NOTES FROM THE EDITOR Welcome back to Deeside Stadium for our first competitive fixture of the 2022/23 campaign and it gets no bigger as we welcome our perennial rivals, The New Saints in today’s Nathaniel MG Cup fixture. As always, I’ve freshened up the design of this season’s match programme to match up with the social media graphics I have been producing so far for the season and am pleased with the way it looks.
CLUB HONOURS CYMRU PREMIER 2020, 2021 WELSH CUP 2018 WELSH LEAGUE CUP 1996, 2020, 2022 EUROPA PLAYOFFS 2016 CYMRU ALLIANCE 2011, 2012 WELSH AMATEUR CUP 1953
I won’t personally be at the game this week, but I will be cheering the lads on from my holiday in northern France! Pre-season has been a strange affair this year as it’s the first one to not include a European campaign since 2016, so it was odd to have such a long spell of time off after the final fixture of last season, but it’s been great to be back and it’ll be even better when the league proper returns next weekend as we travel to Cardiff Met for our first fixture. The following week we welcome newly promoted Airbus to the Deeside Stadium in what will no doubt be a great first home league fixture of the new campaign. It’s been great to welcome the new faces to the club and as always some players have left the club who were great servants in their time here and provided me with some great personal memories. Good luck today lads and come on Nomads!
NORTH WALES CHALLENGE CUP 1994 COOKSON CUP 1988 BARRITT CUP 1995 CLWYD LEAGUE 1980, 1981, 1982 FAW YOUTH CUP 1948 CYMRU NORTH DEVELOPMENT 2013, 2020, 2022 WELSH COLLEGES U19 CUP 2015, 2016 BRITISH COLLEGES NW LEAGUE 2015, 2016, 2017
OFF FIELD STAFF CO OWNERS DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL PRESIDENT LIFE PRESIDENTS CLUB SECRETARY COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FINANCE DIRECTOR HEAD OF MATCHDAY OPERATIONS TREASURER JOURNALIST MATCHDAY CO-ORDINATOR MATCHDAY ASSISTANT HOSPITALITY HONORABLE CLUB PATRONS
Gary Dewhurst and Darren Pritchard David Norman John Gray Richard Jones, Bill Dudley Will Catterall Nik Mesney Tom Houghton Emma-Clare Hewitt John Nixon Adam Angerer Trevor Green Ray Brown Roma Gray Lord Barry Jones, Roger Speed
CONTENTS 4
6
8
10
4 6 8 10
MATCH PREVIEW
A look ahead at today’s League Cup clash
MATCH REPORT
The report from our 0-0 away draw with Runcorn Linnets
MATCH REPORT
The report from our 3-3 home draw with Nantwich Town
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY A look back at some memorable fixtures in history
12 16 18
22/23 LEAGUE CUP
Results and fixtures from this season’s competition
PLAYING SQUAD & STATS
Statistics and pen pics for this season’s squad
MATCH DATA
Fixtures, results and lineups for this season
Unlocking your opportunities in education. We are a team of educators. We are on a mission to help every young person, aspiring trainee teacher and qualified teacher get where they want to be. So, whether you are looking for an exceptional candidate to join your school, or in need of Alternative Provision or perhaps you have the aspiration to teach and are looking for the very best training pathway, the team at Educate would love to help.
Get in touch with our team today. 01978 281881 educate-group.co.uk
SEASON START WITH LEAGUE CUP VISIT OF TNS Today’s season opener sees last year’s league champions visit Deeside Stadium in the Second Round of the Nathaniel MG Cup. We have been the Champions of the Welsh League Cup for the past two iterations of the competition with it interrupted by Covid in between. We picked up victories over both STM Sports and Cardiff Met in the respective finals in 2020 and 2022. It is also the first season that we have not been in Europe since 2016, whilst The Saints missed out on Second Round qualification in the Champions’ League, losing out to Linfield in July, and as a result ended up playing Vikingur Reykjavik in the Europa Conference League, again losing out and ultimately costing Anthony Limbrick his job. Our last encounter with TNS at Deeside Stadium saw a 1-0 defeat with a late Declan Poole strike controversially ruled out by Lee Evans back in October 2021.
