Sign up to our free newsletter for the top North Wales stories sent straight to your e-mail Sign up now! Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A football fan who turned his passion for Wales into a successful business is to open his first shop.

Tim Williams started Spirit of 58 nine years ago after seeing how hard it was to buy Welsh football merchandise for the nation’s thousands of soccer fans.

It began as something of a hobby but the online business quickly grew - becoming the place to go for Wales’s hardcore supporters.

Three years ago he went full time - inspired by his late father David Jeffrey (Dei Jeff) - who encouraged him to ‘go for it’ before he passed away four years ago.

Now after thriving online he will open his first bricks and mortar shop in the centre of Bala.

It should prove a mecca for fans - packed full of merchandise and memorabilia from Tim’s 38 years following the national team.

Talking about the growth of Spirit of 58, he said: “This was started as a hobby, a passion, nine years ago while I was working at Huws Gray.

“I had followed Wales since 1980 and saw there was a lack of merchandise to buy, back then it was sometimes hard to even get the replica kit.”

The label soon picked up a cult following - selling t-shirts and hats that paid tribute to Wales’s finest moments and players.

Word spread among fans and the business continued to grow.

It reached a point when it became near impossible to juggle the business, looking after his family and his job with Huws Gray, who he said were very supportive, particularly as he also helped care for his dad.

He said: “My dad had always been supportive and he said to ‘go for it’ when I was considering going full time.”

His gamble has paid off and a high point arrived in the 2016 Euros - both for Tim as a fan and Spirit of 58, whose bucket hats became synonymous with the Red Wall.

While Wales’s fortunes have dipped since that famous summer this has not hurt the business.

Tim said: “We keep on growing.

“People said after we lost to Ireland, ‘what will you do now’ as if that was the end. But you don’t give up on this, you don’t give up on your country and don’t give up on your football team.”

He added: “People know I am the real deal. If I had not followed Wales myself home and away since 1980 they would just think I was a businessman trying to make money. I think it is important that everyone knows I am fan like them.”

The shop is due to open in the next couple of weeks.

He said: “There are not often empty units in Bala so when this came up I got in touch.

“The rent was okay so I decided to go for it.

“The business was outgrowing the house anyway so this will be somewhere to run the online business as well as having a physical shop.

“Bala is a popular place, there are lots of people coming here to visit and a lot of them are football fans. I want to make this a special place for fans, using a lot of the memorabilia I have built up over the years.”

He believes with a clutch of new talent coming through for Wales that the future is bright for the national team and Spirit of 58.