Taith Pêl-Droed

  • Philly Aros: Adolygiad o Wrecsam, Clwb Ni

    Mae’r rhaglen dogfen Welcome to Wrexham ar Disney+ wedi creu llawer o gyffro o gwmpas CPD Wrecsam wrth gwrs, oherwydd ei fod o’r rheswm Ryan Reynolds a Rob McElhenney wedi prynu’r clwb yn y lle cyntaf wrth gwrs, ac mae’r rhaglen wedi denu sylw o gwmpas y byd ers darllediad. Felly does dim bai arnoch chi os wnaethoch chi ddim sylwi fersiwn Cymraeg yn digwydd ar S4C ar yr un pryd â’r gyfres gyntaf Disney. Dim siawns o herio’r gyfres Disney yng Nghymraeg yn anffodus (a’r diffyg cyllideb debyg), ond roedd y gyfres yn ddifyr, efo ffocws ar y clwb drwy ddiwylliant Cymraeg.

    Roedd y cynhyrchwyr yn ddoeth i gynnwys Maxine Hughes, gwyneb enwog o’r hysbysebiad Disney, yn ogystal â Wrexham Lager, radio cymuned, ac adolygiad y tymor. Roedd dau peth diddorol yn benodol. Chwaraeodd Lili Jones rhan o’r gyfres S4C cyn iddi hi ymddangos ar y gyfres Disney, rhywbeth ble S4C wedi bod yn fwy clyfar na’r tîm Disney i ddangos stori ddynol ysbrydoledig cyn iddyn nhw sylwi. Hefyd, doedd dim gymaint o ffwdan am y teulu yn y rhaglen, tair cenhedlaeth o gefnogwyr ymrwymol. Roedd cymeriadau dadleuol yn y sioe Disney ond mae’r teulu S4C wedi ymddangos yn fwy normal a gwir, ac yn haws i hoffi na rhai pobl yn Welcome to Wrexham. Mae’r gyfres Disney wedi trwsio rhai o broblemau o’r gyfres gyntaf, felly basai hi’n ddidorol i weld os mae Clwb Ni wedi copïo steil Disney neu barhau efo eu dulliau eu hunain.

    PENNOD 1

    Roedd llawer o bethau i drafod, hyd yn oed ar ôl ragymadrodd hir i ddangos popeth – mor hir ro’n i’n tybed os oedd angen i wylio’r rhaglen i gyd! Fel rhai o’r penodau o’r ail gyfres Disney, roedd y bennod yn gyflym, yn symud o thema i thema, tipyn bach yn rhy gyflym weithiau.

    Ar ôl i’r gyfres gyntaf orffen wedi methiant yn y gemau ail-gyfle, felly roedd llawer o bethau i weld i ddal i fyny, gan gynnwys dyrchafiad o’r National League a’r achlysur o’r tîm merched yn chwarae yn y Cae Ras am y tro cyntaf. Mae’r ddau beth yn teimlo fel oesoedd yn ôl rŵan oherwydd llwyddiant i’r dynion a merched ers hynny, ond mae’n werthfawr i atgoffa eich hunain eto, a’r emosiynau wedi creu ganddyn nhw. Roedd Lili Jones yn y canol o’r ddau beth eto – mae hi’n cynrychioli ei hun a’i theulu mor dda mae’n hawdd anghofio ei bod hi wedi mynd drwy rywbeth trasig. Ond mae hi’n dangos ei dewrder a chryfder bob tro, ac yn chwarae’n dda ar y cae hefyd. Bydd gôl fythgofiadwy ganddi hi i ddod ar y sioe dw i’n siŵr…

    Roedd cymysg o gefnogwyr ar y sioe. Tomi Caws fel cefnogwr am oes – tybed os bydd y sioe’n edrych am yr effaith o bobl fel fo’n colli eu swyddi newyddiadur. Dyma bwnc yn dangos chwaraeon a chyfryngau’n newid yn negyddol (hyd yn oed mae Henry Winter wedi bod yn diswyddo felly mae’n galed i bawb yn y diwydiant, yn enwedig yn y gwasg lleol). Cledwyn fel gweithiwr am amser hir hefyd, y fath o gymeriad sy’n gweithio’n ddiflino am bob clwb heb gymaint o ganmoliaeth. Ond gwelon ni gwynebau gwahanol hefyd; y “Wrexpats”, yn defnyddio’r clwb i gysylltu â’r hen wlad, cefnogwyr sydd wedi gwneud ffrindiau newydd yn Wrecsam, a hyd yn oed Ffion o Benygroes. Dw i’n disgwyl trafod ei thriniaeth ar-lein y tro nesa (dyfyniad “ddim yn fêl i gyd” iddi hi yn ystod y rhaghysbyeb pennod 2), ond mae’n werthfawr i gofio sut mae McElhenney yn trafod yr orymdaith dyrchafiad. Daeth 40,000 o bobl allan i weld y bws drwy’r strydoedd; mae’n amhosib ffitio nhw i gyd yn y Cae Ras, felly roedd cefnogwyr hen a newydd yno, rhai sy’n dod i gemau bob wythnos, ac eraill efo perthynas achlysurol i’r clwb. Mae pobl isio gweld y clwb yn tyfu, felly bydd cefnogwyr newydd yn bwysig, a sut maen nhw wedi dod i’r clwb yn ongl ddiddorol i’r cwmnïau teledu. Bydd rhaid i ni barchu cefnogwyr newydd i gadw arian yn dod i mewn…

    Roedd y ffocws ar gemau cyfeillgar yn America’n ddiddorol hefyd. Dw i ddim siŵr bod Cymru’n gwneud digon o’r cysylltiad efo America a’r arlwyddion gynnar, felly ro’n i’n hapus i weld darn am y pwnc yn Pennsylvania. Roedd darnau a’r dathliadau Las Vegas a’r anafiad Paul Mullin yn y gyfres Disney, felly doedd dim amser i gynnwys rhywbeth yn y sioe ‘ma, y tywydd ofnadwy a pheryglus yn Philadelphia. Ar ôl yr ymdrech i fynd yno, basai’r amodau wedi bod yn siomedig i’r teithwyr, ond maen nhw wedi gwneud y gorau allan o’r sefyllfa. Dw i wedi bod yn feirniadol am y bennod Welcome to Wales yn y gyfres Disney, ond dw i ddim yn gallu pwysleisio’r bennod yn stereoteipio pan cefnogwyr gwlyb yn codi eu hysbryd wrth ganu Calon Lân o dan yr eisteddle!

