The Welsh Football Notebook

Good morning, it’s Friday! Quite a few pieces of news to get through this morning – not least Neil Gibson’s departure from Flint Town United, with the club expected to name his successor today. This also completes the first week of the Welsh Football Notebook, so thanks to all those who have read, shared and commented. I’m not entirely sure whether to continue with the same format on weekends, what do you think? All feedback and comments welcome!

Dafydd Pritchard takes a look at where next for Gareth Bale? (BBC Sport Wales)

Flint Town United are the latest Cymru Premier side looking for a new manager after parting ways with Neil Gibson. (Official club site)

NOTES: Gibson’s exit from the Essity Stadium is the second managerial departure in the Cymru Premier this week following Nicky Hayen’s decision to leave Haverfordwest County and return to Belgium. Few would’ve expected Flint’s play-off final defeat against Caernarfon to have been ‘Gibbo’s’ last game, but a steady stream of departures and a lack of incoming replacements since have hinted of behind-the-scenes difficulties.

Work began earlier this month to install a new 3G playing surface at the club ready for the start of the new season and it’s quite feasible that this will have had some impact on next season’s playing budget as the club (quite rightly) budget accordingly. Navigating the balance between being competitive and sustainable is a constant challenge for clubs which does not seem to get any easier.

Flint announced on social media last night that they will be making a statement regarding their managerial role today. I’m told we should expect some news around early-mid afternoon and it is already reported that former Newport County, Wrexham and The New Saints midfielder Lee Fowler is set to replace Gibson, in what would be his first managerial role in Wales.

Gibson meanwhile, can consider his 18-month stint in charge of the Silkmen as a successful one, following on from his spell as assistant manager to Andy Morrison at Connah’s Quay.

Gibson has to be considered as one of the brightest managers on the domestic scene and I’m pretty sure he won’t be short of offers or out of football for too long. I would even see him as a worthy candidate for the vacant Haverfordwest job, were he not based in north Wales.

Poor facilities are continuing to blight grassroots clubs in Wales. (Iwan Griffiths / BBC Wales News)

Cambrian and Clydach have confirmed goalkeeper Cameron Clarke has made the switch to Barry Town United. Cameron follows in his father Billy Clarke’s footsteps, who made 12 appearances for the Dragons back in 2006. Cambrian are expected to make further announcements about new signings today. (Official club Twitter)

Three more players have committed to Newtown ahead of their European campaign. Brett Taylor, Henry Cowans and Dylan Towns have all agreed new deals with the Robins. (Official club Twitter)

Ex-Barry Town midfielder James Saddler is staying with newly promoted Pontypridd United. “Following conversations with Savs and Stokesy, I’m excited to be re-signing and be a part of the next chapter in the club’s progression,” he said. (Official club Twitter)

Pontypridd chairman Paul Ragan has also been explaining the decision around the recent rebrand of the club’s name to Tomos Oakley of GTFM Radio (Twitter)

Ammanford have confirmed experienced midfielder Ben Soal will remain at the club for their upcoming Cymru South campaign. (Official club Twitter)

Aberystwyth Town have announced they will play four pre-season friendlies at Park Avenue next month. (Official club site)

Highly rated striker Alex Bonthon and vice-captain Samual Powell have joined several of last season’s squad in signing new deals at Cwmbran Celtic. “I’m buzzing that ‘Bon’ has decided to sign for another season,” explained manager James Kinsella. “I knew he would have loads of interest this summer and I’m just glad he’s chosen to stick around. The boy is real quality. I can’t wait to see him do his thing for a whole season with us.” (Official club Twitter)

With the completion of a busy international period, focus is back on the club scene where the season edges ever nearer. Here are this morning’s news and notes on what looks to be another fine, sunny day.

The New Saints will likely have to navigate a difficult path in Europe this summer following the completion of the second round qualifying ties for the UEFA Champions League and Europa Conference League that took place yesterday. (UEFA)

NOTES: Saints will face or Bodo/Glimt (NOR) or KÍ (FRO) if they advance past Linfield in the first qualifying round. On the face of it, the Faroe Islanders would seem the preferred choice given that Bodo/Glimt famously beat eventual Conference League champions Roma last season and reached the competition’s quarter-final. The winner of this second round tie would then be unseeded in the third qualifying round.

Were Saints to lose to Linfield in the first round, the safety net that would allow them to enter the Europa Conference League second round doesn’t seem so safe after all, after it was confirmed they would likely face Swedish heavyweights Malmo.

Motherwell await the winners of Bala Town and Sligo Rovers, whilst Newtown will face Slovakian outfit FC Spartak Trnava if they can overcome HB Torshavn.

Staying with The New Saints, the club have announced their retained list, confirming Dean Ebbe and Louis Robles are amongst those to be moving on. (Official club site)

NOTES: Ebbe is understood to have returned to Ireland while there is no space in the squad for Adam Roscrow, who remains under contract but out of favour.

Roscrow is specifically mentioned in the release as being available for transfer or loan and it would come as no surprise to anyone were he to join another Cymru Premier club before the summer transfer window closes.

