International Giles has foot in Wrexham and Swansea camps

The attacking midfielder played for all four Football League clubs in the country as well as picking up 12 Welsh caps in a distinguished career in the Seventies and Eighties.

Wrexham finished seventh in the Championship last season, Swansea City were 11th while Cardiff City were promoted from League One.

Ahead of tonight's clash between Swansea and Wrexham, Giles is looking forward to seeing how this season unravels and hopes all three of his former clubs do well.

Giles’ time at Wrexham didn’t last as long as it could have after he moved from his hometown club, Cardiff City, for £20,000 in December 1978.

“I needed a change at the time and Wrexham was the right move for me,” said Giles, who will celebrate his 70th birthday later this month.

“I was born in Cardiff so to sign for the club was a dream come true.

“I used to go and watch them as a fan in the late sixties when Ninian Park was such a fortress.

“I didn’t have a car when I first signed as a player so I walked to the ground with the supporters.

“They all went into the stands and I walked into the changing room!”

His first two games in Cardiff colours were away at Nottingham Forest and Manchester United but it was an FA Cup tie in January 1977 against Wrexham that Giles picks out as one of his best memories playing for The Bluebirds - a game that also played a big part in him signing for Wrexham.

“We’d beaten Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in the third round and then we got Wrexham at home,” said Giles. “We went 2-0 up, I scored the first and Peter Sayer got the second.

“Graham Whittle then smashed one in - like he always used to do - and Billy Ashcroft equalised with a few minutes left.

“But we went straight down the other end and John Buchanan scored the winner. What a game!”

There were nearly 30,000 at Ninian Park that day and Giles described it as the best ever atmosphere he’d experienced.

“I’ve played in front of big crowds but I’ve never heard a crowd go mental like that!”

Almost two years after that, Giles was signing for Wrexham.

“Arfon Griffiths paid me a big compliment and said that Mickey Thomas had gone to Manchester United and he wanted me to replace him,” said Giles, who scored four goals for Wrexham.

“Arfon also told me that he’d remembered me scoring and having a very good game in that FA Cup tie so it was a really good move for me.

“Wrexham were a good side and they’d got Mel Sutton in the team too - a player I used to watch as a fan at Cardiff.

“He’d played in the Cardiff team that beat Real Madrid and a lot of fans couldn’t believe they sold him to Wrexham.

“While Arfon was the boss at Wrexham, Mel was the brains out on the pitch.”

Giles’ first goal for Wrexham came in another Welsh derby that ended in another 3-2 scoreline.

Wrexham beat John Toshack’s Swans 3-2 in a Welsh Cup clash at The Racecourse on March 12 1979.

And to continue the 3-2 theme, Giles reckons his best game came against Tottenham in the FA Cup that season.

“We’d drawn 3-3 at White Hart Lane in a helluva game but lost in extra-time at home. I remember both those games.

“Spurs had just signed Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa and they had Glenn Hoddle in the side.

“But we pushed them all the way in those two games.”

Eight months later, he was heading back to south Wales as Toshack liked what he saw of Giles, who was now on the verge of becoming a full Welsh international.

But why was he leaving Wrexham after just 12 months?

“I was hot-headed at the time and reacted after Arfon left me out of the team,” said Giles.

“I told him I was very disappointed that I’d been dropped and I suppose that was the beginning of the end for me.”

Toshack, who was reviving Swansea’s fortunes in a similar up the leagues vein like Wrexham’s in recent seasons, liked what he saw of Giles.

“It was a great goal I scored against Swansea in the Welsh Cup and Tosh remembered,” recalled Giles.

“There was a bit of talk that Swansea were watching me and then I got a phone call and it was John Toshack saying he was going to put a bid in for me.”

Toshack did just that and paid double the £20,000 Wrexham had forked out 11 months earlier.

Giles then recalls a great tale from Toshack’s Cardiff past.

“Tosh was an apprentice at Cardiff and he was asked to help move a piano from the social club at Ninian Park to my dad’s house,” said Giles.

“The piano dropped on his foot, leading Tosh to say, just like the old PG Tips advert with the talking chimpanzees: “Do you know there’s a piano on my foot?”

Giles had a terrific start to his career at The Vetch Field - another ground that he loved playing at.

“Ninian Park and The Vetch were volatile places to go to for visiting teams and you can say the same about The Racecourse where the fans were really close to the pitch.

“Tosh was a fabulous manager and he was building a brilliant team at Swansea with lots of his old Liverpool team-mates while getting Bob Latchford to sign was a masterstroke.

“I scored 13 goals in 20-odd games but then got a really bad injury and I seemed to lose my zip and pace after that.”

Giles’ stay at Swansea lasted about the same time as his Wrexham spell.

A move to Crystal Palace followed but not before he’d made his Welsh debut in an incredible match back at The Racecourse.

It was new Wales boss Mike England’s first game in charge and the ex-Spurs defender handed Giles his debut against England in the old Home Internationals tournament.

“Can you imagine it?” said Giles. “Wales debut against England and we thrashed them 4-1.

“Paul Mariner put them ahead but we hit back through Mickey Thomas, Ian Walsh and Leighton James, who had a brilliant game.

“They gave the fourth goal as a Phil Thompson own goal but I’ve watched it back loads of times and I reckon they should have given it to me. If only they’d had VAR then!”

Fast-forwarding to the current era and the Championship season, who does he think will finish as the highest-placed Welsh team?

“It has to be Wrexham,” added Giles. “Phil Parkinson’s done a great job and it was a decent first season in the Championship.

“They’ll look to improve on that.”

But for someone who played for Cardiff, Wrexham and Swansea, Giles shows his true colours when saying Cardiff is the team he supports.

“I was born in Cardiff and lucky enough to play for them,” said Giles. “I’ve always said from day one that fans should back the club from where they’re from.”