    Felly mae S4C wedi defnyddio pennod brysur i ymdrin â’r dyrchafiad a’r haf. Falle ychydig rhy brysur – falle basai mwy o benodau byrrach wedi bod yn well. Ond roedd y bennod yn ddifyr ac yn defnyddio pynciau na’r gyfres Disney weithiau. Mae’n bwysig i’r gyfres ddod o hyd eu ffocws eu hunain, ac mae’n gwneud hynny hyd yn hyn.

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  • Friday On My Mind: One Night at Focus Wales 2024

    Since 2011 the Focus Wales music festival has been a highlight for Wrexham as a place, attracting thousands of visitors as around 300 artists, lots from Wales but plenty from around the world, play in many venues in the city. It’s such a great event and a real boost to the area every year, one I’m almost disbelieving has grown from the ground up here and has remained here (by comparison, the Comic Con was a local success story which basically outgrew Wrexham). Although football success has changed outside perception of Wrexham, the nature of the city is still a subject of much heated debate locally, hence how amazed I am that the festival has thrived. There are a number of people and groups working hard on Wrexham’s events and new developments to make that debate much more positive, and Focus Wales was ahead of the game there. Usually I get to sample one gig at one venue on one night and they have all been amazing. This year I couldn’t settle on one so decided to try a multi-venue day ticket for the Friday. Potentially gruelling for someone in their mid-40s who likes a sit down, but I paid up and saw where a venue hopping approach took me. I’ve never been much of a music writer, I just know what I like, and saw that there was plenty that I do like if I had the stamina…

    I started at Old No.7 bar and grill (where drink will flow but hopefully no blood will spill). A venue I hadn’t been to in its current guise. I had been there when it was a Mediterranean restaurant, where me and my now wife went out for Valentines Day many years back and had a blazing row afterwards. It held more beloved status locally as Dodman’s shoe shop between 1897 and 2003, the kind of length of service much mourned when people discuss the city centre now. I went there to see Em Koko, once of the excellent Clwb Fuzz who have gone one way under the name Midding while she is now doing her own thing ( https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l-J0iufqTSkfkbd3khRxWLC1Zx0Zm1I5g&si=fU0PsALYGxGr-mk5 ), a short show but one that a lot of people crammed in to see and a great opener before making my way back up town.

    Next it was a brisk walk up to Hwb Cymraeg, where a tipi style venue was set up in Queen’s Square, an open space that hasn’t always been best used but is increasingly the centre of pop up events in Wrexham. And, this really was manna from heaven, they had set up tables and chairs! I knew I would be grateful for my time spent on those by the end. The first act was Siula ( https://youtu.be/rB1t2QP3JRI?si=IbpS2bmCcXBUQSlz  ), a synth collaboration between Cotton Wolf’s Llion Robertson and Iqra Malik, who has released music as Artshawty before. Shorter than expected due to technical gremlins delaying the start, and when you lose your minutes here you don’t get them back. Another enjoyable one albeit cursed by the dreaded people at the back who have just got to talk right at that moment. Next up here was Ynys, centred around Dylan Hughes of Radio Luxembourg and Race Horses, and the creator of absolutely one of my favourite songs of recent years ( https://youtu.be/GaK3JJYjgOM?si=HGWjCpy1mYXhok0F  ) although this was where I had my biggest dilemma of the evening, with this performance overlapping with another I was eager to see. I knew I got a clear 15 minutes here before the other show started and decided to just vibe it, and decide spontaneously when to move. When previously faced with such dilemmas I’ve ended up sticking where I was, and I ended up doing so again during their excellent set, only distracted by someone in front of me being on the Spotify page for T’Pau for some reason. The magnificent Caneuon came second last and then I had to run…

    A short hop then to Llwyn Isaf, AKA Library Field, where a marquee was set up for the showpiece gigs of the festival, possibly taking away the traditional spot for lunchtime student time wasting. The main headliners play here and the big top has hosted Echo and the Bunnymen, The Coral, and Self Esteem in the recent past, and Spiritualized were its big name for Saturday night this time. Maybe the post-Covid atmosphere helped, but the 2021 Saturday night here with Tim Burgess and Kelly Lee Owens amongst others was a particularly special evening. These gigs were once held at William Aston Hall at the university but Llwyn Isaf is a more convenient location for the venue hopper. I came for The Bug Club ( https://youtu.be/yvwASPXJEfI?si=SRy50GA63oqX8peM ), a band I was really keen to see who have been prolific in their relatively short time around, so I could have done without chopping off half their set. I got enough of their energy in the second half of that set to make up for a whole one but it felt over all too soon – damn you tight schedule. A swift toilet visit (and boy were those cubicles busy – I wouldn’t comment but there was a telltale loud and loooong sniff in the one next to mine!) and I was off again.

    I had the best of intentions to go to the Royal Oak, AKA the Polish Embassy, a Joules pub which got its informal name due to being a popular spot for members of the Free Polish Army when stationed in Wrexham during the Second World War. This would have been followed by a quick visit to St Giles church (where ludicrously Glyn from Big Brother is doing his clergy training), but the venue I wanted after that teased a secret show so I ended up there sooner than expected…

    Sacking off a traditional church for a more modern one. Hope Street Church is housed in what I still call the old Burton’s – as a son of a salesman father I spent more time than I would have liked waiting for him to buy suits and shoes here (you haven’t lived unless you’ve turned yourself inside out with embarrassment while he tried to talk his way into a discount in such places). After some time empty, the church group moved in with a contemporary vision for their services, and although I wouldn’t know anything about that, it shows what new life can be given to old buildings as retail becomes less inclined to occupy them. The secret band were revealed as Islet ( https://youtu.be/SWMx6pe4SNA?si=MwDJo4QuyAf-LQ0- ) and boy was it the right choice, they are a band who knew how to put a show on. A show that I (and someone next to me who was on Red Passion, the message board for Wrexham fans who won’t calm down) wondered was starting without them until I realised the band members were all around us – one rang his bells right in my ears knowing I hadn’t seen him yet. They promised a totally different set for Llwyn Isaf on Saturday and if only I could have managed that as well. I stayed here to see the Family Battenberg ( https://youtu.be/8SlXBNICeFc?si=ANf4SG0hxBv6DJX2 ), and while they didn’t join us in the audience they really did deliver, as well as great songs they seemed to be having the best time. This isn’t one of the showpiece stages yet the two sets I saw here were about as good as it got, proof that it’s worth spreading yourself around. And I got to sit down for ten minutes between bands, praise be!

