Sprint MG caught up with goalkeeper, Will Fuller, who is preparing for Cardiff Met FC’s Europa League qualifier, recognised as the biggest game in the club’s history.
On Thursday night a team of students will take on Luxembourg outfit ‘FC Progres Niedekorn’, famous for knocking out Glasgow Rangers FC in the same competition in 2017. Cardiff Met are hoping to go one better and overturn a 1-0 away defeat with Cork City the potential opponents in the First Qualifying Round of the Europa League.
Cardiff Met’s rise is a remarkable one. When Will enrolled into Cardiff Met University to study Sports Science in 2011, the club were playing in the Welsh League Division 3. Two successive promotions in 2012/13 & 2013/14, followed by a Division One Championship in 2015/16 propelled Cardiff Met FC to the Welsh Premier League.
“I was released by Ipswich at 16, then played 2 years at Salisbury City before they went bankrupt and have played at Cardiff Met ever since. It’s been quiet the journey over 8 years.”
Qualification into the Europa League will earn the club a minimum windfall of £193,000 from UEFA. But the players won’t earn a penny. Not that Will or the players are worried;
“None of us get paid to play. We are a tight group and we just do it for the love of it. I think that showed after the final whistle in the play-off final, there were a few tears and a lot of hugs. We always speak as a group about never having arrived, Even, now we’ve not arrived.”
The 2018/19 season was a frustrating one for Fuller. Rectus femoris (quad) reattachment surgery meant that he missed 9 months of the season, but crucially regained fitness for the end of season run-in and crucially in play-off final. His three penalty saves in the shoot-out meant that his season ended on an incredible high.
The new season may have started early but the 2nd leg tie against FC Progres Niedekorn is one that Will and the team are relishing;
“We’re aware of the task ahead of us, but we’re still in the tie after the game in Luxembourg. We’ve spent the week putting together a plan and hopefully we can execute it on the night and get a positive not in front of a home crowd.”
Cardiff Met v FC Progres Niedekorn takes place at the Cardiff International Stadium, Leckwith on Thursday, 4 July 2019. Kick-Off – 18:30 BST
