Ray Woods. Interview with a Legend.

Where legendary Caernarfon Town players are concerned Ray Woods is up there amongst the footballing Gods. Cofi supporters of a certain age will need no introduction to Ray and in fact I’m sure that even today’s younger generation have probably heard tales of how he used to rule our right wing, terrorising defenders with his trademark zig-zagging runs and generally causing havoc to all comers who fancied their chances on our patch.  

In a time where moustaches and permed hair ruled football fields across the country, Ray was a cut above most of the players you’d see in non-league football grounds and, far from being the typical troubadour you’ll see in the professional game these days, he was the real deal. Quick, tough and tricky, Ray became a vital member of John King’s squad that put us on the footballing map by reaching the third round proper of the FA Cup in 1986/87.

Ray visited the Oval during the 2016/17 pre-season schedule and I was delighted to finally get to meet him. I have already written an account of this in a previous blog so won’t repeat the details here but suffice to say it was a thrill to chat to him about his time with the Canaries. He promised me that day to answer a few questions for the blog and, of course, he has been true to his word.

A small part of this interview has been published in the special booklet I produced for Alex Philp for the FA Cup team’s reunion last March (which is still available in the club shop) but most of it is new, including Ray’s thoughts on the reunion and the present Caernarfon Town side.       

So, here it is, my interview with a real Caernarfon Town legend, who also just happens to be my favourite ever Town player….

Can you give us a brief breakdown of your career in the game Ray, from the very beginning right through to the time you hung up your playing boots?

Early Days….

I began at Fender middle school where I played two years above my age and then Woodchurch High school. I played for Birkenhead, Wirral and Merseyside representative teams and between the age of eleven and fifteen I played for Shaftesbury Boys Club on a Sunday. At fourteen, I was scouted to play for Prenton Park Rovers, who were Tranmere Rovers’ youth team and signed apprentice forms for Tranmere at sixteen. I made my debut for Tranmere at seventeen against Bristol Rovers. 

I signed professional forms a year later and made around eighteen appearances before leaving the club at twenty. I played Sunday League football for the Victoria Lodge where I played alongside players such as Ian Woan and Mark Carter, who had good professional careers later on, and others were Ian Cockbain, Russ Hughes, Bobby Tynan and Mark Palios, who is chairman of at Tranmere these days. The manager was Barry Mitchell, who became a good friend and massive influence on my career. On Saturdays I played for Runcorn and then Mark Palios took me to Bangor before I moved on to Northwich Victoria and played with Steve Craven who became a good friend of mine.

Initially I said no….

Steve Craven left to play for John King at Caernarfon and John, who knew my mother well, asked her if I would be interested in a project he was building in Wales.

Initially, I said no but then John came to work on Council Sport Initiative AT4 giving sport to people out of work, which I was working on as a coach. John persuaded me to leave Northwich and join Caernarfon, who were rock bottom of the Northen Premier League, many points adrift from safety. The rest there is history!

Colne Dynamoes….

I was bought by Colne Dynamoes but didn't fit into their playing style and, whilst keeping my hand in playing for local Birkenhead team Heswall and the Victoria Lodge, I was spotted by Brian Hamilton, my old Tranmere Rovers, whom I didn't get on with, but he was by then General Manager at Wigan Athletic. He told their manager, Ray Mathias about me and Ray, who was my old coach at Prenton  Park, came and watched me play on Sunday for the Vicky Lodge. After the game he asked me to sign for Wigan but there was an issue with Colne Dynamoes about my registration contract. It got sorted and I signed for Wigan on the agreement that Bryan Hamilton had nothing to do with the first team training. I made a couple of substitute appearances and after two months Ray Mathias was sacked and Bryan Hamilton took over. I thought my professional career had finished before it got started due to my relationship with Bryan from from days gone by but he put me in the starting line-up straight away which was a big shock!

PFA and Lilleshall….

I made seven appearances up to the end of the season and looked forward to pre-season but in a friendly match against Heswall I tore my adductor muscle which kept me out for over a year. The PFA helped fund my rehab at Lilleshall and I was there for nearly four months. I was sure Wigan would release me but Bryan signed me on a month to month contract to see if I could get back playing again. At Lilleshall I not only got the injury fixed but also used their faculties to get fitter than I'd ever been!

Wigan’s Number 7.

I started pre-season in 90/91 flying and went to Russia with the squad where I had a reaction to my groin after one of the games. Nigel Adkins put me in an ice-bath and I recovered well after we got back and so started the season as Wigan's No.7. After twenty matches I'd won ten man of the match  awards and was attracting interest from a string of clubs, including Sunderland, Celtic and Milwall.

