Andrew Legg (born 28 July 1966) is a Welsh

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

international player. He currently manages Barry Town United. Born in

Neath Neath (; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,2 ...

, he began his professional career with

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

after joining the club from local non-league football at the age of 22. He made his senior debut in 1988 and went on to make over 150 appearances for the club in all competitions before being sold to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

in 1993. He also played for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

and Newport County. He was one of the cover athletes of ''

FIFA Soccer 96 ''FIFA Soccer 96'' (also known as ''FIFA 96: Virtual Soccer Stadium'') is a football video game developed by Extended Play Productions and released by EA Sports in 1995. It was released for the Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega Saturn, Sega 32X, Game G ...

'' alongside

Ioan Sabău Ioan "Neluțu" Ovidiu Sabău (born 12 February 1968) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, currently in charge of Liga I club Universitatea Cluj. Club career Ioan Sabău, nicknamed ''Moțul'' after the people from Țar ...

. He was known for having the longest

throw-in A throw-in is a method of restarting play in a game of association football when the whole of ball passes over the touchline. It is governed by Law 15 of Laws of the Game (association football), the Laws of the Game. In Scotland it is known a ...

in football, being able to regularly throw the ball over 30 metres and once held the world record with a distance of .

Early life

As a teenager, Legg attended Glan Afan Comprehensive School in

Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community (Wales), community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which d ...

. After leaving school, he worked for the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respons ...

and later as a supervisor in a shelving systems factory. Legg's brother, Paul, was also a footballer and spent time on trial with

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

and

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

Career

Early career

After playing for local youth side Baglan Boys Club, where his father was manager, Legg joined Welsh League side Briton Ferry Athletic where he attracted attention from several

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

clubs. He first joined

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

on trial, playing up front alongside

Bernie Slaven Bernard Joseph Slaven (born 13 November 1960) is a former professional Association football, football Forward (association football), striker. He scored 223 goals in 567 league and cup appearances throughout an 18-year career and also earned sev ...

for the club's reserve side. However, manager

Bruce Rioch Bruce David Rioch (; born 6 September 1947) is a British football manager and former player for the Scotland national team. His last managerial post was at AaB in the Danish Superliga in 2008. As a player, he made more than 550 appearances in ...

was unhappy with Legg's hair, describing him as "''too scruffy''", and told him to cut his hair or to not come back. Legg decided not to return and travelled back home. He was instead offered a trial at

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

and played for the reserve side, again as a forward, before being asked to return at the start of the following season for pre-season training in order for manager

Mel Machin Melvyn Machin (born 16 April 1945) is an English former football player and manager. A midfielder, he started his career at Port Vale in 1962 before he moved on to Gillingham four years later. He made his name at the club from 1966 to 1970 bef ...

to assess him.

Swansea City

After returning from Manchester, Legg was offered a trial with his home town club

, playing in a reserve fixture against

and, in August 1988, he was offered a professional contract by manager

Terry Yorath Terence Charles Yorath (born 27 March 1950) is a Welsh former football player and manager at both club and international level. He represented Leeds United, Coventry City, Tottenham Hotspur, Vancouver Whitecaps, Bradford City, Swansea C ...

, starting his professional career at the relatively late age of 22. A stress fracture of his leg meant he was forced to wait for his debut, eventually making his first appearance in a 2–0 defeat to

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

. He went on to make over 150 appearances at

Vetch Field The Vetch Field was a football stadium in Swansea, Wales, and was the home ground of Swansea City A.F.C. from the club’s founding until 2005. Following its closure, the club relocated to a newly constructed stadium, originally named the Libert ...

and helped win the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup (), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most prestigious of the cup competitions ...

in 1989 and 1991 as well as featuring in the team's

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

campaigns, playing against Panathinaikos and

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the French Football Federation (FFF) and currently ...

. During his time with Swansea, Legg's long

ability gained significant attention and he was credited with a

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

in 1992 after taking part in a long throw competition arranged by the BBC television show

Record Breakers ''Record Breakers'' was a British children's TV show, themed around world records and produced by the BBC. It was broadcast on BBC1 from 15 December 1972 to 21 December 2001. Format The programme was a spin-off series from '' Blue Peter'' wh ...

held at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

in 1992 against Dave Challinor and Neil Thompson. He recorded a throw distance of 44.6m, a record that stood until the 1996–97 season when it was beaten by Challinor who recorded a throw of 46.3m.

