
Matikainen would be followed by former captain Jayne Ludlow, then Gemma Grainger before Canadian Rhian Wilkinson finally got them over the line in last December.But as the team prepare to finally take their place on the major tournament stage, today's star players who he helped nurture are quick to point to the significance of his influence."When he came in, that was my first experience of senior football," captain Angharad James said."His background was military, so it was if you were on time, you were actually considered to be late."So you were ten minutes early for everything just in case"But I do think he did change women's football in Wales forever."He had the under-17's, the under-19's and the seniors and that doesn't happen anymore."I think he did all he could, and I think he did a great job with what he had in front of him at the time."The changes he could make, he was fighting for us for better"He created a foundation and when you look back, he was the start of the change for us."Former skipper Sophie Ingle made her Wales debut 12 months before Matikainen's appointment and agrees that he played in pivotal role."I feel like then people had more of a voice because then he was doing it for us as well."So then us as players felt empowered by him to be like, this isn't good enough, these facilities aren't good enough, the kit is not good enough, the food is not good enough."Obviously he was very strict and he would shout at you if you didn't do something right but I think that helped."Matikainen is now back home in Finland, coaching the women's under-23 team and working for European football governing body UEFA.And he admits at his excitement at seeing his former players finally getting their chance to shine on the big stage this summer."We did get important things when I was there, but the big steps waited for the future," he added."Knowing the progression and the improvement that has been there, it is really good to see that."The women's senior team holds a special place in my heart."Episode 2 of Iconic: The Rise of the Women in Red will be broadcast on BBC Radio Wales and BBC Sounds at 18:30 on Monday 23 June.