After one of our matches was postponed I was phoned and asked to go into the Club. I wondered what was wrong and if I'd done something wrong but when I got there Bryan and the club secretary put a new contract in front of me.  I asked why as I'd already signed three new contracts since my good form began and Bryan then told me they had received five bids for me but only one matched  their £250K valuation of me and that was from first division club Coventry City, who we had just played on the television in the F.A. Cup over a replay and I had been man of the match on both occasions.

Coventry and England ‘B’.

I met with Terry Butcher and Mick Mills that night and agreed to go down to their training ground, taking my friend Barry Mitchell with me and we agreed a three and a half year deal after negotiations. A week later I took my mother with me and had my first training session with the likes of Kevin Gallagher and Cyrill Regis, completed my medical and then signed my contract at the Press Conference on Midlands television. I played my first match in a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace and went on to make over twenty appearances, attracting interest from the then England boss Graham Taylor,  who had watched me as we beat Luton 5-0 and wanted me for the next England 'B' call up.

Shrewsbury….

Unfortunately, my groin problems returned after a game against Arsenal and this time it was to keep me out injured for nearly two years, after having a stomach repair and a tenotomy which was the same injury I had had at Wigan but on the other leg. This effectively killed my career at Coventry and after a number of changes in management, all of whom had not seen me play. I was released and signed a two year contract with Shrewsbury, a team I'd joined on loan earlier and helped win promotion.

In the second year of my contract I produced some of my best form for years but fell out with our boss Fred Davis after a game with Liverpool in the F.A. Cup so left when my contract was up and joined Wayne Clarke at Telford before finishing my career at Worcester City, where I became Youth Academy Manager for nine years.

Question and Answer Session:

OW: What was your favourite position as a footballer?

Ray: “I have played in a number of positions but always classed myself as a right winger.”

OW: Who was your favourite player whilst growing up and who do you support?

Ray: “I have always supported Liverpool and my favourite players were Roger Hunt and then Graeme Souness, who I got to play against later in my career.”

OW: Who was the biggest influence on your footballing career?

Ray: “Barry Mitchell and Bryan Hamilton”.

Oval Days with Caernarfon Town.

OW: What did you know of Caernarfon Town Football Club before you joined us?

Ray: “That it was in Wales!”

OW: Do you recall your first match for Caernarfon and what were your first impressions of the club?

Ray: “It was against Southport away. They won the league that year and we were miles behind anyone in the league. We were 2-0 down at half-time and I was expecting a rollicking off John, which is what I'd been used to from previous managers, but John was calm and upbeat and said we were ‘As good as them but just need to prove it to ourselves’. He asked us to go out and win the second half, no matter what the end result was. We went out and battered them second half and went 2-3 up before they got a late equaliser but that was the start of the run that kept us up and led to better things. Impressions of the Club were it was smaller than I was used to but homely and friendly and the feeling that it was a nice place to play.”

Ray (back row, third from left) lines up at the Oval with his FA Cup team-mates. Photo by Richard Birch.

THE FA Cup run.

OW: Do you recall anything of the qualifying rounds before the first round proper?

Ray: “I don't really recall the games other than the last one at Chester Le Street. We were leading 2-1 with a few minutes left and I gave the ball away and they went and scored. Kenny Jones came running up to me and said he'd kill me if we lost this game. He then proceeded to pick the ball up forty yards out and put it in the top corner for us to win 3-2.”

OW: As the team started getting into the latter stages of the qualifying rounds, did you start to believe that you could possibly make a real impact on the competition?

Ray: “We were doing really well in the League and carried the form on from the middle of rhe previous season. We had very good players and you knew we could achieve good things as a group. We had good team spirit and believed we could give anyone a game on our day but we also had consistency which was important.”

OW: Can you please recall your memories of the matches in the first, second and third round:

Stockport at home: 1-0.

Ray: “I remember the crowd and the brilliant atmosphere they created. I knew Clive Evans, who played for Stockport, very well as I cleaned his boots as an apprentice at Tranmere Rovers.”

The matches with York, 0-0 at the Oval and 2-1 away. 

Ray: “I remember setting up Austin's goal in the replay by a deflected cross and being part of a great team move for Cravo's second. I recall the reaction to beating York, who in that year had knocked Arsenal out of the League Cup, being one of shock by professional in the game and everybody else but we thoroughly deserved it on the night and it was no fluke.”

The matches with Barnsley, 0-0 at the Oval and 0-1 away.

Ray: “The only thing I remember is it wasn't a great game but we had Phil Wilson's chance in the last few minutes to win the game but ‘50p head Wizza’ missed a sitter to put us into the fourth round.”

OW: Looking back at that run, did you feel disappointed at the time not to have been drawn to face one of the First Division sides in the third round?

Ray: “I never felt disappointed with the draw as it was still a good second division team managed by a legend, Alan Clarke and a team we could give a good game to.” 

From left to right: Russ Hughes, Ray and Dave Martindale celebrate Town's victory over York. Photo by Richard Birch.

The FA Cup Squad in Ray’s own words…..

