By James Dow
Ahead of today’s JD Cymru Premier encounter at LHP Stadium, we’ve taken a closer look at Caernarfon Town with Meet the Opposition!
The history
Caernarfon Town were formed in 1937 through a group of local football enthusiasts, and entered the Welsh League (North) Division One. The Canaries won the league twice over a 39-year period, before withdrawing from the league in 1976 and returning 12 months later. Caernarfon joined the Northern Premier League in 1985, while also reaching the Welsh Cup semi-final, losing 2-1 on aggregate to Cardiff City. The club joined the League of Wales in 1995-96 and spent five seasons in the top-flight, before finishing bottom of the league and being relegated to the Cymru Alliance. The Canaries returned to the top tier at the first time of asking, finishing top of the league and rejoining for the final season of the League of Wales, before it was renamed as the Welsh Premier League.
The side had a low spell around 2009 when the club’s future was in doubt, with very limited finances available to the Canaries, and a group of club officials and fans took over the club to ensure their safety. Caernarfon were, however, relegated to the Cymru Alliance in 2010-11. Things started to improve for the north Walians in the 2012-13 season, when they were not only promoted to the Huws Gray Cymru Alliance after finishing top of the Welsh Alliance, but also won the FAW Trophy final, beating Kilvey Fords FC 6-0 in what was their first FAW Trophy since 1976. The Canaries were finally promoted to the top division of Welsh football in the 2017-18 season, and have remained there ever since. Caernarfon also secured European football for the first time at the end of last season, after beating Penybont 3-1. The Canaries won their first qualifying match against Northern Irish side Crusaders on penalties after a 3-3 aggregate score, before losing 11-0 on aggregate to Polish giants Legia Warsaw in the second qualifying round.
The form
The Cofis are currently on a three-game losing streak in all competitions, most recently being knocked out of the JD Welsh Cup on penalties by Holyhead Hotspur last Friday after a 0-0 draw. They have also lost their last two league games against Aberystwyth Town and Newtown, leaving them fifth in the table. Before this run however, the Canaries were undefeated in five, winning four in a row. They are also the third top goal scorers in the league with 21, behind The New Saints (29) and league leaders Penybont (23).
The manager
Richard Davies was appointed on an interim basis towards the end of the 2022-23 season after six years as assistant manager under Iwan Williams, Sean Eardley and Huw Griffiths. Davies successfuly guided the Cofis to safety in the JD Cymru Premier, before delivering European football in his first full season in charge, and also won Manager of the Month in March. So far, Davies has taken charge of 61 matches for the Canaries, winning 23 of them, with a points per game of 1.31.
The captain
Darren Thomas joined the club during the 2012-13 season, and has played a vital part in the Canaries’ move up the leagues throughout the years. The forward is referred to as the ‘Cofi Messi’ by the Cofis supporters. Thomas has also played for Llangefni and Porthmadog. Thomas has won the Cymru Alliance League four times in his career, twice with the Canaries and twice with Llangefni. The 37-year-old finished as the club’s top goalscorer during the 2013-14 season, scoring 22 in 36 starts.
He joined top-flight club Aberystwyth Town in June 2015, but returned to Caernarfon six months later. Thomas has been ever present for the Canaries since then, and has scored over 120 goals for the Canaries, picking up multiple manager, player and fan player of the season awards over the last 12 years. Thomas has also appeared on the international stafe, making a substitute appearance for Cymru C in 2022, when they defeated England C 4-0 at The Oval.
Key player
Louis Lloyd joined the Canaries from English Football League side Wrexham in 2023, and has enjoyed a fantastic first half of the season with six goals in 13 league appearances. The forward started his career at Shrewsbury Town, being called up to the first team for the first time in September 2020 as an unused substitute in a 2-1 loss to Northampton Town in Sky Bet League One. He made his debut two months later in a 4-3 win against Crewe Alexandra in the EFL Trophy. Lloyd then joined Wrexham in 2022 after a successful trial period with the club, but did not make an appearance for the Red Dragons. The 21-year-old then joined Caernarfon at the start of the 2023-24 season, making 35 appearances, scoring ten goals, including the first goal in the JD Cymru Premier European play-off final win over Penybont.
They wore both shirts
Lewis Brass joined the Bluebirds in the 2022-23 season to provide healthy competition with Zac Jones and Josh Legrice for the number one jersey. The 28-year-old started his career with Darlington, before having spells with Carlisle United, Woakington AFC and Gateshead. Brass then joined Connah’s Quay Nomads in 2018, making three appearances in the league. The goalkeeper had a much more enjoyable 2019-20 season, where he kept 17 clean sheets in 39 appearances for the Nomads during a season where the club won not just the JD Cymru Premier, but the Nathaniel MG Cup as well.
Brass then joined the Canaries in 2020-21 after their first team goalkeeper Josh Tibbetts suffered an injury against the Nomads. He made six appearances in all competitions, including the JD Cymru Premier play-off final where they lost 5-3 to Newtown. Brass then had a short spell at Bangor City before joining the Bluebirds, where he made three appearances. He then joined Northern Premier League side Heaton Stannington, where has made 46 appearances for the Stan.