Notts County

He was sold to

in July 1993 for a fee of £275,000, where he was part of the side that won the

Anglo-Italian Cup The Anglo-Italian Cup (, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) was a European football competition. The competition was ...

during the 1994–95 season. Legg was featured on the cover of FIFA 96, alongside

Brescia Calcio Brescia Calcio, commonly referred to as Brescia (), is an Italian football club based in Brescia, Lombardy. The team currently plays in Serie B, the second tier of Italian football, but will play in Serie C in 2025–26 due to financial contro ...

, a photo taken at that game.

Birmingham City

Along with Paul Devlin, Legg was sold to

in February 1996. Originally signed by

Barry Fry Barry Francis Fry (born 7 April 1945) is an English former football player and manager. An inside forward, Fry scored a goal for England Schoolboys in front of nearly 100,000 supporters at Wembley and was seen as the best player in the team. H ...

, he spent two years, winning his first cap for

on 24 April 1996 in a 2–0 defeat to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

but was forced off after 30 minutes due to injury. In the final year of his contract during the 1997–98 season, Legg began negotiations over an extension but, after failing to agree terms, was dropped to the reserve side by manager

Trevor Francis Trevor John Francis (19 April 1954 – 24 July 2023) was an English footballer who played as a forward for a number of clubs in England, the United States, Italy, Scotland and Australia. In 1979 he became Britain's first £1 million pla ...

. He was instead allowed to join

on loan as cover for the injured

Bobby Petta Alfred Manuel "Bobby" Petta (born 6 August 1974) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer who played as a left winger (association football), winger. Formed at Feyenoord, he spent most of his career in Britain, most notabl ...

and after a month Ipswich manager

George Burley George Elder Burley (born 3 June 1956) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most successful spell came whi ...

attempted to negotiate a permanent deal, which later collapsed.

Reading

Soon after, Jason Bowen, a friend of Legg's joined

and, thanks to Bowen's praise of the club, he agreed a deal to sign for the

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

based side in February 1998. Just several weeks later manager

Terry Bullivant Terry Bullivant (born 23 September 1956, Lambeth) is an English football manager. During his playing career he was a midfielder, representing Fulham and Aston Villa. Following his retirement as a player he managed Barnet and Reading, while also ...

was sacked and replaced by Tommy Burns who soon fell out with several players including Legg and Bowen. Burns ignored the group of players, who later became known as the "gang of five", and refused to let them be a part of the first team, resulting in them taking part in separate training sessions taken charge of by reserve team manager

Alan Pardew Alan Scott Pardew (born 18 July 1961) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who most recently managed Greek Super League club Aris Thessaloniki. Pardew's highest achievements in the sport include reaching the FA Cup ...

, who took over from Burns following his dismissal. Pardew later commented that "''"I wish they had stayed. Andy would certainly be in my team now and Jason showed he had a lot of talent.''"

Cardiff City

After a brief spell on loan at

, he joined Cardiff City in 1998. Legg was initially unpopular with fans due to his previous spell with

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

rivals Swansea City, even being sent death threats, former teammate

Winston Faerber Winston Faerber (born 27 March 1971) is a Dutch former professional footballer, born in Suriname. Club career Faerber began his career at ADO Den Haag. He made his professional debut for the club at the age of 23 when he played in a 3–1 defeat ...

had his finger sliced open after opening one of Legg's letters which contained a razor blade. However, he eventually became a fan favourite and was awarded the club's player of the season award in the 1999–2000 and 2000–01 seasons. In 1999, Legg's wife Lucy noticed a lump on his neck which was later diagnosed as a non-malignant tumour. With the 1999–2000 season coming to an end, Legg decided to play on for the remainder of the season, the only people aware of his condition at the club being manager

Billy Ayre William Ayre (7 May 1952 – 16 April 2002) was an English association football, footballer who played for three clubs in a sixteen-year professional career, making over three hundred English Football League, League appearances in the process. ...

, physio Mike Davenport and club doctor Len Noakes, before having the tumour removed at the Princess of Wales Hospital in

Bridgend Bridgend (; or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge over the River Og ...

in May 2000. He left the club in July 2003 after being asked to take a 70% pay cut for the 2003–04 season, stating "''It's a big wrench to leave Cardiff, I'm absolutely gutted ..I think I deserve better than a 70% pay cut''". As a result, his final game for Cardiff was in the

2003 Football League Second Division play-off final The 2003 Football League Second Division play-off final was a football match played at the Millennium Stadium on 25 May 2003, at the end of the 2002–03 season. The match determined the third and final team to gain promotion from the English ...

, helping the club win promotion to Division One.