Russ Hughes - Reliable and agile but too many teeth in that head of his.

Dave Higgins – Nut job but strong and a great defender.

Glynn Jones - Quiet, reliable and steady but looked like Me Bean.

Robyn Jones - Intelligent and solid like a bulldog.

Ken Jones - Old and scary but team's rock.

Huw Williams - Strong and steady.

Dave Martindale – ‘Del Boy’ with talent who would try to sell dodgy gear to supporters out of a van at half-time.

Dave Wignall - What a passer and would have been brilliant if he could run.

Bobby Tynan – ‘Mr Crocked Knee’ would have to ice after every game but what a player he was and had everything to be top player.

Phil Wilson - My wife has a brown leather distressed looking handbag that's wrinkled with age and that’s Wizza for you but what an engine and heart.

Steve Craven - Sometimes you'd have to wake him up on the pitch when he was having a snooze as he was so laid-back but what talent with immense ability.

Austin Salmon - Worked on the trainlines and had the touch of a train but also the impact of a train at times. So strong and powerful and with an eye for goal.

Stuart Clynch - Little ‘Billy Whizz’ had great technique once you got the splinters out of his backside from sitting in the bench so much. 

Ian Cockbain - As a footballer Ian was a great cricketer. Shirley Temple look-a-like he liked a lollypop or two but was a good impact sub who loved coming on for me so he could gloat about it.

OW: Obviously, those were special days at the club, and the FA Cup team is still regarded by many supporters as the best we’ve had. How good do you think was that squad Mr King put together?

Ray: “It was a very good non-league squad and possibly could and should have got promotion to the Conference if we had not have had so many Cup games to add to a tough league. We had strength, pace, ability, maturity and fight in all the right positions due to Kingy's good eye for spotting players.”

Thoughts on Mr King….

OW: What are your thoughts on Mr King? How good was he as a manager and what made him so special?

Ray: “John and I worked together as I've already mentioned and sometimes out relationship was strained as I was quite head-strong and argued with him when I shouldn't. I don't think John was a particularly great coach on the training pitch but he had a focus on how his team should play and what each player should do within that formation that was unshakable. I feel he was a brilliant manager of players because he made you feel you could achieve great things for him and you wanted to do so.

He was eccentric in the way he put across his philosophies and I remember Ian Muir, at Tranmere, telling me he thought he was a crack-pot with his boat and rowing analogy for the season ahead, until he bought into it, saw it worked and that he was a great man-manager.”

OW: Do you have one special memory of Mr King?

Ray: “This is bitter-sweet for me as I was very disappointed John didn't take me with him when he left for my hometown Club at Tranmere and I felt I'd done enough for him to warrant the chance to go with Dave Higgins and Dave Martindale. I won player of the year in our most successful year and wanted to break back into professional football but he didn't take me with him.

Many years later we were on a panel for a Question and Answer session at the Victoria Lodge with people like Jim Harvey and Ian Muir and my overall feeling was that I'd proved him wrong and reached the top of English Football League on my own. However, I do think he taught me great lessons and I thank him for that.

Commando Style….

OW: Do you have a story or memory from your time at the club that stands out and is suitable to share with us?

Ray: “Ian Cockbain started a home game for us and after about fifteen minutes you could see him running off the pitch and into the changing room. He came back a bit later and at the end of the game he told us he'd had a bad stomach and needed the toilet urgently. As he's telling us this I'm looking for my underwear and I can't find it and Coey starts laughing and hands me a pair of my underpants that he used as he had to change his own. Obviously, I threw them away and went home 'commando' style!”

OW: In addition to the cup run, the team also finished third in the Northern Premier League. How good an achievement was that?

Ray: “I think we played over sixty five games that season in all competitions and possibly would have won the league without the Cup games but it was still a great achievement to finish in the top three of a tough league.”

OW: What did you think of the Oval as a ground?

Ray: “The Oval has a large slope on the pitch but always felt great to play on for me and I felt at home there. The ground now looks fantastic, having recently visited, and is really set up for the next level.”

OW: What was your professional job at the time you played for us Ray and what do you do these days?

Ray: “I worked with John King for Wirral Council's AT4 Sports project as a football coach. Now I run my own football company in schools and holiday clubs called 'Nutz4 Soccer'.”

OW: Is there anything else you’d like to add about your time with Caernarfon Town?

Ray: “For me, this represented the real start of my career in football and I will always have a great deal of affection for the club. The one down side was not being presented with the 'Player of the Year' trophy that I won that FA Cup run year. Steven Craven had won it the season before and was presented with it at the last home game of the season and I remember thinking I wanted that.

However, at the end of the season we were so pre-occupied with John's and a few of the lads’ departures to Tranmere and also a trip to Spain, which the club had authorized, that I didn't actually receive the trophy.”

The Reunion of the FA Cup side….