5
0 Apec Taxis Stadium, Runcorn, England
30th July 2022
0
NOMADS SEE OUT PRE-SEASON WITH GOALLESS DRAW Saturday evening saw The Nomads complete our pre-season schedule with a 0-0 draw against Runcorn Linnets.
himself unmarked in The Nomads’ box but fired wide without troubling Andy Firth in The Nomads’ goal.
It was the first time that the two sides had ever met and was played out in front of a crowd of 227 at The Apec Taxis Stadium in Runcorn.
After these two half-chances for the Linnets, The Nomads would take control of the remainder of the half and were disappointed not to go in at half time in front. Harry Franklin and Ryan Harrington both saw efforts from the edge of the box saved before Harrington turned provider - firstly, he picked out Wilde
Craig Harrison had to shuffle his pack somewhat with the experienced pair of George Horan and John Disney unavailable, whilst also starting a trialist who featured in the match against Wingate and Finchley the week prior for another look. Joe Malkin also returned to the bench having been out with a dead leg since the friendly at Holywell Town. Early on, The Nomads were nearly given a fortunate lead as a backpass evaded the Linnets’ goalkeeper, only to run about a foot wide of his post to spare his blushes. Mike Wilde would rise highest at the resulting corner and was unlucky not to head The Nomads ahead with only five minutes on the clock. At the other end, Runcorn were awarded a free kick when Danny Holmes was seemingly fouled before giving away a foul himself, but the inswinging free kick was easily dealt with by 17 year-old Louis Holden who was making his first start for the first team at right back. A few minutes later the Runcorn number 11 found
6
left wing before making his way into the box with just under ten minutes to go - his left-footed attempt was blocked and diverted up over the goalkeeper and landed on the roof of the net - from the resulting corner, Nash would beat the defence to the ball, only to see his headed effort again deflect up over the bar. Runcorn would finish the game with their first corner of the game, but it was headed comfortably wide as the referee blew the full time whistle on our pre-season preparations.
who knocked the ball down to Franklin whose snapshot was blocked en-route to goal. A few miutes later and there was a goalmouth scramble which saw a few blocks in front of the Linnets goal before Callum Bratley calmly regained the loose ball on the edge of the box, picking out Wilde who was backpedalling and could only head over the bar. Harrington again caused trouble down the left wing, this time sending a floated ball into the box which Mike Wilde got on the end of, only to see his header go agonisingly wide by a matter of inches. Craig Harrison made one change at half time with Joe Malkin replacing the trialist on the right wing and the side came out with the same effort that they had finished the first half, looking to make the breakthrough. Again, Bratley was the instigator as he picked up the ball some 30 yards from goal, played a neat one-two with Harry Franklin before creating the space to take a right footed shot at the Linnets’ goal which was saved by Taberner. Bratley would continue his impressive performance and nearly providied an assist for Mike Wilde who got on the end of his through ball just in front of Taberner, only to see his header skew wide of the target whilst under pressure from the onrushing goalkeeper. Runcorn rarely attacked The Nomads goal in the second half and the only moment they did have saw a ball cleared from inside the six yard box by Danny Holmes, but it was his central defending partner Ben Nash who would be creating the next opportunities for The Nomads at the other end. Having played out from the back, Nash would link up down the
7
3 Deeside Stadium, Connah’s Quay, Wales
26th July 2022
3
SIX GOAL PRE-SEASON REPEAT AT DEESIDE Tuesday night saw Connah’s Quay Nomads and Nantwich Town play our a 3-3 draw at Deeside Stadium.
over the bar and Nantwich had a chance of their own as AJ Leitch-Smith found space and sent a cross flashing across the face of The Nomads’ goal, but in the 20th minute, The Nomads would double our lead as Aron Williams broke down the right wing and whipped a ball in - Aeron Edwards got to the ball first and his effort deflected off Jon Moran to squirm past Louis Gray in the Nantwich goal.
