No ordinary Joe! A personal tribute to a Welsh football hero who will never forget his roots

By Edd Young

WHEN Joe Ledley retired from football this week, the story felt close to home.

Probably because, for me, it was.

Joe lived two doors down from our house in the Cardiff suburb of Fairwater. We went to the same secondary school, Cantonian High.

And of course Joe captained the school team. In fact, his picture is still displayed at the school to this day.

As a young boy and certainly as a teenager, Joe was mesmerising to be around. He had that celebrity status in Cardiff, certainly in Fairwater. Everybody knew his name. He had that aura about him. You just knew he would make it.

I remember the days when he and his friends would climb over his garden wall to have a kick-about in the playground of Fairwater Primary School.

Me and my younger friends would sometimes do the same and get involved, or more often watch in awe at Joe’s skill.

When I told my mother that Joe had retired the first thing she said to me – the same thing she always says to me when I mention him – was: “The amount of footballs he kicked into our garden used to drive me crazy!”

Knocking the ball around in the school was one thing, but Joe was in Cardiff City’s youth system from the age of nine.

His job as an apprentice was to clean the boots of then Bluebirds captain Graham Kavanagh, and he continued to clean them for several months after breaking into the first team in 2004 at 17.

Joe was enthusiastic, hard working, energetic and had a great work rate. He was also very adaptable, initially playing on the left wing and transitioning into a central midfielder in the 2008-2009 season for Cardiff.

As he hangs up his boots having played almost 550 games and scored 69 goals in a 17-year senior career, it feels surreal to remember this is the same person who lived just a few doors down from me.

From winning titles with Celtic to that incredible Wales campaign at Euro 2016, Joe has enjoyed one hell of a professional football journey.

Seeing Joe in the Premier League was a very proud moment, even for somebody who knew him as briefly as I did.

Success and fame never went to his head. Joe has returned to the Welsh capital many times to see friends, family and even students and teachers at Cantonian. I even saw him walk into our local Spar once.

He never changed – another reason why Joe is revered in his home community.

It says much about Joe as a person that he achieved cult-hero status among Wales fans as time went on, his iconic dance routine endearing him even more to that most passionate band of football followers.

Joe didn’t have the glamour, the superstar magnetism of a Ryan Giggs or a Gareth Bale, but he was loved. He had the engine, he was dependable, he would always do a job, always give nothing less than his all.

My favourite Joe Ledley moment? The FA cup goal semi-final goal against Barnsley in 2008 for Cardiff City.

Joe goes with 77 caps for Wales, three Scottish Premiership titles and a Scottish Cup with Celtic and Premier League experience with Crystal Palace.

He is a hero down our way and beyond, an example that daring to dream can often be a worthwhile pastime.

Thanks for the memories Joe – and there plenty.