On March 18^th 2017, the FA Cup side returned to the Oval for a special reunion to celebrate that special time for the club and Ray and his former team-mates enjoyed the present side’s victory over Holywell before enjoying an evening at the social club, where they and the supporters were treated to the premiere showing of ‘All the King’s Men’ a dvd release consisting of highlights and interviews from that memorable cup run. Ray was also finally presented with his player of the year award for the 1986/87, with Steve Craven also receiving his Top Goalscorer award. I asked Ray for his thoughts on this special day:

   

OW: How did you enjoy the recent reunion with the FA Cup side Ray, and how nice was it to meet up with your former team-mates, and also with Mr King's family? 

Ray: “The re-union was a brilliant occasion for the former players and the appreciation we felt was overwhelming.

It was great to see some old friends again and remember/relive happy memories. People like Stu Clynch, Steve Craven and Russ Hughes whom I had good friendships with but as often happens in football, drifted apart and others like Dave Wignall, Ken Jones, Bobby Tynan whom I have a lot of respect for but never thought our paths would cross again.

It was great seeing Marion King looking so well and lovely catching up with John’s daughters, Jackie and Jane, as I used to attend the same school as them and they seemed happy and content with life. We all massively appreciated the effort the Club and the people of Caernarfon went to for bringing us all back together for this celebration.”

Ray finally receives his award from Richard Morris Jones.

OW: How happy were you to finally receive your Player of the Year award for the 1986/87 season?

Ray: “On a personal note, it was fantastic to receive the Player of the Year Award from all those years ago and it sits pride of place in my living room. I understood that there was a lot going on at the Club after the cup year with many changes as John left for Tranmere and so what a brilliant gesture to make by marking both Steve Craven (Top Goalscorer) and my achievement with such wonderful trophies. It will be remembered with gratitude by myself and I`m sure Steve forever.”

OW: Did watching the FA Cup video on the night bring back a few memories for you?  

Ray: “Seeing the Cup Video Highlights was a memorable part of the evening and even brought back some long forgotten memories. The time taken to source the content and then to put it together in such a professional manner was outstanding and everyone involved should be very proud with the outcome.”

The FA Cup side with Mrs King. 

OW: And finally Ray, what do you think of the side Iwan has put together and did anyone particularly impress you on the day, as we beat Holywell 6-2?

Ray: “The current team put on a great display. I enjoyed the way they built from the back and played through the thirds of the pitch with everybody looking comfortable in possession. On the day it was a mismatch and the team scored some great goals both collective and individual. Darren (the Cofi Messi) stood out on the day and his strike was pure quality. I would have been happy to play with him in our FA Cup team but as a team they look strong and organised and Iwan should be proud of the legacy that he is building.”

My heartfelt thanks to Ray for taking the time to do this, and for being so honest with his answers. A class act on and off the pitch!  

Not Quite Our Zico Moment But.....

There had been a decent amount of hype and lots of looking forward to our match at Rhyl last week and the encounter certainly lived up to everyone’s expectations. Six goals, two red cards, touchline handbags and a confused referee who forgot his bearings and in so doing seemed to channel former professional referee Clive Thomas with a poor decision that cost the Cofis a late winner. 

Huw Jones’ decision to blow his whistle for a Caernarfon free-kick as the ball headed into the Rhyl net with their keeper beaten was wrong and cost us two points but, in all fairness, I would also say that the draw was probably a fair result, though Rhyl were obviously far happier with the point than the Cofis. 

I’ll get back to the referee later but what of the match itself, was it a good advert for the Huws Gray Alliance League and did we see two sides capable of challenging for promotion to the top tier? Well, the encounter itself was exciting and had all of the ingredients required to entertain and whilst it’s probably too early in the season to make assumptions, I believe the answer to both of those questions is yes. Firstly, the standard of football was high and at the very least was on a par with anything I’ve seen in the Welsh Premier League recently so to that end it certainly reflected well on the second tier. Also, I am confident that Iwan has put together a squad that can challenge for the title this year and I although haven’t seen enough of Rhyl to be sure of their credentials, the way they fought back last Saturday having twice been two goals behind was impressive and suggests to me that they will be there or thereabouts. 

Danny Brookwell puts us ahead against Rhyl. 

I felt Caernarfon started really well and deserved our early two goal lead, courtesy of Danny Brookwell and Darren Thomas. In fact, at the point Darren made it two nil, I thought we looked comfortable and well in control of the match. An uncharacteristic mistake by Alex Ramsay gave Rhyl a lifeline before half-time and, despite Jay Gibbs restoring our two goal lead with a cracking half-volley, the hosts fought back well to grab a point. 

Darren Thomas celebrates his goal at Rhyl.

Rambo.

