As Wales take part in their first World Cup for 64 years midfielder Joe Allen will be hoping for some minutes on the pitch. Cheering him on is his wife Lacey-Jo.
Joe and Lacey married in 2014, two years after the birth of their son Alfie and after seven years together. The pair married in the Gower just days after Joe played for Wales against Holland, where he was made captain for the first time.
Before the match, Joe said he would ‘wing it’ with both pre-match and post-vow speeches and said he had left finalising the nuptials to his then wife-to-be while out in Amsterdam. He said: "I think I’m going to wing it with both speeches so we’ll have to see how it goes. I’m not sure I can think about Saturday yet, one challenge at a time."
Lacey wore a Jenny Packham Hyacinth wedding dress and Joe was decked out in a Peter Posh Royal Blue Westbury suit. Instead of asking for wedding gifts the couple asked for donations to Llys Nini RSPCA in Swansea and raised more than £3,000 for the charity.
Llys Nini RSPCA posted to Facebook and said: "A MASSIVE thank you to Joe Allen and his Wife Lacey who visited the centre this afternoon to donate over £3,000 after the couple asked for cash donations to Llys Nini instead of weddings gifts last Saturday. CONGRATULATIONS and THANK YOU!"
As a keen animal lover Lacey and Joe have multiple pets including goats, Shetland ponies, chickens and dogs. In 2017 Lacey sold Joe's clothes on eBay to continue to raise money for Llys Nini RSPCA, as they were looking after two deaf and blind dogs and needed further funds for the extra care and medicine the dogs needed. The couple has one son together, Alfie, who was born in 2012.
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