Ben Davies said he wants to use his role on the FAW Council to represent players and help Welsh football at every level. He was appointed to the council in August 2026 as a dedicated representative for Welsh players.
A player's voice on the council
BBC Wales Sport was granted access to the FAW council meeting at Dragon Park in Newport, where Davies joined executives to discuss the future of Welsh football.
Davies said: "Firstly, it's an absolute honour and privilege to play football for Wales. Because of that honour and how much I've loved doing it - and still love doing it - you want to give back in any way you can. If I can help using my stature and position as a player to help Welsh football, I'm more than happy to do that."
Davies said: "There are a lot of people in that room with a lot of experience that know a lot about what goes on behind the scenes in football. [They] probably know a lot more than I do. I've only been a player. But ultimately, I'm here with a player's voice."
Focus on every level of the game
Davies said: "Having played at the highest level for a long time, I want to be able to maintain those standards, bring us up to the levels that I've seen in the world of football, maintain us, and put us in a good place going forward."
Davies said: "I want to see that Welsh football is giving the best opportunity to all players at every level - not just at the professional level like we are, but throughout the Welsh leagues and down to the grassroots as well. If I can impart any of my advice or where I've seen things that work or don't work throughout my time as a player, I can give my opinions, and hopefully that's acted upon, then all the better for Welsh football."
Mike Jones on Davies' contribution
FAW president Mike Jones said Davies spoke at the morning session.
Jones said: "He spoke this morning - and there are quite a lot of people who don't speak in there. You always find in a community of people that some will have louder voices than others, some are quite comfortable standing there and talking, and some aren't. But he actually spoke up this morning, which is a good indication of what's to come. As a professional player, if Ben tables some issue that we would never have found out if we didn't have him on the council, it can keep pushing us to best practice."
Jones said: "Ben does some work for Uefa, as I do, and we were together last year at some of the congresses. I understand his passion and why he wants to be here. It's early days, but I'm expecting big things from him"
Thoughts on the future
Davies has earned his Uefa A Licence in coaching.
Davies said: "Look, hopefully [retirement] is still quite a few years away."
Davies said: "It's hard to put a nail in it where your future lies. If something falls on my lap in the coaching world, then maybe that will be my route. But I want to be able to use my expertise and what I've learned in the best way that it can be, and I don't know what angle that takes after football yet. I'd like to be someone who maybe, at some point, crosses that divide from a player to the boardroom or a front-office kind of role, because I haven't seen too many players over the years who have done that. I think it definitely adds a pretty good perspective when making decisions."