I’m sure some of you may have had to read that last paragraph again, particularly the part about Alex Ramsay making a mistake. It’s always a given that mistakes are made in every football match and it’s also well-documented that a higher percentage of slips by goalkeepers are more likely to result in goals for the opposition, thus always being highlighted more by supporters and the media. This is unfair but that’s how football is and, when it happens to someone like Alex, it just re-affirms to me how good he is. ‘Rambo’ has been with us for a year and in that time I cannot think of a match where he has been anything less than excellent. In addition to his technical abilities, Alex is very strong mentally, as he proved last week, when he more than made up for his slip with an outrageous acrobatic save to claw the ball off his line in the second half, and also saved a Mark Connolly penalty, although the ball rebounded kindly for the latter to clinch a point for the hosts. Iwan said in his post-match interview at Rhyl that we have the best goalkeeper in Welsh domestic football and I concur wholeheartedly, there’s no-one I’d rather have as our number one than Alex. 

Brooky.

So, after an entertaining affair that saw the sides share six goals and settle for a point each, the biggest talking point was the referee’s late intervention as Danny Brookwell seemed to have struck a late winner for us. The official thought otherwise and, with the ball on its way into an empty net, he brought play back for a Caernarfon free-kick. To add salt into the wound, he determined that the foul on Danny had occurred outside the penalty area when everyone in the stadium could see it had happened inside it so it was a case of two incorrect decisions by Mr Jones that frustrated those of a Caernarfon Town persuasion but delighted Rhyl followers. Whilst I gather he later conceded to his mistake, stating he had lost track of the match at the time of the ‘goal’, the truth is if he was in any doubt he should have given himself a few seconds to think things over or, better still, have asked his assistant for his thoughts. As I’ve already said, I believe Rhyl probably deserved a share of the spoils due to their fightback, and I’m not saying the referee was solely responsible for us dropping two points but he certainly cost us victory as a result of his poor decision. 

To make matters worse, the man in the middle gave Jay Gibbs a red card for dissent in the dying seconds of the match and whilst I am no apologist for such offences it should be noted that this would not have been an issue if Jones had not made such a poor decision in the first place. It was a sad way for Jay to leave the action as he had been brilliant and fully deserved to be named our man of the match.

Jay Gibbs.

Whilst driving home after the match and trying to make sense of what I’d seen I couldn’t help but be reminded of iconic referee Clive Thomas, who was prone to the odd controversial decision in high-profile matches. The incident I had in mind was when Thomas had famously disallowed a goal by Brazilian legend Zico in the 1974 World Cup by blowing the final whistle as the ball was heading towards the Sweden net. Here’s the link to what I was thinking of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0JFuWqwFg4

Now, I’m obviously not comparing the importance or magnitude of the incidents (I’m making this clear now before the usual suspects pipe up on social media!) but it was the same type of peculiar decision by a match official and, having looked up the incident on youtube, it’s not the only similarity. The way Mr Thomas dealt with the Brazilian players is identical to how Mr Jones dealt with our players, whilst Sweden’s celebrations in ’74 are not unlike Rhyl’s last week! I also wonder if the colour of the kits have something to do with it?

Incidentally, I happened across this quote from another former referee, Graham Poll, who offered his thoughts on the Clive Thomas and Zico incident: “Perhaps Thomas’ decision to end play as Zico was about to score was a horrendous error of judgement. Or it is even possible he blew up when he did as a theatrical demonstration of his own importance.” I’m sure that neither scenario is true of last weekend’s pantomime villain! 

It’s not the first time we’ve seen a referee misinterpret a situation and affect the course of a league match this season, and we’re still only five matches into the fixture list! The FAW should take note and look at ways of either improving the standard of their officials or invest to attract additional officials for each match. The present situation is not good enough. 

An animated touchline.

Taking a step away from the action, it was great to be back at the Corbett Sports Stadium, which must be one of the best non-league grounds in the country. The pitch looked superb, sheltered seating surrounds three quarters of the ground, there’s a bar with a balcony for those who want a beer whilst watching the match and I’ve been told that the burgers and chips are worth a go! The admission charges were a little high at £7 for adults and £2 for children but prices are decided by each club and so there’s not much one can do about these things, although the charges may have been a reason for the relatively low turnout of home supporters on the day?

Before moving on, I had the pleasure of finally meeting sports journalist Dave Jones at the match, something that was long overdue! In addition to being the best sports journalist in Wales, Dave has been a massive help to me in my role as Caernarfon Town’s media officer and I’ll forever be in his debt for the assistance he’s given me, and for what he has done for the club, by way of his excellent work and coverage of what we’ve been doing at the Oval, both on and off the pitch in recent years. Unfortunately, we only had the briefest of chats last week but it was still great to catch up with him and hopefully he’ll be able to visit our ground soon to watch a match and see the special brick he has on our wall of fame. The words on it are Dave Jones: Friend of Caernarfon Town FC and that says it all!