    A leisurely walk to my next venue. I am an unashamed fan of Tŷ Pawb, a mixed use market, food court and art space created and owned by the local council to replace the old People’s Market, and something of an indicator of where you stand in Wrexham. It’s fair to say announcing such a thing to be paid for by public money attracts many a negative comment from Facebook uncles who just want their 70s market town back. It hasn’t been easy to get the place on an even keel financially, and there tends to be a turnover of traders, and that doesn’t help to cool people’s ire. But I really like it, events like this show the place at its best, and to be honest what you think about it indicates to me whether you are righteous or a philistine. Skinny Pelembe was on for my visit ( https://youtu.be/0lB8wRGsfOU?si=uyC186Qz5uQ_VQIU ), the only act I saw that I wasn’t familiar with but I’ll definitely be checking out more of his stuff, at least partly because this was another set I had to crudely chop in half to make my next venue…

    A lung bursting effort needed to get to the Wynnstay Hotel. Now this is an historic place in Wrexham, albeit one rebuilt since its most notable events. The Football Association of Wales was formed there, and David Lloyd George is reported to have announced the end of the First World War from its balcony. More recently-ish the colourful life (and death) of notorious businesswoman Stephanie Booth had one of its more prosaic events here while she owned it and had a BBC documentary made about her experiences of doing so (beat that Disney+). I tried to forget about the time my gluttony at an anniversary meal backfired here, no need for details, and came here for Gintis ( https://youtu.be/Mxc5idfJnh8?si=zS402EN3EaK9fimA ). A labyrinthine walk through the hotel took me to the stage. I had heard that their shows in previous years had been particularly celebratory. Well that was absolutely correct, as was clear when someone said “are you going to get involved?” before fighting their way to the front. This show had to be a contender for “scenes” of the evening, I’m not sure anyone I saw had an audience so determined to be part of things. Reality bit on my way out as some people spilled out of The Midland having one of those fights where people do their best to run around to avoid having to throw a punch, and generally cause more hilarity than threat. They needed a dose of Gintis to be honest with you.

    Another sprint to the Rockin’ Chair next. I still call it Central Station, as it was when I, someone who was never a clubber, went to such a thing for the last time ever. My only memory of that is looking around and thinking “I’m easily the oldest person in here” – I was 27. I have been back here a few times for bands since though, and it’s an excellent grass roots venue, one which is getting rather busy with its bookings since its latest change in ownership. I timed it perfectly to see Adwaith, ( https://youtu.be/muDUlY-kCWc?si=eTBv5kAkDS0e5Ngx  ) and here’s where I become a gushing fanboy. I have almost limitless enthusiasm for this band; it doesn’t sound possible but I managed to see them in the Covid wrecked years of 2020 and 2021 somehow. I’ve seen them a couple of times since then too, and the last time at the 2023 Focus they were better than ever. I’m not saying they’re the best Welsh language band ever but…well, they’re my favourite and that’s good enough. They were amazing of course, even though they’ve mostly abandoned my beloved songs from their first album from their set now. The new ones they played show that we might not miss those, ridiculously. Eto, AKA the big Cymraeg pop song that should be as big as Mr Brightside, closed the set and I received a couple of flailing elbows from the rapturous crowd. No time to waste though, HMS Morris on the other stage here came immediately after ( https://youtu.be/QKoYz9YKoWk?si=WkpGi3b5UkTVTjU4 ). I was looking forward to this one immensely as they were one of the names that swung Friday as my choice of night, and I hadn’t seen them before. A busy night for Heledd and Sam from the group, they were also in Ynys’ band at Hwb a little earlier. By this time of night it was craziness everywhere and it was exactly the same here, and I narrowly avoided a boot in the face from a crowd surfer at the end. I had intended to go to the Parish after this, a place resurrected as the indie centre of Wrexham, where a great night was had for Dydd Miwsig Cymru in February. But it’s best to quit when you’re on top sometimes.

    All that for a £44 ticket, preposterously good value, and even more ludicrously you could have done all three days for £75 (even cheaper for early bird prices), which compares favourably to one night at any “name” gigs you care to mention. I probably could have squeezed a dozen venues in rather than just the seven I managed. The whole thing shows off the best of the town and the music scene, so what’s not to like?  The whole thing is testament to just what is possible in a city centre with pubs, clubs, arts centres, churches and pop up venues all used. Any gripes I have are minor indeed; I would perhaps like to see a few more single venue tickets available as they once were. Tŷ Pawb on Thursday was a great lineup on its own but you couldn’t have bought a ticket for just that even if you had wanted to. As a fan of the Saith Seren pub (and Welsh language community hub) I would like to see that venue dealt back in too, as it was for Dydd Miwsig Cymru. There is the occasional moan from disgruntled metalheads around too, and it might be wise to dedicate a stage to that as it’s about the only thing which isn’t very well represented, although I would say that so much is covered that if you can’t find anything at all that you like then maybe a multi-stage, multi-genre festival isn’t for you. It is also surprising how often you hear people saying they don’t know what Focus Wales is, which I can’t quite get my head around given how it takes over the city centre at the same time every year. But most of all the gripe is knowing you simply cannot do it all; I missed so much I would have liked to see on the other two days, particularly cursing not being there for Pys Melyn and CVC on Saturday or Melin Melyn and Parisa Fouladi on Thursday, but that’s not all. I simply could not fit in anyone who played at the Fat Boar or Penny Black no matter how I sliced it, or Mali Hâf and Chroma at venues I went to on Friday for that matter. Frankly the event is just too good to fit it all in. Maybe they should do an extra day…

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  • Ellesmere 3 Newport 1 7/5/2024

