Haverfordwest County AFC’s Ricky Watts says he is enjoying being part of the club’s upward trajectory after the midfielder made his 400th appearance for the Bluebirds in the goalless draw with Cardiff Metropolitan at Cyncoed Campus on Bank Holiday Monday.
The 32-year-old has been an integral part of the club for over a decade, and has seen the highs and lows of life with the Pembrokeshire Bluebirds.
With his recent experiences including captaining the club in Europe and playing in front of ever-growing crowds at the Ogi Bridge Meadow, he is in no doubt that the club’s upward trajectory will continue as we look to achieve a first top six finish in a 12-team JD Cymru Premier.
Watts came off the bench in the second half to bring up the incredible milestone, which is a testament to his dedication and hard work over a long period of time.
Here’s what he had to say in full after the game:
On the result
Frustrating, because we’ve come here looking for three points to carry on our good run. But it’s another clean sheet and positive performance. I think we’ve done enough in that game to get the three points. But it’s a clean sheet, and we move on to Newtown now.
It’s always a tough game. They’ve lost a few boys in there, they’ve added a couple in, but with the experience they’ve lost from last season, you think coming here now maybe we could have showed our experience and got the three points we wanted, but it wasn’t to be.
The dressing room is good at the moment. Everything is positive. This result keeps the good run going, keeps the positivity in the camp, and I’m sure we can get a good result now on Friday night.
On the milestone
It’s always an honour to put the shirt on. I didn’t realise it was 400 today. I’m really enjoying my football at the moment. I know I’m maybe towards the sort of latter part of my career, but I’m still enjoying my football and the club is on an upward trajectory. So it’s just a privilege to be a part of it. We’re on the up, that’s the club’s ambition now, so it’s nice to still be involved and play my part in games as well.
You’ve seen at the Meadow the support we’ve had, the support we had in Europe, even when we’re playing in Carmarthen now, temporarily, we’re still getting around 400 turning up. We have a good mix of local boys and obviously some top quality boys from away as well, so it’s entertaining football and the crowd, with the local boys involved, can really feel that community element to the club.
Ricky Watts of Haverfordwest County during the warm up.
Haverfordwest County v Penybont in the JD Cymru Premier at Richmond Park on the 22nd August 2024. (Pic by Lewis Mitchell/FAW)
On our target for the season
With the squad we’ve got in there now, there’s no reason why we can’t. It’s a good squad. We’ve got a good amount of experience, good amount of youth – it’s a good combination. And with our start, there’s a pretty good feeling in the camp, so there’s no reason why we can’t. Obviously if we keep trying to keep everybody fit, I know you can’t with everyone, but if we can keep most of the boys fit I think we’re more than capable of getting top six.
We’ve shown in parts today that we can play some really good football, it’s just putting it all together. We’re still a new team, so it’s still working each other out and sussing each other’s games out, but we’re getting there. I’m sure by the end of the season we’ll be there.
On our next challenge
Newtown are a physical side, but we’ve shown against Connah’s Quay and Penybont that we can match them. Caernarfon, not many teams will go there and get three points. So we’ve shown we can do the dirty work and we can also play football as well, so I think we’re good all round. There’s no reason why we can’t get the three points and push our way back up the league a bit more. So let’s keep the momentum going.