I mentioned in the last blog that the club now has a new website but what I failed to disclose is that we decided to introduce a new site because it has lots of additional features that we can use, with the benefit that this will enable us to share news about the ladies team and academy. Therefore, you will find dedicated pages on our new site for each team that will be updated by the academy and ladies teams, so you can be sure that the information provided is correct whilst I will continue to work on the first team and general news duties. Another useful feature is the video page, which will allow us to add to it all the videos from our official youtube channel. The new website can be found by following this link: https://caernarfontownfc.co.uk/

Jay Gibbs fires in our third goal against Rhyl. 

Having mentioned the Academy, someone told me that Welsh Premier League clubs are given £28,000 annually to help towards running their academies, whilst clubs outside the top tier receive nothing, although I believe we have been offered £400 or thereabout towards the cost of match officials for the whole of this season for our Development side, who have been invited to play in the Welsh Premier Development League. The last time I mentioned the FAW are unfairly helping out Welsh Premier League clubs at the expense of the lower leagues, their Head of competitions, Andrew Howard, sent me a tweet in response and whilst I would hate for Mr Howard et al to think I’m having another pop at them, I have to point out the unfairness of the grant policy for Academies. I’m obviously looking at things from a Caernarfon Town perspective and feel frustrated that our Academy receives no financial assistance whilst top tier club’s academies receive £28,000 and yet we have the exact same full Academy status as the clubs in the WPL. Surely, all clubs with Academy status should be given identical financial support, whilst those without the full status should receive assistance to help them develop? If the FAW is serious in its oft stated aims to help grow the game in Wales, then I’m sure there’s a fairer way to help clubs who are trying to achieve good things but are not part of the ‘Golden Dozen’ in the WPL? 

Breesey....

We have two home matches to look forward to in the next few days, the first being against Flint Town United this Saturday. The Silkmen always provide tough opposition and, having recruited well during the summer months, they are one of the sides being tipped for promotion this year. They have certainly started well enough, being unbeaten in their opening four matches and so we will have to be at our best this weekend. Having held the FAW Domestic Licence for the past few years, Flint have everything in place to go up and will be desperate to get one over us, whilst the Cofis will be determined to get back to winning ways after last week’s frustrating draw and so it should be a cracking match between two good sides.

Jamie Breese #No9

Then, on Wednesday, we will be welcoming Llandudno Junction to the Oval and whilst the newly-promoted outfit have not had the best of starts to the campaign, they will be looking forward to playing under the floodlights at our ground. As we saw against Llanfair last year, every team is capable of beating each other in this league and so it will not be easy for Iwan and the players.

Iwan mentioned in last week’s post-match interview that he is looking for maximum points from the next four matches, all of which are at home. It’s going to be a really tough task and if we're going to achieve this goal, Iwan will need his squad to be 'on it' from the off, and will want his goalscorers on fire. With this in mind, by his usual very high standards, it's been a quiet start to the campaign for Jamie Breese but he'll be chomping at the bit to play his part and I have a feeling our number nine is going to be in the thick of things during the next few weeks! 

Finally, I’ve recently been in touch with two real Caernarfon Town legends who have given me great interviews for the blog and, if all goes according to plan, you’ll get to read them very soon….

The Long and Winding Road.

What a start it’s been to the Cymru Alliance League season! The Summer months are always a drag for football supporters (apart from last year when Gareth Bale and his mates gave us plenty of excitement!) and whilst the pre-season fixtures help us with our fix, it’s not quite the same as the real thing.

The build up to the new campaign saw all and sundry predict that the second tier of Welsh football would eclipse the Welsh Premier League for thrills and spills this season and, whilst it’s too early to say if this will be the case, even at this fledgling stage, the Cymru Alliance is certainly not falling short  in the entertainment stakes.

Just two weeks in and we’ve had plenty of goals, upsets and controversies and I’m talking only of Caernarfon Town here! Let me explain….

The first Saturday of the season saw us heading to Penrhyncoch in mid Wales and, despite the unabating traffic and the rather arduous journey which always reminds me of The Beatles classic ‘The Long and Winding Road’ I do enjoy my visits to Cae Baker, where there’s a good welcome to be had and plenty of vocal support from the locals to get the heart pumping! The Canaries’ latest visit to the ground proved no exception and, after a tough, and very entertaining ninety minutes, goals by Darren Thomas and Jamie Breese gave Town the victory they deserved.

With five matches to catch up on in this blog I’ve decided against rehashing what I’ve already written in the match reports, which you can find on the club’s new official website (here’s a link to the reports:  https://www.caernarfontownfc.co.uk/Matchreport.aspx?id=134967 ) but the 2-1 scoreline did not in my opinion accurately reflect Town’s dominance on the day, although the hosts gave it a real go at salvaging a point in the closing stages. To summarise the encounter, the Cofis enjoyed the lions’ share of possession but could not take advantage of a number of decent goalscoring opportunities and, once Stefan Davis halved Town’s lead, Caernarfon had to show plenty of grit and composure to secure the points, which they did.