The scoreline was a carbon copy of the pre-season fixture from 2013 when the two sides last met with both games finishing 3-3. Back in 2013, it was The Nomads who came from behind to draw level and it was the other way around on Tuesday night as The Dabbers clawed back a two goal deficit in the second half to end the game level. In comparison to Saturday’s starting lineup, there were no trialists with just one on the bench and Michael Wilde returned to the starting eleven to lead the line up front. It took The Nomads no time at all to take the lead as Harry Franklin scored his second pre-season goal. His first was a somewhat “bundled home” effort against Llandudno, but this one would take some bettering in terms of the quality of the finish. An Aron Williams cross came all the way through to Franklin on the edge of the box who would cut in on to his right foot before sending a fantastic effort in to the top corner to send The Nomads ahead. Just three minutes later, Mike Wilde sent a looping effort just
8
Colwyn Bay. Nantwich would start the second half well however and following some good play down the right from Joel Stair his cross was inadvertantly sent past Andy Firth by Danny Holmes as he attempted to intercept the cross. Just five minutes later and Sean Cooke nearly very cheekily doubled his record as he attempted a quickly dinked free kick from distance only to see Andy Firth tip the ball over as he backpedalled. Cooke would again challenge Firth, this time with a low drive and again Firth would push the effort around his post, but from the resulting corner kick, Dan Cockerline would rise highest in the box to head Nantwich level. The Nomads had a number of chances to extend our lead with Harry Franklin unleashing an effort from the edge of the box before providing a cross for Michael Wilde to head wide. Nantwich would grow into the half and in the 34th minute Joe Robbins sent a great strike goalwards only to see Andy Firth tip the effort over his bar.
The Nomads would have one final chance with just five minutes to go as Josh Williams was brought down on the edge of the box - from the resulting free kick, Ryan Harrington would send a low drive goalbound - Louis Gray would stop the shot but it fell loose inside the box and a scramble saw a Nomads trialist hit his close range effort over the bar in what would be the last goalmouth action of the game.
Firth was unable to keep The Dabbers at bay in the 43th minute however as a neat bit of play from Nantwich found Sean Cooke free inside the box who finished low to make the score 2-1. It looked as though the score would be 2-1 at half time, but this changed as Mike Wilde intercepted a loose pass across the Nantwich back line and slipped in Aron Williams who got past his marker and thundered a strike past Louis Gray to score his third goal of pre-season having already scored against Llandudno and
9
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
0 THE NOMADS FK PARTIZAN 319 1st August 20
D 0 FLINT TOWN UT THE NOMADS 317 4TH August 20
RHYL 0-2 THE NOMA DS 3RD August 2018
THE NOMADS 2-0 LL ANDUDNO 6TH August 2021
10
FOR FREE
3 YEARS FREE servicing 3 YEARS FREE road tax 3 YEARS FREE roadside assist On all new MG
Only at 9