    Mae pethau wedi dod yn anodd i Ellesmere Rangers. Ro’n i’n yma’r llynedd i weld gêm ddi-sgôr (a heb ddigwyddiadau tan y munudau olaf) ym mis Ionawr, ble bwyta fflapjac blasus cyn y gêm oedd yr uchafbwynt. Ond er gwaetha gêm ddiflas yn yr oerfel, roedd y tymor yn eitha llwyddiannus ar y cae, yn gorffen yn 6ed yn Adran De o’r gynghrair North West Counties. Ond trodd amgylchiadau’n waeth dros yr haf; penderfynodd y clwb i adael y gynghrair (lefel 6 o’r system non-league yn Lloegr) ac yn chwarae yn y gynghrair Shropshire, oherwydd costau gweithrediad a thrafferth i ddenu hyfforddwyr efo cymhwysterau addas. Mae’n wastad yn drist i weld clybiau’n gwneud penderfyniadau anodd fel hyn, ond gobeithio maen nhw’n cyfle i ail-adeiladu ac yn cystadlu’n gryf mewn lefel isaf…

    Wel, doedd hynny ddim yn digwydd. Efo dwy gêm ar ôl (falle dim ond un, dw i ddim yn siŵr os bydd y gêm oddi cartref yn erbyn Dawley yn cael ei ail-drefnu) dim ond gwahaniaeth goliau oedd yn gwahanu Ellesmere o’r safle gwaelod, ble mae cymdogion St Martin’s yn eistedd – clwb arall efo hanes heriol diweddar yn y gynghrair North West Counties. Gwelais i Ellesmere yn curo St Martin’s 7-0 llai na 3 flynedd yn ôl, ond mae’r frwydr rhwng y ddau’n hollol wahanol ar hyn o bryd! Ond hwn oedd un cyfle i newid y stori yn Ellesmere. Mae Newport (ddylen ni ddefnyddio Casnewydd i ddisgrifio’r tîm Saesnig?) yn saff yn 11eg allan o 17, heb gyfle o’r gemau ail-gyfle, ac roedd rhaid iddyn nhw setlo am gêm gyfartal 1-1 pan aeth Ellesmere yno ym mis Medi. Ar ôl 8 gêm heb fuddugoliaeth, falle cyfle i newid pethau yn erbyn ymwelwyr heb fuddugoliaeth yn bedwar gêm.

    Dw i newydd ddarllen All The Wide Border gan Mike Parker, sy’n astudio hanes a hunaniaeth ar y ffin rhwng Cymru a Lloegr. Gwelais i’r ddau ochr yma; cyn y gêm yn y clwb cymdeithasol, ble mi ges i brofiad neis gan gynnwys bwyd a diod rad (hanner peint o Neck Oil am bris rhesymol!) ond efo llun o’r frenhines ar y wal. Mae’r llyfr Parker yn cyfaddef bod Croesoswallt wedi dod yn fwy Saesnig na’r gorffennol, ond mae llawer o gefnogwyr Wrecsam yno o hyd. Falle mae’r ffin yn Ellesmere yn dal yn y fantol – roedd criw o arddegau yno’n creu sŵn uchel i gefnogi’r tîm gartre, gan gynnwys drwm wedi gwneud allan o fwced, caneuon fy mod i’n adnabod o Wrecsam (gan gynnwys fersiwn ei hun o’r gân James McClean) a dwy faner Cymru (ond un Chile ac un India hefyd!). Ro’n nhw gwisgo cymysg o grysau pêl-droed (Blackburn a LA Galaxy yn ogystal â Barcelona fel arfer) ond gallwn i deimlo’r frwydr rhwng Wrecsam ac Amwythig ar y ffin yn symud yn ôl ar ôl flynyddoedd o Amwythig yn dominyddu. Neis i weld criw o gefnogwyr ifanc yn cefnogi’r tîm yn angerddol beth bynnag, ond dw i ddim yn siŵr beth basai’r rhieni yn meddwl am eu rhegi!

    Weithiau mae’n amlwg pwy sy isio’r fuddugoliaeth mwy. Roedd y perfformiad hanner cyntaf yn gampus gan Ellesmere, yn gwneud eu safle yn y tabl yn edrych yn wirion. Ro’n nhw’r tîm gwell o’r chwiban cyntaf, dylen nhw wedi sgorio yn y munud cyntaf, yn methu gwneud cyffyrddiad o flaen y gôl, ond doedd dim angen aros am amser hir i sgorio’n gyntaf. Daeth y gôl wedi pum munud, gwaith da i sbïo Louie Middleton ar y chwith mewn gofod, a gyrru pas yn croesi’r cae ato fo, cyn iddo fo lithro’r bêl heibio’r gôl-geidwad, ac yn gwneud y cefnogwyr ifanc yn mynd yn wyllt. Do’n nhw ddim yn fodlon efo un, yn taro’r postyn efo peniad, yn gorfodi arbediad pwysig un yn erbyn un, ac yn creu llawer o bwysau a chiciau cornel. Ar ôl i un ohonyn nhw daro’r postyn yn uniongyrchol, ac yn methu o’r adlam rhywsut, mi ges i synnwyr o’r posibilrwydd o Ellesmere yn difaru methu gymaint o gyfleoedd…

    Ar ôl hanner awr daeth y pei cwstard. Mi gaeth Newport gic rydd wrth ymyl y cwrt cosbi, yn arwain i’r arbediad cyntaf gan gôl geidwad Ellesmere, ond ymhen eiliad roedd trosedd a chic o’r smotyn – dim amheuaeth. Er gwaetha’r cynnig criw ifanc i effeithio’r chwaraewr Newport, roedd o’n gallu sgorio – dyma’r lwc ar y gwaelod. Cyn bo hir daeth rhywbeth annhebyg o fywyd ar y gwaelod; ymhen dau funud sgoriodd Ellesmere eto, Middleton eto oddi ar y postyn wedi’r un bêl i agor yr amddiffyn i greu’r gyntaf. 2-1 i’r tîm gartre ar yr egwyl ac yn hollol haeddiannol.

    Doedd yr ail hanner mor fywiog â’r gyntaf ond roedd y gêm yn gystadleuol, ac eto roedd y tîm gartre’n edrych yn well nag eu safle yn y gynghrair. Gaethon nhw gyfle i sicrhau’r fuddugoliaeth un yn erbyn un, wedi’i beidio gan y gôl-geidwad. Mi gaeth Newport gyfle tebyg, ond roedd yr ergyd heibio’r postyn. Hwn, a dau gyfle eraill ger y diwedd, nad oedd yn argyhoeddiadol, yn dangos yn union pam nad ydyn nhw’n debygol i adael efo’r pwyntiau. Ar ôl gyfnod tawel yn y gêm, gwnaeth asgellwr ddianc Ellesmere ar y dde i greu cyfle hawdd i “Kizza” (diolch i’r gwirfoddolwr cyfrwng cymdeithasol am hynny o leia!) ac yn rhoi’r gêm sgôr sydd wedi adlewyrchu’r perfformiad i gau tymor anodd iawn.