Roscrow’s second spell at Cardiff Met never really took off last season, producing five goals in 25 (1) league appearances. He is still only 27, but there’s a sense he has lost his way somewhat since his highly impressive original spell with the Archers. If he can be nurtured into rediscovering his best form, Roscrow easily has the potential to become one of the better strikers in the league again.

Personally, I’d love to see him do just that.

Competitive domestic football will return on Saturday 23rd July it has been confirmed as the FAW confirm start dates for the new season. (Cymru Football)

NOTES: The first round of the Nathaniel MG Cup will officially start the season before Tier 2 commences a week later on Saturday 30th July. The Cymru Premier will kick-off on the weekend of Saturday 13th August.

Cymru Premier fixtures are to be released at 10am on Tuesday 28th June, with an announcement on Tier 2 fixtures 24-hours later.

Following the shock announcement of Nicky Hayen’s departure (this was covered in yesterday’s post), Haverfordwest County have released episode 2 of their ‘You Can Have It All’ behind-the-scenes documentary series. (Official YouTube channel)

NOTES: I must admit, I have not yet watched either of the first two episodes but from the preview clips I have seen, the series should provide a fascinating inside look at a Cymru Premier club and should be a must-watch for anyone associated with a club at this level. I look forward to catching up on both episodes before Episode 3 next week.

Aberystwyth Town have confirmed forward John Owen will remain at the club following talks with recently appointed manager Anthony Williams. (Official club site)

Newtown have been handed a boost with the news that four players have agreed contract extensions with the club. Last season’s top-scorer Aaron Williams, goalkeeper David Jones, Ryan Sears and Rhys Hesden have all agreed to remain at Latham Park for the 2022/23 campaign. (Official club Twitter)

Carmarthen Town have completed the signing of left-back Sam Parson’s from Llanelli Town. (Official club Twitter)

A little later than planned and a lot to get through this morning, so let’s dive right into this morning’s Welsh football notes…

The Netherlands snatched a point out of Wales’ grasp in a dramatic finale in Rotterdam last night. (Philip Marsh/BBC Sport Wales)

NOTES: The League A Group 4 table paints a rather harsh picture with Wales propping up the table with a return of just one point from four matches. However, for a truer understanding of their Nations League campaign, it needs to appreciated just how misfortunate the team have been in conceding late goals, notably against the Dutch, who have claimed two ‘smash and grab’ style victories over Wales inside in a week, in addition to conceding a late goal to finish empty-handed away to Poland .

Robert Page has also had to utilise his squad to get through a heavy schedule of games, not least with the priority and pressure of the Ukraine game. Clearly there is work to be done to ensure the team are able to see games out unscathed, but the very fact that Wales are able to use their squad and still remain relatively competitive against top tier European teams speaks volumes for where our national team are right now – and this is what ultimately needs to be taken from this testing run.

Ethan Ampadu continues his impressive end of season form and is named as Wales’ star man in these player ratings. (Mathew Davies / Wales Online)

Gareth Bale insists the Welsh team will address the harsh lessons they’ve learnt in their recent games ahead of the World Cup. (Ian Mitchelmore / Wales Online)

Notes: Bale is again demonstrating his leadership qualities in fronting up and acknowledging the team’s short-comings of late and as he rightly points out, now is the ideal time to identify and work on their defensive issues, prior to the World Cup. I think back to Chris Coleman, who used to talk a lot about ensuring the team was ‘street-wise’ to see out and manage games. The team would certainly benefit from gaining a more ruthless and steely edge, like they showed against Ukraine, to aid them.

The Under-21s completed their U21 European Championship Qualification campaign with a win over Group E whipping boys Gibraltar. Dundalk’s Joe Adams opened the scoring after only 30 seconds before Nottingham Forest midfielder Oliver Hammond sealed a comfortable win in the second-half. Wales finish fourth in the group, but some way off runaway group leaders the Netherlands and Switzerland. (FAW)

The New Saints, Bala Town and Newtown were all handed difficult draws in the UEFA Champions League and Europa Conference League first qualifying round. (Cymru Football)

NOTES: The draw has not been particularly kind to the Cymru Premier clubs despite two of the three being seeded. That said, there are no ‘easy draws’ at this level for Welsh clubs and it will take big performances across both games from each team if they are to progress, with the first-legs being played in just three weeks.

The New Saints and Bala Town will both face Northern Irish and Irish opposition respectively whilst Newtown will make a difficult trip to Northern Europe.

Saints will at least have the added security net of knowing they’ll drop into the Conference League second qualifying round should they fail to progress past Northern Ireland’s Linfield in the Champions League first qualifying round.

Bala were particularly unfortunate in drawing Sligo Rovers, despite being seeded. They will also play the first-leg at the home (to be played at Park Hall) in the Conference League qualifiers, whilst Newtown face HB Torshavn of the Faroe Islands (first-leg away).

The draw for the second rounds will be made by UEFA today, so the teams will know their future opponents should they advance. That said, it would be quite an accomplishment were all three clubs to progress. Fingers crossed!