22/23 NATHANIEL MG CUP First Round Results Caersws 1-1 Prestatyn Town (Caersws won 5-3 on penalties) Chirk AAA 1-0 Conwy Borough Debnigh Town 0-1 Gresford Athletic Holyhead Hotspur 1-2 Llandudno Mold Alexandra 2-3 Holywell Town Penrhyncoch 0-2 Buckley Town Ruthin Town 4-1 Porthmadog Briton Ferry Llansawel 3-2 Afan Lido Goytre United 1-6 Trefelin BGC Llanelli Town 1-1 Abergavenny Town (Abergavenny Town won 2-0 on penalties) Llantwit Major 0-2 Carmarthen Town Pontardawe Town 1-2 Llanidloes Town Swansea University 3-3 Cambrian and Clydach (Swansea Uni won 7-6 on penalties) Taffs Well 4-1 Ynyshir Albions Following the First Round fixtures, Llandudno, Abergavenny Town and Brition Ferry Llansawel were removed from the competition for rule breaches. Llanelli were also removed from the competition for a rules breach resulting in Penybont receiving a bye to the third round. As a result, Afan Lido have replaced Briton Ferry in the Second Round. Second Round Fixtures Cefn Druids vs Buckley Town Caersws vs Holywell Town Colwyn Bay vs Flint Town United Holyhead Hotspur vs Caernarfon Town Gresford Athletic vs Airbus UK Broughton Guilsfield vs Ruthin Town Connah’s Quay Nomads vs The New Saints Chirk AAA vs Bala Town Aberystwyth Town vs Llanidloes Town Pontypridd United vs Carmarthen Town Afan Lido vs Cwmbran Celtic Trefelin BGC vs Taffs Well Ammanford vs Swansea University Haverforswest County vs Barry Town United Cardiff Met vs Newtown
12
13
PG SPORTS THERAPY PA L O M A G I O I A B S c ( H o n s )
SPORTS INJURY & SOFT TISSUE SPECIALIST
TREATMENTS & SERVICES INJURY ASSESSMENT SPORTS MASSAGE STRAPPING & TAPING EXERCISE REHABILITATION INJURY PREVENTION PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS & ENHANCEMENT
paloma@pgsportstherapy.co.uk 07484 214895
@pg_sportstherapy @pg_therapy PG Sports Therapy
EXCLUSIVE RETAIL PARTNER
2022/23 STATS NAME
CYMRU PREMIER APPS GOALS
WELSH CUP APPS GOALS
LEAGUE CUP APPS GOALS
Andy FIRTH 0 Jon RUSHTON 0 Richard COWDEROY 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
John DISNEY Ryan HARRINGTON George HORAN Danny HOLMES Ben NASH Kris OWENS Neal EARDLEY Harry OWEN
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Callum MORRIS Callum BRATLEY Harry FRANKLIN Aron WILLIAMS Aeron EDWARDS Josh WILLIAMS
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
Michael WILDE 0 Joe MALKIN 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
^ indicates player no longer with club L indicates player on loan at another club
16
NOMADS’ SQUAD 13
Andy FIRTH
20
Jon RUSHTON
20
Richard COWDEROY
2
John DISNEY
4
Ryan HARRINGTON
5
George HORAN
8
17 10
Joe Kris OWENS MALKIN
11
Callum BRATLEY
12
Harry FRANKLIN
15 Danny HOLMES
16 Ben NASH
17
Kris OWENS
21
Aron WILLIAMS
22
Neal EARDLEY
23 Aeron EDWARDS
28 Josh WILLIAMS
17 53
Harry Kris OWENS OWEN
17
Callum MORRIS
9
Michael WILDE
2022/23 MA
JAN
DEC
NOV
OCT
SEPT
AUG
JULY
JUNE
DATE
OPPOSITION
LOC.
SCORE ATT.
STARTING XI
Tue 28
Ruthin Town
A
3-1
Trialist
Eardley
Horan
Nash
Poole
Trialist
Bratley
Sat 9
Holywell Town
A
0-2
Rushton
Eardley
Horan
Owen
Harrington
J.Williams
Trialist
Tue 12
Llandudno
A
5-0
Firth
Holmes
Horan
Nash
Harrington
Disney
A.Williams
Tue 19
Colwyn Bay
A
3-1
Firth
Holmes
Horan
Nash
Harrington
Disney
A.Williams
Sat 23
Wingate & Finchley
H*
0-1
Firth
Holmes
Trialist
Nash
Harrington
Trialist
Morris
Tue 26
Nantwich Town
H
3-3
162
Firth
Bratley
Holmes
Disney
Harrington
A.Williams
Morris
Sat 30
Runcorn Linnets
A
0-0
227
Firth
Holden
Holmes
Nash
Harrington
Trialist
Morris
Sat 6
The New Saints
H
Sat 13
Cardiff Met
A
Fri 19
Airbus UK Broughton
H
Fri 26
The New Saints
A
Fri 30
Bala Town
H
Sat 3
Penybont
H
Sat 10
Newtown
H
Fri 16
Aberystwyth Town
A
Sat 24
Pontypridd United
H
Tue 27
Caernarfon Town
A
Sat 1
Haverfordwest Cty.