Peterborough United

Following his departure, Legg joined

as a player-coach, making his debut on the opening day of the season in a 3–4 defeat to

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

. As assistant manager to Steve Bleasdale at Peterborough United he featured briefly in the TV series '' Big Ron Manager'' alongside

Ron Atkinson Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939) is an English former football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Ron", he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits in the 1990s and early 2000s. Nicknamed "The Tank" during his ...

and

. In 2004, a second lump appeared in his throat and, after seeing a specialist, he decided to again wait until the end of the season before undergoing surgery to remove it. However, during a match against

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

on 22 January 2005 he was hit in the neck by an elbow from Neil Kilkenny. Reacting angrily, Legg was later sent off for a retaliatory foul on Kilkenny. Feeling pain from his neck for the first time, Legg booked himself in for the operation in April 2005, making his last appearance for Peterborough on 9 April 2005 in a 1–0 win over

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

, a match which would later turn out to be his last match as a professional. He underwent surgery several days later at

Queen's Medical Centre The Queen's Medical Centre (popularly known as QMC, Queen's Med or Queen's) is a teaching hospital situated in Nottingham, England. Until February 2012, when it was surpassed by the Royal London Hospital, it was the largest hospital in the Unit ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

. The operation to remove it was successful, although he was forced to undergo a 28 session course of

radiation therapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a therapy, treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of treatment of cancer, cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignancy, malignant cell (biology), ...

, and Legg was able to return to football, despite having believed that he would be forced to retire.

Return to football

He made his return with Maesteg Park on 1 February 2006 during a 2–0 win over Bettws. After short spells playing for Newport County and

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

, Legg joined

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

side

Hucknall Town Hucknall Town Football Club is a football club based in the town of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, England. The club is a member of the and plays at the RM Stadium. History Hucknall Town were renamed from Hucknall Colliery Welfare in 1987 and for ...

. In January 2007, he was appointed manager of Hucknall Town. He remained manager until September 2007, when he resigned following six consecutive defeats at the start of the 2007–2008 season. He returned to play for Llanelli, and was appointed manager of the side in April 2009, replacing Peter Nicholas. At the age of 42, Legg was part of the Llanelli side that inflicted a shock defeat on

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

side

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

in the first qualifying round of the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

in July 2009. Already a holder of a UEFA A coaching licence, Legg began studying for his

UEFA Pro Licence The UEFA coaching licences are documents testifying credentials of manager (association football), managers/ coach (sport), coaches among members of UEFA. The governing body for association football, football in Europe mandates several licences, e ...

in June 2010. Legg returned to football as manager of

Bangor City Bangor City Football Club () was a Welsh football club from the City of Bangor, Gwynedd. Founded in 1876, Bangor City have been founder members of the North Wales Coast League, the Welsh National League, the North Wales Combination, the W ...

in August 2016 but was sacked from the job three months later. In September 2016 he was appointed under-23 manager at his former club Cardiff City. As part of an academy shake-up, Legg left his position on 25 November 2019. He returned to Llanelli Town in November 2020 for his second spell as manager before leaving the club in November 2021. On 31 January 2025, Legg became manager at Barry Town United.

Career statistics

Honours

Swansea City *

winner: 1989, 1991 Notts County *

winner: 1995 Cardiff City *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 Football League, 1920–21 and again from 1958–59 Football League, 1958 until 1991–92 Football League, 1992. When the FA Premier League ...

: third place

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

: second place

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

FAW Premier Cup The FAW Premier Cup (until 1998 the FAW Invitation Cup) was a Wales, Welsh association football, football cup competition, organised annually by the Football Association of Wales from 1997 to 2008. Since the FAW excluded clubs playing in English fo ...

winner:

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

play-off final winner:

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Llanelli *

Welsh Premier League The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. It was found ...

winner: 2007–08 Individual *

Team of the Year: 2008–09

References

* *

External links

* at ''UpThePosh!'' The Peterborough United Database
Welsh Premier League Profile for Andy Legg
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Legg, Andy 1966 births Living people Footballers from Neath Welsh men's footballers Wales men's international footballers Men's association football wingers Men's association football fullbacks Swansea City A.F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Reading F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Maesteg Park A.F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Llanelli Town A.F.C. players Hucknall Town F.C. players English Football League players Welsh football managers Hucknall Town F.C. managers Llanelli Town A.F.C. managers Bangor City F.C. managers Cymru Premier managers People educated at Glan Afan Comprehensive School Cardiff City F.C. non-playing staff Briton Ferry Athletic F.C. players