James Coates Becomes Second Welsh Internationial At Field Mill

James Coates isn’t a very well known face at Mansfield unless you watch the youth teams play. Until now, he had only played for the Stags Youth team. He was called up to the Welsh Under 19’s squad fully aware that he might not get to play. However he played in two matches in the tournament and only conceded two goals against Scotland and Northern Ireland.

When asked about his trip, James said ‘It was a great experience playing at this level in which I learned a lot mentally’. Learning mentally is a key to success for very young goalkeepers such as James and its great to see him representing not only Wales but the Stags as well. He also said ‘ I’m going to try and improve my standards so that the gaffer (Neville Southall, former Everton keeper) will pick me for most games’.

Coates efforts could not prevent Wales from finishing seventh out of eight teams. Coates will be training and working very hard till’ September when Wales go to a UEFA tournament in Belarus. But for now he is enjoying his time in the Youth squad. We hope to see great things for James in the future.