It’s been a memorable season for many reasons, as a fantastic group of players, both on and off the pitch, have made it one to remember for years to come, writes Simon Smith.
The highlight was The New Saints winning the FAW Youth Cup for the first time in our history, and our college side, TNS North Shropshire College, winning both leagues for the first time in their history. On the pitch, the results showed the true hard work, dedication and talent of our players. From my perspective, the main highlight is seeing a number of players offered professional contracts with the JD Cymru Premier Champions.
Those who were unfortunate not to be offered anything have steps in place to help on the next path of their career, with a number of players moving to America having been offered scholarships to play football, and four players going to high-level universities across the UK, such as Liverpool John Moores and Cardiff.
With around 18 months of football curtailed due to Covid-19, it was all new to both the players and coaches, and we had to bounce back and continue to build where we had left. Before the pandemic, we were level on points at the top of the Cymru Premier Development League, and getting ready for a second consecutive FAW Youth Cup final appearance against Chirk AAA.
The league and cups were both cancelled, and we were having to release players while working factory jobs. Fast forward 18 months and we had to start again with a brand new group of players who had only played friendlies for 12 months, while training when it was safe to do so. I can’t thank the players and parents enough for sticking with us and for their dedication and commitment.
As the 21/22 season started, we were in four league competitions – the Cymru Premier Development League, a brand new reserve league in North Wales, and both the North West Premier League and West Midlands Championship through our college programme. As well as that, we were also competing in the FAW Youth Cup, College League Cup and Super League Cup competition. It was always going to be difficult to compete on every level, but we did, and every player showed their worth to the squad.
The Development League was tougher than in many previous years. Both Aberystwyth Town and Caernarfon Town had very good teams, along with Connah’s Quay who are always very strong. The league went down to the final day of the season, but unfortunately we came up just one point short.
Some of the highlights were beating both Caernarfon and Connah’s Quay 3 – 2 in two excellent games, and going unbeaten at home all season, drawing just one against the Canaries. We had some dominant wins too against Aberystwyth (8-0) and Airbus UK Broughton (9-1). There were some excellent games in the league, which tested the players technically and tactically in some intriguing battles.
The North East Wales Reserve League was something entirely new for TNS. We’d never had a reserve team before, and some of our players had never played men’s football before. We knew it was going to be a test, both physically and mentally, but on the whole, the standard was very good and the opposition always treated us fairly.
We had some great battles, including games against Brickfield and Airbus, and again we took it to the last day of the season. Like before, unfortunately it went against us again, this time on goal difference, with a strong Gresford team winning the league.
Again, for us to compete in both leagues, and finish in the top two, is something no other scholarship programme could achieve, as most teams would need to prioritise one competition over the other. We came up against teams who respected us by playing first team players, which only enhanced the quality of the games. If the league can tidy up some of the fixtures, this will be another competition we are looking forward to next season.
Our TNS North Shropshire college teams competed on a Wednesday in our league programme with a lot more success than in previous years, and for the first time in the college’s history, we won both leagues convincingly. Our North West Premier League team finished with eight wins, one draw, and one defeat, and the big highlights were wins 5 – 1 against Coleg Cambria, and brilliant away victories against Myerscough College and Pro Direct Academy.
Our West Midlands League campaign was even better, with nine wins and just one defeat. There were some fantastic games, and a win against Hartbury college was the highlight of the league campaign. As well as great league campaigns, we also reached the quarter-finals of two national cup competitions. Once again, we’d never progressed that far in those cups, and after winning the league we moved on to the national play-off finals, losing on penalties to eventual finalists Fox Academy in one of the games of the year.
Our Youth Cup run was incredible, starting with a 5-1 away win against local rivals Cefn Druids. We then went to Caernarfon, who were league leaders at the time, and beat them 6 – 1, before facing Penybont in the semi-final at Newtown. After going a goal down in the opening minutes, we came back to win 4 – 1, which set up an exciting final against Flint Town United at Airbus UK Broughton’s Hollingsworth Group Stadium. It was a special occasion, with a huge crowd for the players to perform in front of, and although we only won 1 – 0, the performance was a joy to watch. We dominated in every aspect, and it was a special day for all the players who had played their part in the cup run.
With two league wins, a cup win, a play-off defeat, two second place league finishes, and two quarter-finals, we’ve achieved a lot more than we could have expected when we started the season. The players were brilliant throughout, but we couldn’t have achieved what we did without Spends, Drapes and Connor, along with the guidance and support from Sarge and the Gaffer.
Big thanks also go to Phil the physio, John for organising transport to games, Paul and Marie from College, and also Rhodesy for his support to all the staff.
Many of our 2nd years have now been offered contracts with our first team, and a number of our players are going on to university. We have a number of exciting 1st years who will continue to push to achieve their goals in 12 months’ time, and after our U16s reached the national finals, we are excited to work with these players to continue to help their development. With the addition of a few great signings we’ve made, we hope to continue to produce fantastic footballers both on and off the pitch.
Lead image: The New Saints Development Team celebrate their FAW Youth Cup win (Brian Jones)