    Er gwaetha’r tymor, dylai Ellesmere osgoi’r safle gwaelod. Wnaethon nhw ennill o gwbl tan 2024, ond wedi cael chwe buddugoliaeth yn y flwyddyn newydd, felly gobeithio byddan nhw’n dod ag hyder i’r tymor newydd wedi’r haf. Mwynhewch y traeth, mae Newport yno’n barod!

    SUMMARY SAESNEG

    Identity is fluid on the North Wales/Shropshire border. Ellesmere’s performance made a mockery of their position in the table, especially in the first half. Most clubs at this level could do with the group of teenage fans that came to this game, albeit with less of the language…

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  • Third Eye: Welcome to Wrexham 3 Mega Post

    I didn’t anticipate quite such a quick turnaround from the last time. Previous series have let a completed season breathe before being displayed to the world of course, so it was an interesting move to initially commit to starting this one with games still left to play, although this was subsequently delayed of course. This should give the series a freshness but also had potential to be anti-climactic if the season flatlined between the announcement and go live. Just as the publicity machine was grinding into gear a Wrexham team that had won relentlessly for over two years hit its first troublesome form, and brought some hilariously speedy questioning of a manager who was celebrating his 111 point haul nine months earlier. Perhaps a decent content generator for the production team as Reynolds and McElhenney might have discovered in real time what Wrexham fans could really be like, something they would rarely have been aware of up until then during this football version of  Pygmalion. Ultimately that dodgy few weeks only turned out to be a bump in the road, with automatic promotion secured with two games to spare, therefore we will get another document of success. How that is displayed to the viewing public will be interesting; despite last season’s record campaign I feel like the show was a little slow on focusing on the football itself, and displayed more struggle than was really there for a team that only dropped two home points, so this one will surely be shown to be more of a rollercoaster ride.

    This is a pessimistic take on what has been an award winning, popular and entertaining show, but for me I can’t see this series as being anything other than where the TV show becomes quite a lot less vital even if it is renewed, and the club has to develop without the white hot heat of an eagerly anticipated series to provide a spike in interest. Indeed, it will be interesting if this is the point where the show settles into having enough hardcore fans to sustain long term interest, like a footballing Kardashians, or if it’s the point where Bart Simpson as the I Didn’t Do It kid stops getting laughs. I think we need a change of tack for it to be the former; the series has committed to fewer but longer episodes, but it needs some fresh content too if it is going to continue. Will there be new characters at the front amongst the community? Is it possible or desirable to find some new angles to the story? Will there be more fly on the wall stuff rather than things more, ahem, carefully prepared? I also wonder if a more critical eye would add interest. A review in The Athletic at https://theathletic.com/5393275/2024/04/29/welcome-to-wrexham-season-three-review/  indicates positive signs about the show as a whole, but does indicate that there is still controversy swerved and a corporate line, which is hardly new but a bit rubbish really. If there’s no sign of the Luke Armstrong incident (the previous link says not), nor analysis of the owners being less than honest about loans or ground ownership, or any mention of how pre-season was financially lucrative but poor preparation then it really is a bottle job. If this Guardian piece at https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/mar/05/us-efl-wrexhams-rob-mcelhenney-ryan-reynolds-tv is to be taken at face value the comments from, gulp, board member Shaun Harvey suggest that the series continuing is very much part of the plan – and bravo to you if you can read that article without letting out a deep groan at its premise, because you’re not like me if you don’t. Pressure on the documentary team to continue to deliver though.

    In series 2 I hoped, but didn’t expect, to see that critical eye over the Wrexham project. Both series have been a weird mix of truly sensational and meaningful episodes, and some sidelines into propaganda, hype and occasional silliness. As it happens, me making such a point about Series 2 here at https://taithpeldroed.wordpress.com/2023/09/10/second-chances-welcome-to-wrexham-2-mega-post/ led to me having an interesting chat with one of the team working on the show a couple of hours after the series 2 finale went live. Some of my issues with the club and how the show portrays it were discussed. But ultimately I didn’t agree to being filmed talking about this, and I was never likely to for a number of reasons. I have a natural shyness towards such things and have no desire for that level of attention. I am under no impression that my views are bubbling under amongst the fanbase, they just about represent what I think myself, so I’m not sure there’s a point in amplifying them except for egotistical reasons. A few fans have made a show of themselves on camera at various points and I have no desire to be in that number – I’m not sure how I’d ever cope with making myself look as much of a fool (or worse) as a couple of people from Series 1. But most of all any burning issues at the club seem to burn out pretty quickly. Any big policy controversies have been won decisively by the club for better or worse, the low level issues are just tolerated now, and if any were going to be a point of order in the show it needed to be earlier when they were hotter topics (even then this was relative – none have really altered the atmosphere). The likelihood of me and the owners and/or their team on the ground having a Frost/Nixon style showdown for the cameras was less likely than me becoming a meme to represent ungrateful fans, if indeed I made the cut at all. Ultimately I don’t need the abuse, a decision justified by seeing a new fan criticised and mocked to the point of quitting social media (for a bit – most closed accounts include the Hotel California clause) having announced themselves as taking part in S4C’s second series of Wrecsam, Clwb Ni. The mob wasn’t ready to consider that following a new fan was a new and necessary angle for a new series; the fan in question was merely labelled an attention seeker and a grifter. Even Wayne from the Turf found himself in the firing line when his comparitive fame allowed him the dubious privilege of letting Prince William pull a pint in his local – rumours remain unsubstantiated that asking for bar snacks now leads to you being served a boot on a plate. While plenty of fans rallied round a fan banned for post-promotion rule breaking, there was also a barbed comment or two about them since becoming part of the show, especially as that status seems to have greased the wheels into getting their ban overturned. So god knows what the reception would be for someone who was likely to pore over some of the unpleasant corporate decisions or question how genuine the owners’ love for the community really is when they’ve barely spent any time here. You’ll have to read this site for that. I’m enough of a gobshite that every so often, not relentlessly but often enough, someone piles in to have a dig. I can take it, block and move on, but you have to keep a lid on these things, and out of real life that’s for sure.

