By James Dow
Ahead of today’s JD Cymru Premier MD3 encounter at the Ogi Bridge Meadow, we’ve taken a closer look at Cardiff Metropolitan with Meet the Opposition!
History
The club formed in 1964 under the name of Cardiff College of Education FC, before joining the second division of the Welsh Football League during the 1972-73 season, where they finished seventh in their first season, three years later completing a league and FAW Intermediate Cup double. The club spent the the next 35 years moving up and down the divisions, renaming themselves three times in this period: South Glamorgan Institute FC in 1979, Cardiff Institute of Higher Education FC in 1990, UWIC Inter Cardiff in 2000, before rebranding themselves to Cardiff Metropolitan University in 2012.
The Archers achieved two back-to-back promotions in this time and finally returned to the top division of Welsh football at the end of the 2015-16 season for the first time in 10 years. They have since remained in the top-flight, with their biggest achievement beating Bala Town in a penalty shoot-out to qualify for the preliminary round of the 2019-2020 UEFA Europa League, where they were defeated by Progrès Niederkorn of Luxembourg on away goals. Their most recent league finish in the JD Cymru Premier was fifth place, where they were defeated by Caernarfon Town on penalties after a 0-0 draw in normal and extra time.
Form
Met have had an undefeated start to their league campaign, with the Archers picking up a 2-2 draw with Caernarfon Town on the opening day, before a 1-1 draw away to Briton Ferry Llansawel last weekend. The Students currently find themselves in sixth place after two matches. Met have also made it through to the third round of the Nathaniel MG Cup, where they will travel to JD Cymru South leaders Cambrian United, after they picked up a 2-0 win over Cardiff City under-21s.
Manager
Ryan Jenkins replaced former Cymru international Christian Edwards at the end of the 2021-22 season, with the latter spending 13 years in charge before stepping down at the end of the season. Jenkins has worked within the club for the last nine years, previously working as an assistant manager and managing their British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) team.
The 40-year-old is a former Nottingham Forest scholar, while he also played for Ton Pentre, Barry Town and the Archers. Since becoming head coach, Jenkins has won 50 of his 111 matches in charge with a points-per-match of 1.54. The former midfielder has led the Archers to a fifth and sixth place finish in the past two seasons, and will look to qualify for European football this season.
Key players
Lewis Rees has been a focal point for the Archers over recent years, with 52 goal contributions over 155 matches for the team. Rees began his career with The New Saints, where he made his debut in a 4-0 victory over Aberystwyth Town in 2020. That would be the only appearance for the forward that season, but he would go on to make six JD Cymru Premier appearances for the Saints in the 2020-21 season before moving on loan to the Archers. Rees scored twice in 13 appearances for the Students, while also registering three assists, before returning to the Saints. He got his first taste of European football the following summer, making three appearances for TNS during their UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying campaign, before returning to the Archers later on in the summer window. Rees has been with the Students ever since, and has had a good start to the season, scoring a brace against Pontypridd United in the Nathaniel MG Cup.
Ryan Reynolds joined the Archers last season from Penybont, and enjoyed a great first campaign, with 10 goals and four assists in 37 matches. Reynolds was part of Cardiff City’s academy before joining Penybont in the summer of 2021. The midfielder played a huge part in the side’s upwards progression, making just over a century of appearances, scoring 12 goals and registering four assists. He was also part of a Penybont side that competed in Europe in 2023, appearing in both the first and second legs against FC Santa Coloma of Andorra. Reynolds has also played for Cymru at youth level, making 13 appearances for the under-19s, with former national team manager Rob Page giving Reynolds his debut in a 2-1 victory over Sweden in 2018, where he captained the side.
They wore both shirts
Bluebirds defender Alaric Jones has been a big part of Tony Pennock’s side so far this season, appearing in both European games and starting in County’s opening game of the season against Penybont. The central defender is a product of the Bluebirds academy, and became the youngest player to sign a first team contract eight years ago today when he put pen to paper at the age of 16 years and three months.
During his time in the academy, Alaric captained the under-16s side to a national final in 2017. The defender made his first appearance for the first team in October 2017, when he made a 69-minute cameo against Carmarthen Town in the Welsh League Cup. He would go on to make two more appearances that season, both coming in the JD Welsh Cup. Alaric then made a move east to Carmarthen Town, where he spent a season at the LHP Stadium. He made five appearances in all competitions for The Old Gold before returning to the Bluebirds the following season. The centre-back cemented his place in the side over the next two seasons, making 45 league appearances and scoring his only goal to date in a 3–2 defeat to Cardiff Metropolitan in April 2022.
The defender then joined the Students the following summer, where he made 18 league appearances. He was unable to make an appearance during the 2023-24 season due to injury. Upon finishing his studies, the 24-year old returned to his local side last season, while also working as the club’s Operations and Partnerships Manager.
(Featured image: Geraint Nicholas/FAW)