I can’t see many teams defeating the Roosters on their own ground and so it was a good, solid start to the season by the team but unfortunately they could not make it a winning return to action at the Oval seven days later when Holyhead Hotspur took the spoils, courtesy of a 2-1 victory.   

These days the Cymru Alliance League is top heavy with teams from up the coast and therefore local derbies are sparse for Caernarfon Town. Holyhead and Porthmadog are seen by many as our nearest local rivals in the league and have become our regular derbies in recent years so the defeat to Campbell Harrison’s side was a hard pill to swallow. What made it worse is that the key point in the match was Danny Brookwell’s sixteenth minute dismissal for a foul that also resulted in a successful penalty for the visitors. I have been informed that the referee told one of Caernarfon’s players that whilst he agreed Danny’s challenge was outside the area, he awarded the penalty because the fouled player fell inside the box. This is the first I’ve heard about this new rule and, having asked a local referee to verify it, I am still unsure if it exists. Caernarfon had started the match well but one thing we all know with Hotspur is that they’re always up for a battle and once they doubled their lead through McGuinness it was always going to be a tough task for the Cofis to salvage a point.

It was interesting to see Town manager Iwan Williams reshuffling his pack in the second half in an attempt to get something from the match and his ploy of pushing Clive Williams up front as a focal point seemed to work well. For the first time since Iwan’s arrival at the club he took a more direct approach and the players will probably feel disappointed they didn’t manage a draw as they certainly created the opportunities to get one after Nathan Craig pulled a goal back. It was a good effort by the players and I wonder how many of them and also the spectators at the match would agree with the writer of Holyhead’s match report, who thought his side had made the Cofis look ordinary?

Job done against Porthmadog, but only just....

There was a quick opportunity to bounce back from the defeat when we visited Porthmadog three days later for another one of those rare local derbies. Someone told me at the match that the Cofis had won the last eight encounters between the sides and this was pretty impressive because Port are a good side, and have been for a number of years. Having won their first two matches, Craig Papyrnik’s side were confident and played like it, proving a match for Caernarfon and twice taking the lead but Town pegged them back through Gareth Edwards and Nathan Craig before Darren Thomas struck a last minute winner.

I can’t recall many times we’ve clinched a victory so late on in a match but it was a great feeling, and a great finish by the Cofi Messi, who has started the season in scintillating form. Everyone knows how good our talisman is so there’s no need for me to wax lyrical about him but if he continues in the vein he’s started this campaign then he’s going to have a big impact on how we get on. The same can be side of Jay Gibbs, who I believe had his best match in a Caernarfon shirt during the victory at the Traeth. Iwan mentioned in his post-match interview that Jay was outstanding, despite enduring a hard time from the locals during the match and I hope he took the banter as a compliment because, from my experience anyway, the more vocal supporters usually target the oppositions’ most influential players, and Jay more than took up the challenge of silencing them with his actions on the pitch. He was named the supporters man of the match, and deservedly so, despite some stiff competition from his team-mates.

Jay Gibbs was outstanding against Port. 

Before moving on, I have to include a few special mentions. First, to the Porthmadog officials and volunteers who were as friendly as ever and were more than ready to discuss the match despite the defeat. To Gareth Evans for conducting our post-match interview in Welsh, thus proving that people do speak Welsh on the wrong side of the Felinheli bypass. And finally, to Iwan, who refused to settle for the draw and urged his team forward in search of victory!

So, not for the first time in recent years I left Port’s ground with a smile on my face until, that is, I realised there was still a match report to write and a few videos to share before the end of the day, although Messi’s winner made it a much more attractive prospect!

A home fixture with Denbigh Town was next and it promised to be another tough test of our aspirations. The Central Park outfit have been touted all summer as title challengers but had lost two of their opening three matches and so I’m sure they would have seen the trip to the Oval as the perfect opportunity to kick start their campaign and make a statement of their intent. It was good to see Danny Sullivan before the match, the former Town player having joined Denbigh after a frustrating season with us last time out. Danny’s a really good player and joined us a few weeks into the 2016/17 campaign but could not quite manage a run of successive matches in the starting line-up. Having captained Buckley and Flint before coming to us I’m sure it would have been difficult for him not to start every match but he still managed to make a good impression during his short stint with us, and who could ever forget that cracker he scored in the Welsh Cup against Rhyl? Left peg, top corner just about covers it!

Danny Brookwell scored a brace against Denbigh.

With recent signings such as Sully, Jake Eyre and Josh Davies in their team, Eddie Maurice-Jones’ squad looks strong but, on the day, they were swept away by the Cofis and, had it not been for the heroics of Goalkeeper Jonathan Hill-Dunt, the scoreline could have had an even more lop-sided look than the seven nil it eventually ended as.