    Bar the semi-regular off-field blunders, the atmosphere around the club is still hugely positive as long as the team doesn’t dare to drop any points (literally ever – defeat on April 2nd saw some amazing shrieking, yet promotion was won on the 13th!), and I have to be at ease with the fact that most people don’t care about the negative aspects of the setup that I do. Plus there’s the significant fact that there is a ton of good stuff going on to sustain the many believers; a successful team, long overdue investment in women’s football, the academy and the Racecourse, and the club becoming the big dog in the city and making the plastic Liverpool and Man United fans look like relics. So one question is if someone like me won’t offer an alternative take on the other stuff (Harvey, Robinson, Greenwood and Bennett’s axis of evil, debt, lack of customer service, policy U-turns on big issues, an inconsistent approach to community) then will anybody? Or will we settle back in for the love story we’ve mostly seen so far, which it has to be said absolutely represents the feelings of the local area? Let’s dive in…

    EPISODE 1 – WELCOME TO THE EFL

    Well, after several blog entries asking “gimme some truth” we got a fair bit of it here. I hadn’t anticipated the coverage of Paul Mullin’s injury to be quite so up close, if I hadn’t known what was coming I would have been a little terrified at the sight of him turning blue and not being able to catch a breath. Pretty soon we got a little glimpse behind the curtain from Shaun Harvey’s take on it, about the positive side of his traumatic injury with a quick recovery time rather than a common or garden exploded knee that keeps you out for months – should Harvey finally be bombed out of football he’ll find an excellent sideline working in an abattoir, or putting down horses who have broken their legs in the Grand National. Thanks for the compassion!

    The meat of the episode focused on the opening day calamity at home to MK. I was at that game and despite the concerns we all had about the higher standard of football, or a pre-season that didn’t seem suitable preparation, I don’t think any of us saw THAT coming. From a documentary point of view their framing was pretty sound; I have complained previously about how they have been a little bit slow in getting the ball out, so I was pleased to see this game given the focus it deserved. Lots of questions were asked about what went wrong, including by Steve Parkin afterwards, but the episode partly answered them. Allowing Chelsea to pass around you in America is financially lucrative but it is no preparation for playing a recently relegated team with a point to prove, especially when you get off the plane and basically roll straight into the first game. I would perhaps have liked to see this misstep explored in the show but…well that’s not really what it does, and that will always be the weakest part of it. Can someone explain Phil Parkinson’s “arousal levels” though? Well done to all players for not laughing at that.

    Overall it has to be said that I thought this was a really positive start, despite some early product placement reminding you of the cynical side of things, and the owners’ insistence on letting Wolverine into the dressing room showing that they’ve still got a lot to learn. I do understand that while trying to have a mass appeal the documentary team try to make it about more than football at times. But what better drama can there be than letting it take over? It was absolutely the right thing to do to allow that to open the series, warts and all. “The front men have given us absolutely nothing” and “Foster didn’t even…try” being particularly close to the bone. Bookmark this part to see if they ever show the same searing honesty to the people running the club but thumbs up to start.

    EPISODE 2 – GOALS

    Well ouch! We rolled straight out of the harsh lessons of the opening day into what was the starkest bit of behind the scenes football we’ve seen in any of the series so far. I have to say I felt a bit like a voyeur in watching the players get eviscerated by the management team against Swindon (and Elliot Lee’s rant) but it’s the sort of insight that we could probably have had a bit more of up until now. Dare I suggest that what we have seen in previous series might have affected Phil Parkinson’s approach? His “fanny fucking footballers” rant from series 1 was amusing but maybe the only time he came across badly, a bit incoherent. He and Steve Parkin showed clarity despite their obvious annoyance and they earned their corn. It was enlightening that the players sat there and took it – maybe you can’t fight back when you’re getting battered but you can point fingers at everyone else, and that didn’t happen. A nice set up for more football action too from that period of dizzying games, leading to a Swindon fan batting the camera away – that did make me giggle. Similar shots of grumbly Grimsby fans also amused.

    The transfer window contents were important although maybe we could have had a little more. You’ve got to love Steven Fletcher so a bit of focus on him can only be welcome. I was a bit surprised we didn’t get a closer focus on James McClean though; I really hope we do later on as he has a hell of a story to tell, although you maybe can’t blame him if he feels all talked out. Ben Foster’s retirement saw some welcome honesty from all involved, and you can only conclude that everybody got a little carried away post-promotion and let hearts rule heads. This may very well be something the club needs to get a grip of if it is going to punch its weight and not be more of a money pit than it already is (hello again black shirts). And of course there was no mention of Luke Armstrong, it makes too many people at the club look bad. That would have been an insight into something clubs and fans get obsessed about, a crucial part of football business but…sigh.

    I really appreciated the piece on Oliver the photographer. He is exactly the kind of person who you run into when you go to games regularly but doesn’t necessarily get a lot of attention on this kind of platform. He articulated something that definitely resonated with me about trying to find your place and its associated difficulties. I really hope he’s doing ok as he showed his battles as hard fought and ongoing. I can imagine some hardened wretches wondering why there would be such a focus on someone who admitted he hadn’t been to a game, but if this story is about Wrexham itself as much as football things then there’s no reason why not. In the before times a lot of us will have grumbled about taking stick from people who don’t go, but there were also plenty of people who didn’t go back then who wished the club well. It’s their club too.

    Sometimes it is the unsaid things that deserve extra exploration (Oliver’s comment about broadcast rights would be one – that has bitten a few people in Wrexham this season) but I have liked the football first approach while letting others add to the narrative. But ultimately I have found the first episodes really appealing, a football first approach with extra contributions rather than the other way round. 

    EPISODE 3 – NOTTS AGAIN

    A good episode again with lots to chew on. The women’s team first; most importantly if you’re going to grumble about the focus on them in this show then you really are a tiresome sort and need to be called out as such. Some interesting angles to look at; firstly the switch to semi-pro status which was welcome and can have only helped the team’s excellent performance this season. But it isn’t life changing, as shown by the hectic life of Phoebe Davies and Rosie Hughes still having to spend some time working in prison, and that’s something which is easy to forget. The thread of psychology running through the show via Del Morgan here was also worth exploring, one which they might have gone even deeper on, particularly as goalkeepers in the women’s game bear the brunt of what is said by most of the people who chip off about it (saying the goals should be smaller is a sexist trope concealed as concern for the game, basically one step up from “back to the kitchen” style comments). Her performance in the playoff final basically won everyone’s semi-pro deals single handedly, so you can only hope that the mental fragility she spoke of from her time at Everton doesn’t plague her like it did.

