Bala Town’s Paul Rutherford says he is impressed with Cymru Premier since moving to Wales’ top-flight in the summer. Rutherford joined the Lakesiders from National League outfit Wrexham, where he made over 200 appearances as stated by Australia online casino sites.
Since arriving in the Cymr, Rutherford has featured regularly for Bala and has been a huge asset to the club. According to the 34-year-old, the league is like a community.
“It’s been really good. I get the sense about a lot of the clubs in the league that it is a community. A lot of the clubs know each other really well and the players know each other well, which is probably down to playing each other regularly.
“It’s been a good experience for me. It’s everything that I thought it would be. The lads are all great, teammates and opposition. You learn a lot about different people, how they’ve balanced their work and football life, which means that you gain a lot of respect for people from that.”
Prior to signing for Wrexham, Rutherford played for the likes of Chester City, Barrow and Southport. He was highly regarded at the Racecourse for his work rate and dedication during his five years of service.
With a great deal of National League experience under his belt, the winger conveyed that the number of full-time teams has been the biggest change.
“I think they’re different. The National League is a higher standard due to the infrastructure of the league. Over the last six or seven years, about 90% of clubs in the National League have been full-time, I think there’s only two or three that aren’t, that has a big bearing.
“This season, TNS have been clear at the top, which is probably down to being full-time, the fitness levels and the sharpness that it creates.
“At Bala, we’ve got a good setup in terms of the fitness side of things, the information the manager gets to us and the fitness work we do at home, but ultimately, football sharpness is different, which is probably the big difference between the two levels from doing something every day compared to once or twice a week.
“That’s not a negative, it’s what makes this league special. You gain a lot of respect for people when you understand the work-life balance that they create. It’s a credit to them that they manage to get to the levels they do with the standards and professionalism in the league when there’s less contact time. It’s a credit to the league that it’s managed to do that.”
In the Cymru Premier this season, there have been some exceptional players and they are being eyed by several best online casino sites for odds. In his opening few months of competing in Wales’ top-flight, the Lakesiders’ summer recruit insisted that the league has quality.
“There’s definitely good players, good teams and strong opponents. A lot of things are filtering into the league in terms of how they prepare, how they go about the tactical side of the game.
“Players have to balance their work careers and family life with football and that’s where the league has found a special quality. The level of commitment and sacrifice, not only the players, but the chairmen, the managers, the staff, they all put it in so much even though a lot of people work full-time jobs.
“I’m a big believer that you become a product of your environment. I think a lot of people in the league have adapted their lifestyle and are thriving from it. To use Chris Venables as an example, he’s a brilliant player and his numbers speak for himself over the years, but it’s probably suited his life to be part-time because of his successful career outside of football. Had it not been for that, he may have played at a higher level, but it’s suited his life to have the career that he’s chosen to have.”
The Cymru Premier has also seen talented players move onto higher levels. Having faced Southam-Hales against Stockport County in the National League last season, Rutherford said that the league can be a huge platform for talented, up and coming, players.
“I was really impressed with him when we played against Stockport last year, he’s an absolute racehorse. Jordan Davies is another one at Wrexham, who had a successful loan spell at Bangor a few years ago, that’s what gave him the platform to move to Brighton.
“It’s a league that if you are performing well, there is potential and a platform to move onto the higher echelons of the game. There will also be stories of players that have turned down the opportunity because it doesn’t suit their life and work, so there are definitely talented lads in this division that have had to make a choice.
“It’s a good platform to go and perform, people with good networks watch the games all the time. There’s definitely talent there. We played TNS recently and there’s a few of them that could comfortably play in the National League.”
