Wales goalkeeper Karl Darlow hopes to end his Wembley heartache against England – the country he once wanted to represent.
The Leeds stopper has twice been denied playing under the Wembley arch by red tape, at Newport in 2012 and in the 2023 Carabao Cup final for Newcastle.
Darlow was on loan from Nottingham Forest when he missed out on Newport’s FA Trophy final against York.
The Exiles had failed to sign the then 21-year-old before the international clearance deadline and subsequently lost an appeal, claiming a paperwork delay was not their fault.
Over a decade later, Newcastle were unable to recall Darlow from a loan spell at Hull after Nick Pope had been ruled out of a Wembley date against Manchester United.
“I’ve been slightly unfortunate and it would be nice to finally tick it (Wembley) off the list.” Darlow said ahead of Wales’ friendly with England on Thursday.
“The Newport one was on the morning of the final. They were still waiting on confirmation and the manager Justin Edinburgh was optimistic it was going to be done.
“In the end I wasn’t even allowed to be part of the matchday squad and I watched the game in the stands. I’m 35 on Wednesday, so it’s been a long time coming.
“It’s one of the biggest and the best stadiums in the world. As a footballer you want to be playing in the biggest stadiums and testing yourself on that level.”
Darlow’s grandfather Ken Leek was a member of the 1958 Wales World Cup squad that reached the quarter-finals of the competition.
But Darlow was born in Northampton and grew up with aspirations to represent England, saying in a previous interview there “would be no bigger achievement”.
Having rejected previous attempts from Wales managers to get him on board, Craig Bellamy persuaded him to join up last year and he has since established himself as the number one goalkeeper and won eight caps.
He said: “I’m fully committed to Wales and being Welsh. The England connection is no longer.
“I’ve got a young family now and my two kids are in Welsh shirts constantly. They both love it, singing songs.
“They’re going to look back and say, ‘My dad played for Wales’ and that makes me proud.”
Darlow enters the international break – Wales also play a crucial World Cup qualifier against Belgium in Cardiff on Monday – having started Leeds’ last four Premier League games.
He has taken over the gloves from the injured Lucas Perri and been in fine form, with one of his stops at Fulham nominated for September’s Premier League Save of the Month award.
🧤 Karl Darlow's save against Fulham has been nominated for the @PremierLeague's Save of the Month award for September!
— Leeds United (@LUFC) October 2, 2025
“If you’re drip-fed a game here and a game there, it’s tough,” said Darlow.
“You like to get into a rhythm of playing week in, week out and knowing you can prepare properly for each and every single game
“It’s a massive plus that I’ve had a run of games now.”