    The focus on Andy’s Man Club, an organisation doing its great work in many towns, was a welcome addition. There’s nothing quite like the horror of watching the doctors take your child away for a medical emergency; it happened in our lives and it was such a dizzying and bewildering time. I don’t want to think about what it would have been like if that time and my worst mental struggles had coincided. As with last week’s focus on Oliver Stephen, you can only hope that everyone concerned is doing ok and thank them for their role in speaking out about something desperately important, especially now.

    We saw the season’s turning point for the men’s team. The Stockport game was clearly a line in the sand from those early days of goals against flying in from all angles, and it was never that bad again. Considering the sports psychology and mental health element of the show, dare I suggest that how they zoned in on Will Boyle might have been a little bit counterproductive? Albeit he hasn’t been alone in this series, so far the kind of player criticism that has got air time has been near the knuckle. Praise for Phil Parkinson again though, if ever there was a time to throw teacups it was then, yet the “enthusiasm” counter seems to have been thrown in the bin. He has had to deal with loose performances at two or three stages in his time at the club and got the team to come through every time. He’s good isn’t he? 

    Back to the women’s team for the things that irritate, one documentary related, one club related. I’ve gone on and on about what dealing with Des Williams at The Rock means for Wrexham FC’s relationship to community, I even bore myself, but it’s a disgraceful transaction, it shouldn’t be happening but was there any mention of that here? Well, no obviously. Therefore it was all the more surprising that Mia Roberts got a platform to say that her release made its way to her by watching other players have their deals revealed publicly on Twitter. I had noticed a couple of disgruntled players’ fathers on social media after their daughters were released, but with no idea if that was just upset about them not making the cut or anything more. Now that we know better there can only be one conclusion; what happened was fucking disgraceful, the players concerned absolutely did not see it coming, and whoever is responsible for that had better hope that their time with the club comes to an end in a rather more sensitive manner than what they have shown to others. In the week that the club has slipped Fleur Robinson out the back door while people were looking elsewhere, and all the connotations that come with that, there is clearly work to be done on how employees are treated. A nasty taste left over and something worth remembering amongst all the other stuff the club shouts from the rooftops.

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  • Wrecsam 2 Stockport 1 27/4/2024

    Gêm derfynol y tymor i Wrecsam, un i ddathlu ac amser i fwynhau’r prynhawn heb bwysau ar y canlyniad. Gallech chi meddwl roedd mwy yn y fantol wrth wylio Stockport yn codi’r tlws League 2 wythnos diwetha; cyn-chwaraewr Caer Antoni Sarcevic yn canu cân gwrth-Wrecsam, a sawl cefnogwyr Stockport yn gorddweud am eu llwyddiant fel rhywbeth i godi cywilydd ar Wrecsam? Wel, dw i ddim yn ymwybodol am unrhyw un sy’n poeni am setlo am ddyrchafiad heb y pencampwriaeth (yn enwedig cefnogwyr Caer, Antoni), felly mae’n i weld fel bobl pêl-droed yn dangos eu penolau, fel arfer. Mae gemau yn erbyn Stockport yn annog ymddygiad fel hyn, ond dw i ddim siŵr pam. Dw i ddim yn credu bod unrhyw cefnogwr o’r ddau clwb yn ystyried y llall ar frig y rhestr o gelynion. Ond dw i ddim yn cofio unrhyw gêm yn erbyn nhw yn pasio heb ychydig o gas. Un atgof doniol oedd yn sefyll yn y Turf ar ôl gêm ac yn clywed gweiddi uchel tu allan. Ymddangosodd rhywun o flaen fy ngwyneb i weiddi “wyt ti’n mynd i ymladd i Wrecsam!!!” – edrychais ar fy mheint llawn heb ddweud un gair, ac mi aeth o i’r drws mewn tawelwch.

    Dw i wedi sgwennu am benderfynu fy nghyfnod fel perchennog tocyn tymor oedd yn dod i ben yn ystod gêm gartref yn erbyn Stockport yn 2019, ac yn treulio’r ail hanner yn y dafarn. Roedd rhan o’r bai ar fomiau mwg ar y pryd, rhywbeth sydd wedi dod pwnc llosg eto rhywsut. Mi gaeth cefnogwyr eu dal efo nhw ar ôl iddyn nhw fynd ar y cae wedi’r gêm fawr yn erbyn Forest Green, ac wedi derbyn gwaharddiad o gemau. Roedd llawer o ddadl am yr amgylchiadau, ac yn y diwedd daeth Rob McElhenney i mewn i’r drafodaeth. Mae’n i weld fel y clwb wedi newid eu meddyliau am y gwaharddiadau – nid y tro cyntaf maen nhw wedi gyrru un at gefnogwyr am resymau annheg – ond y tro cyntaf mae’r perchnogion wedi achub rhywun sydd wedi ymddangos yn y rhaglen dogfen. Llawer i bigo yno, yn enwedig gan bobl yn hongian baneri gwrth Fleur Robinson nos Wener, ond cyn y gêm ‘ma roedd y clwb yn awyddus i gyhoeddi eu bwriad i gosbi unrhyw un yn trio rhywbeth tebyg eto. Basai hi wedi bod yn bositif i glywed rhywbeth arall am y penderfyniad i ddiddymu ail gemau yn y Cwpan FA, ond byddwch chi’n aros am amser hir i glywed unrhyw beth gwrth yr awdurdodau gan glwb dan reolaeth Shaun Harvey wrth gwrs…