H
Sat 15
Cardiff Met
H
Sat 22
Penybont
A
Fri 28
Newtown
H
Sun 6
Pontypridd United
A
Fri 18
Caernarfon Town
H
Fri 2
Airbus UK Broughton
A
Sun 11
Aberystwyth Town
H
Fri 16
Bala Town
A
Fri 23
The New Saints
H
Mon 26
Flint Town United
H
Sun 1
Flint Town United
A
Sat 7
Haverfordwest Cty.
A
Bold Player = Goalscorer Yellow Card Red Card H* = Played at The Quay 3G
380
JD Cymru Premier JD Welsh Cup Nathaniel MG Cup Friendly
18
ATCH DATA SUBSTITUTES Morris
Trialist
A.Williams
Malkin
Rushton
Disney
Harrington
Holmes
Edwards
Owen
Farley
Pownall
Gallagher-Keenan Watkin
Roberts
A.Wiliams
Bratley
Malkin
Trialist
Disney
Morris
Franklin
Nash
Edwards
Holmes
Trialist
Trialist
Morris
Edwards
Franklin
Wilde
Rushton
Bratley
J.Williams
Owen
Roberts
Pownall
Holden
Trialist
Trialist
Morris
Edwards
Franklin
Wilde
Rushton
Owen
J.Williams
Farley
Holden
Pownall
Watkin
Trialist
A.Williams
Trialist
Trialist
Trialist
Rushton
Franklin
Holden
Farley
Watkin
Edwards
J.Williams
Davies
J.Williams
Edwards
Franklin
Wilde
Rushton
Nash
Roberts
Watkin
Holden
Trialist
Bratley
Edwards
Franklin
Wilde
Rushton
Malkin
J.Williams
A.Williams
Roberts
Trialist
19
Sodhi
Trialist
Trialist
CONNAH’S QUAY
THE NEW
NOMADS
SAINTS
HEAD COACH: CRAIG HARRISON RED SHIRTS, RED SHORTS, RED SOCKS
13 Andy FIRTH 20 Jon RUSHTON xx Richard COWDEROY 2 4 5 15 16 17 22 53
John DISNEY Ryan HARRINGTON George HORAN Danny HOLMES Ben NASH Kris OWENS Neal EARDLEY Harry OWEN
8 11 12 21 23 28
Callum MORRIS Callum BRATLEY Harry FRANKLIN Aron WILLIAMS Aeron EDWARDS Josh WILLIAMS
9 Michael WILDE 10 Joe MALKIN
INTERIM HEAD COACH: CHRIS SEARGEANT GREEN/WHITE SHIRTS, GREEN SHORTS, WHITE SOCKS
1 Dan ATHERTON 25 Connor ROBERTS 2 3 4 5 12 22 24 26
Josh PASK Chris MARRIOTT Keston DAVIES Ryan ASTLES Blaine HUDSON Danny DAVIES Ash BAKER Louis BRADFORD
6 8 10 19 21
Jon ROUTLEDGE Ryan BROBBEL Danny REDMOND Ben CLARK Leo SMITH
7 9 11 17
Josh DANIELS Declan McMANUS Adrian CIESLEWICZ Jordan WILLIAMS
NEXT UP FOR THE NOMADS Cardiff Met vs Connah’s Quay Nomads Saturday 13th August 2022 | 2:30pm Cyncoed Campus, Cardiff JD Cymru Premier
NATHANIEL MG CUP