Pontypridd Town have announced they are rebranding themselves as Pontypridd United prior to their debut season in the Cymru Premier. (Official club site)

UPDATE! Haverfordwest County have announced the shock departure of manager Nicky Hayen, who will return to Belgium to manage Clube Brugge’s U23 team. (Official club site)

NOTES: A statement released by County says chairman Rob Edwards appreciates the reasons behind Hayen’s exit, however I can’t help but feel disappointed for the club who would have been supporting and planning Hayen’s first full season in Welsh football. If I were associated with Haverfordwest, I would be sorely disappointed in Hayen’s loyalty, or rather lack of, considering he only joined the club six months ago.

If his departure was to join a first-team role then I would be more sympathetic to his decision, but leaving a club where he has been backed and only made the decision to commit last December leaves a bad taste.

County now find themselves thrust into a deeply frustrating situation that forces them into making a managerial appointment with a sense of urgency. The club do state that a release clause was met to allow Hayen to depart so they will at least have some sort of financial remuneration, but that is the only positive I can draw from a pretty dire set of circumstances for the club.

Hayen was a left-field appointment which ticked a lot of boxes for ambitious County and it’ll be interesting to see what route they go down with his successor. His time in Welsh football will be considered a successful although very brief spell.

Welsh football never ceases to surprise you!

Gareth Bale has reassured fans that Wales will give 100 percent despite mounting selection worries and has also praised ‘breakout star’ Brennan Johnson as the squad wrap up their latest batch of Nations League fixtures in Rotterdam tonight. (BBC Wales Sport)

Bale has also refused to rule out a move to Cardiff City and insists his priority is ensuring he is as fit as possible for the World Cup. (BBC Wales Sport)

Louis van Gaal will give striker Vincent Janssen a chance in the side against Wales after the Dutch fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Poland last time out. (Football Oranje)

Sgorio will stream live coverage of Wales U21’s European qualifier against Gibraltar (5.00). Paul Bodin’s side are seeking their first win in five matches against Gibraltar who are winless through nine games and sit bottom of Group E. (Sgorio Twitter)

The New Saints, Bala Town and Newtown will all discover their European fate today as UEFA make their qualifying round draws. (Cymru Football)

NOTES: Despite the strides forward Welsh international sides have made in recent years, it’s fair to say progress has stalled on the domestic stage. All eyes will again be on this year’s representatives, with the action starting in the first week of July. A poor return of results will likely spark the now annual discussion of the state of the Welsh domestic game and calls for moving the football season to the summer months. Regardless of when our season runs, the stark reality however is the that the clubs are handicapped by the lack of financial resources, and unless that situation changes, we are unlikely to see any sustained improvement bar the occasional upset.

The New Saints are seeded in the Champions League first qualifying round where it has already been confirmed they will face one of Linfield (Northern Ireland), Klaksvikar Itrottarfelag (Faroe Islands), FK RFS (Latvia) or Ballkani (Kosovo) or the winners of the preliminary round winners.

Bala are seeded in the Conference League first qualifying round, whilst Newtown are unseeded.

My Twitter account @1matthewburgess will have news from the draw which starts at 11am today.

Barry Town have announced Robbie Pattern has decided to step away from football following injuries. (Official club Twitter)

Caernarfon Town have completed a double swoop for Aberystwyth Town’s forward Ben Wynne and Connah’s Quay midfielder James Owen. (Official club site)

NOTES: Owen joins his hometown club after a successful spell at the Deeside Stadium, where he earned himself a reputation has been a hardworking and reliable performer during his six seasons in the heart of the Nomads team.

This move strikes me as being one of the best signings made by a Cymru Premier club so far this summer and Huw Griffiths will be delighted to have added the 31-year-old to his squad.

The departure of Wynne will be a loss to Aber, given his pace and versatility in attack and is another coup for the Cofis, who have their sights set on pushing for European qualification next season.

AS Roma have joined the list of potential destinations for Gareth Bale. (Calciomercato / Wales Online)

Notes: As Tom Coleman rightly points out for WO, Bale reuniting with Jose Mourinho at Roma would seem unlikely given their frosty relationship at Tottenham, as confirmed by Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett.

The New Saints, Bala Town and Newtown will all be involved in tomorrow’s draws for the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying rounds. (UEFA)

Notes: Next season has already started to get real for the three clubs, who have already returned to training. They will learn on Tuesday who they will start their summer European campaigns against next month.

The New Saints will enter as one of the seeded clubs in the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round, with 15 possible opponents that include Northern Ireland’s Linfield, Poland’s Lech Poznan or a trip to far-flung Kazakhstan against FC Tobol. Should they fail to progress, they would drop into the Europa Conference League second qualifying round.

Bala Town will enter UECL as one of the 30 seeded clubs, they will not however be able to draw unseeded Newtown. The Robins will be looking to avoid draws against top seeds Flora (Estonia), Shkendija (Macedonia), Riga (Latvia) and Alashkert (Armenia).

Aberystwyth Town have confirmed that midfielders Jack Thorn and Alex Darlington will remain at the club for 2022/23. (Official club site)

Notes: A difficult season could be in store for the Seasiders next season and retaining the experienced pair will bolster new manager Andy Williams’ summer plans. Both Thorn , a reliable, hardworking midfielder, and Darlington will likely have big roles in the team next season.