Iwan’s men sprinted out of the blocks and Nathan Craig set the tone for the afternoon when he forced Hill-Dunt into a desperate fingertip save to keep the ball out of his net directly from the kick-off. His attempts to keep us at bay, through a combination of scrambling saves and his usual game management lasted just thirteen minutes, when Gareth Evans smashed the ball into the roof of the net after being set up by Darren Thomas. Another strike by Gareth and further netfinders by Chris Williams, Nathan Craig, Darren Thomas and a Danny Brookwell brace gave the Cofis an impressive victory that put them joint second in the league behind Guilsfield. Gaz Evans was voted man of the match and deservedly so. I was surprised when he told me after the Porthmadog match that he didn’t feel he had been playing well because I think he’s been pretty impressive in all our league matches thus far. He obviously has lots of quality and seems to me to have settled really well into the side, so if he thinks there’s more to come from him then he’s going to be an incredible addition to the squad.

Gareth Evans.

Incidentally, it was good to catch up with former Town player Derek Highdale during the match and even more pleasing to hear him say how impressed he was with the present Cofi team. Derek, of course, was part of John Aspinall’s side of twenty years ago who went toe to toe for a time with full-time professionals Barry Town in the League of Wales. My mate Bob reminded Derek of the time he and team-mate Chris Waring started brawling with Aberystwyth Town supporters at the Oval, and he was hit with an umbrella by an old lady near the turnstile as he walked off the pitch! Not surprisingly, he still remembers the incident!

The impressive victory over Denbigh set the side up nicely for a crack at Welsh Premier League outfit  Llandudno, who hosted us in the first round of the Word Cup four days later. We had played the Seasiders in a testimonial for Lee Thomas during the summer and on that day both sides had put out strong line-ups in an entertaining first half before giving some former players a run-out after the break. This time, of course, the managers named their strongest line-ups and there was certainly nothing friendly about the match! That’s not to say it was an overly physical encounter but there was no quarter given and, despite the post-match comments of Llandudno manager Alan Morgan, I thought it was an entertaining, and exciting encounter.  

Llandudno is a classy club, and they have an excellent set up at The Giant Hospitality Stadium. I always enjoy my visits there, despite having seen the Cofis on the receiving end of a few defeats, and last week was no exception. I’ve mentioned in past blogs how impressed I am with their ground, from the main entrance and turnstile to the players tunnel, the social club to the hospitality room, the ground staff to the impressive 4G pitch. During last week’s visit, however, I was most impressed by the Caernarfon Town side! In short, the players in yellow and green were outstanding and if I’m being absolutely honest, we were by far the best side on the pitch, and fully deserved the 1-0 victory, courtesy of a Danny Brookwell goal. This is a second point that I disagree on with Seasiders manager Morgan, who announced that no one deserved to win or lose. Having struck the woodwork, had two decent penalty shouts, seen a Jamie Breese effort hacked off the line and a handful of other near-misses, I think the Cofis were the only team that deserved the victory.  

Messi was in top form against Llandudno. 

After any particularly impressive victory it can sometimes be very hard not to go overboard when writing an official match report for the club and I always do my best to be as respectful as possible to the opposition sides. I’m not sure that I always achieve this, but if not, it’s certainly not intentional. With this in mind, I was disappointed with Llandudno’s twitter feed on the night, which I feel was less than fair to the Caernarfon’s professional performance.

As this is a personal blog, I have no qualms in saying that the tweet attributed to Llandudno’s official twitter feed concerning a foul on Gareth Evans during the match was unfair, uncalled for and unprofessional. I won’t repeat the tweet here but I’m sure you’ll find it on their feed if you look and when you do, you may understand why I find it so disappointing. 

Getting back to the football itself, it’s hard to point out a stand-out performer in such a good team performance and whilst Darren Thomas was voted the supporters man of the match, which I would agree with, I also think Gareth Edwards was exceptional at the back, Jay Gibbs strong in midfield and Jamie Breese outstanding when he joined the action in the second half.

Gareth Edwards.

So, after an eventful start to the season, we’ve now had a few days to recover due to the international break and the team travels to Rhyl this Saturday for one of the most anticipated encounters of the season. We all know the score: Rhyl were relegated from the top tier last season and are highly fancied to return at the first attempt this year whilst Caernarfon are desperate to get a spot at the top table for the first time in many years. We’re just four matches into the league season so it’s early days yet but lots of people will be looking at this as a clash of title encounters. There’s certainly a feeling of this being a ‘Big Match’ in the lead up to the fixture and as is always the case when two good sides clash, it’s going to be an exciting, nervy battle, and impossible to call. One thing’s for sure, though, Iwan will have the Cofis well prepared and the players will be ready to burst  out of the blocks!
But it's early days and the Beatles got it right, it's a  Long and Winding Road....