The last month has been pretty
good for Caernarfon Town, both on and off the pitch, and if it’s an indication of
things to come, I believe we’re in for some exciting times.
 |
| Jamie Breese. |
Firstly, the new manager has been
making his mark in the transfer market, has brought four excellent players into
the club, in Joe Williams, Toby Jones, Jamie Breese and Jay Gibbs.
Goals.
We all know how good Jay is but what
of the three ‘new’ players?
Joe and Toby were members of
Llandudno’s Cymru Alliance League winning side last season and therefore know
what will be required at the Oval, where there is always pressure to do well. I
will not pretend to know too much about Joe, but have been told he can play in defence
and midfield and his versatility to the
team will be prove invaluable. He is said to be a ferocious tackler so I have
already booked a front row ticket for his ‘Extreme Tackling Contest’ with Kevin
Roberts!
Toby I have definitely heard of,
and seen a few times, and I think he is a great signing. From the records I
have seen, he scored ten goals in twenty seven appearances for the champions
last term and has previously played for
both Neath and Airbus UK in the Welsh Premier League so is obviously a talented
footballer who has played and scored at the very highest level in Wales.
 |
| Caernarfon's Wing Wizard, Jamie McDaid. |
And talking of goals, Iwan has
also signed last season’s top scorer in the Cymru Alliance, Jamie Breese, from
Llanidloes Town. Like Toby, Jamie is a true goalscorer and must be some player
to have topped the scoring charts playing for a team that finished pretty low
in the league. I know the Daffs were a decent side, but would hope that Jamie
will enjoy many more opportunities whilst playing for the Canaries and
therefore stands a decent chance of getting near the top of the scoring charts
again next season. Encouragingly, judging
from the messages I received from two prominent people in North Wales football
this week, he could be a major signing for us.
Wing Wizard.
The side did not have lots of
goals in it last season and, with the exception of Jamie McDaid, who found the
Onion Bag on twenty two occasions, we did not really have a prolific goalscorer
in the side. To be fair, Steve Lewis would have scored a fair number if he’d
played all season and of course Darren Thomas always had a goal in him (usually
from the top drawer!) but most good sides possess goals throughout the team and
I certainly think that this is true, especially now that Jamie McDaid has also
committed to the club for 2015/16. I have mentioned this more than once in
previous blogs and make no apologies for doing so again, but Bangor’s loss is
most certainly our gain where Jamie is concerned. The management at Nantporth
may not have truly appreciated Jamie but everyone at Caernarfon certainly does.
 |
| Jay Gibbs showing a referee how to kick the ball properly. |
Welcome Back Jay.
One of the perks of being the
club’s press officer is that I often get to hear quite quickly when new players
join us and it’s always exciting to read the managers’ latest messages
regarding the latest additions to his squad. This was particularly true when I
received news that Jay Gibbs had decided to re-join Caernarfon. As Cofi
supporters will already know, Jay has signed for us twice before, and so we
already know how good he is. To use a footballing idiom, I was gutted when Jay
left the club last season and am therefore delighted he’s back with us. I
thought he played really well in midfield for us under Lee Dixon last term and
feel sure that he will be a big player for us under Iwan Williams too. Judging
by his facebook account, Jay is delighted to be back at the Oval too as he
tweeted last week: ‘So happy to be back
in the best club in Wales @CaernarfonTown thanks @iwanwilliams9 #gaffer’.
 |
| Grahame Austin. |
So, we already know four of the
players that will be lining up for us next season, with the three new players joining
Jay Gibbs, Nathan Craig and Jamie McDaid, and you can also add Grahame Austin
to that number as he will again be leading the team out. I know that Iwan
already knows most, if not all, of his squad and so it remains to be seen who
he will be adding to the eight players already mentioned, and indeed how many
of last season’s team remains, although I’m sure there will be a few. One thing
is for sure, the eight we already know about are all excellent and it’s already
looking promising for next season.
Ground Improvements Gathering Pace.
Off the field, ground
improvements have continued at the Oval and, although my manual skills are
limited to painting exterior walls these days, I have recently enjoyed two Saturday
mornings at the ground with members of both the committee and the Canaries Club,
where we’ve been giving the old ground a lick of paint, and generally sprucing
the place up a bit. However, the work being carried out does not stop there,
and last week saw the arrival of over 400 lovely looking yellow and green seats
for the Hendre End Stand. Arfon, Dylan and Ken have already started bolting
them in, and, having been to the Oval tonight, they’re already looking good!
This, of course, is just part of the summer’s improvements as the club
goes all out to gain the FAW Domestic Licence. In much the same way that I am
looking forward to seeing the team in its first pre-season match, I am also
looking forward to seeing the Oval in all its glory for the start of the new
campaign. It’s going to look superb!
And just a word here to thank
those from the Canaries Club who have given up their time to help us with the
painting on Saturday mornings. Iwan has spoken of bringing the one club ethos
to Caernarfon Town and the supporters are showing what can be done when we all
pull together. The Cofi Army is a force to be reckoned with these days and who
knows what we can achieve as a club in the future?
Anglesey's WPL Side?
Before finishing, wasn’t it
exciting to hear that we have been given an away tie at Nantporth in the first
round of the Word Cup? As soon as the draw was announced, I received a message
from a friend who asked if I’d heard we had been drawn to play Anglesey’s Welsh Premier League side, the inference being that
many of the Citizens supporters live on Anglesey and not in Bangor itself. I
couldn’t possibly comment on that, of course, and can only hope that, unlike when
we last played there, this time there will be
Thankfully, the Word Cup is run by the FAW and not the North Wales Coast FA, so we're in with a chance....
Paul.
No comments:
Post a Comment