    Rhai pethau annisgwyl i gychwyn, ro’n i’n disgwyl Phil Parkinson i ddewis chwaraewyr yn debygol i adael y clwb, ond dechreuodd y tîm cryfach, gan gynnwys Luke Young oherwydd anafiad George Evans, ond Ben Tozer a Mark Howard ar y fainc, a dim byd o gwbl i Aaron Hayden neu Jordan Tunnicliffe. Roedd pawb yn disgwyl yr awyren yn cario neges cefnogwyr Stockport i ni ond dw i ddim yn deall y rheswm am hynny achos does neb yn gallu ei ddarllen! Roedd hi’n annisgwyl i weld hanner cyntaf mor dda gan Stockport chwaith. Roedd cyfleoedd i Ollie Palmer i Wrecsam, un ar ôl i Ben Hinchcliffe ddod allan o’r gôl heb gosb, ac un arall wedi symudiad da rhwng Cleworth, Barnett a Cannon. Ond roedd hi’n anodd am weddill yr hanner, efo Stockport yn edrych yn daclus a bywiog. Collodd Sarcevic un yn erbyn un ond doedd dim dianc am amser hir. Sgoriodd Connor Lemonheigh-Evans pan agorodd yr amddiffyn wedi hanner awr, a pherderfynodd o dilyn patrwm y dydd gan dathlu o flaen y cefnogwyr Wrecsam heb edrych ar ei gefnogwyr ei hun o gwbl – tipyn bach yn gwirion.

    Roedd angen i ail-drefnu yn ystod yr egwyl a daeth yr effaith yn syth wedi’r ail-gychwyn. Daeth pas wych drwy’r canol i ddod o hyd Ollie Palmer yn yr ail munud, ac roedd o’n cryf a gosteg cyn iddo fo orffen i newid y gêm. Heblaw un cyfnod ble Stockport ergydiodd heibio’r postyn yn agos, roedd yr ymwelwyr yn hapus i fod yn amyneddgar heb gymaint o berygl, ac mi gaeth Wrecsam fwy o feddiant peryglus na’r hanner cyntaf. Ond ro’n ni’n disgwyl gêm gyfartal pan, allan o nunlle, daeth ergyd pwerus gan Andy Cannon i gipio’r tri phwynt. Ar y pryd ro’n i’n siarad amdano fo fel fy chwaraewr y tymor, fel arfer dw i ddim yn edrych pa mor clyfar!

    Erbyn y diwedd doedd dim byd yn y fantol ar ôl heblaw cystadleuaeth canu, “Champions Again” v “It Took You Two Years”. Er gwaetha’r sylwadau gwirion cyn (ac yn ystod!) y gêm gallech chi deimlo awyrgylch gwell nag arfer, yn gadael y ddau dîm i dderbyn llongyfarchiadau oddi wrth eu cefnogwyr. Falle bydd yr ymddygiad gwael yn dychwelyd yn League 1 ond mae’n well hebddo fo. Roedd canol y dref yn gorlawn ac yn barod am barti arall – mwynhewch!

    SUMMARY SAESNEG

    Not the game for a slightly fractious week but it was a nicer atmosphere than usual against Stockport. A game of two halves settled by a thunderous strike. It’s unusual to look as smart as when you discuss your player of the season and he immediately scores.

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  • Summary Saesneg 2: At The Hop

    TL;DR to this rambly piece. The Wrexham thing is a circus but it is a fun one. Respect managers. Welsh football is at another crossroads but we should be backing it from inside rather than outside. Football can furnish your life but it should never take it over. For more…keep reading. You’ll need to really keep reading.

    Wrexham

    I had prepared myself for a season of EFL Trophy games and seeing what came on TV, or a midweek stream if live games hadn’t really happened. I took the choice to stop being a club member when a charge was introduced that I felt was poor value for money, so I was at ease with the fact that I wouldn’t get to choose when to go anymore. Last year it was TV only for Notts County and Boreham Wood, I was fine with it and that was that. As it stands, I have ended up with the opportunity to go the Racecourse quite regularly this time due to spares floating around. This has been a welcome bonus; I’ve never stopped enjoying watching the team even though my commitment to the grind has evaporated, and I got quite a mixed bag of games. Being 2-0 down to MK after ten minutes of the opening day took the wind out of everyone’s sails and it looked like the team wasn’t prepared for the step up. The harshness of the higher level took some time to settle down but provided entertainment in spades; I wasn’t there for the 5-5 (!) draw against Swindon but I was for the 3-3 draw against Crewe. Red card setbacks, a Mullin and Fletcher masterclass, and the crowd roaring the team to a stoppage time point provided a classic topsy turvy encounter, and I hadn’t been so invested in a Wrexham game for a few years – just when I thought I could view these things with arch detachment. A word on those two forwards; Mullin’s form was a hot topic for some of the season. It felt like he was rushed back, and he had a strange dip in form at around the team of the team’s most inconsistent results. Yet he still breezed past 20 goals and when he was good, he was still showing why he’s the first name on the team sheet. While there were plenty of other crucial players, Elliot Lee before Christmas, Andy Cannon after, George Evans when fit and Max Cleworth when picked, I didn’t enjoy watching anyone as much as Fletcher. People talk about certain other forwards who have played for the club as possible top end players who it didn’t quite happen for, but when you watch Fletcher you see why that’s not true. He just sees everything quicker than other players, is almost unbeatable in the air and is the perfect foil for whoever his strike partner is, and if he had a young man’s fitness he wouldn’t even dirty his hands in League 2.

    The thrills and spills mostly eased off, but Wrexham dealt with the challenge. I saw a classic performance as Morecambe were sent packing 6-0, right up there for complete Wrexham performances that I’ve seen, but there were tougher challenges. Yet games I attended against Gillingham, Newport, Wimbledon and Mansfield followed a theme. Each one of them saw the visit of a capable and hard working opponent, but be it early (55 seconds against Gillingham) or later (mid-way through the second half against Newport and Wimbledon) you had the sense of a Wrexham team that was happy to ride out the tough patches and take its chances. The Mansfield game came at the right time for me; I had seen the team draw blanks against Bradford (played all the football and collapsed to defeat in the last ten minutes) and Harrogate (they set up for a point early on and got it from a Wrexham team afraid to shoot). Yet without entirely silencing the critics, the job got done with two games to spare. For all the griping about away form, aside from an ugly January and February the team chipped away at getting enough points on the road to bolster the still reliable displays at home. In the before times, a game like the one against Crawley was the traditional banana skin; game in hand against in-form opponent in front of an expectant crowd, where deep down you’d have probably taken a point. What actually happened was taking the sting out of Crawley’s style, hitting them with back-to-back goals, managing the rest of the game with ease and picking the opponent off as a relaxed crowd felt the aim come even closer. All this leading to a breezy final day everyone could enjoy against, err, Stockport, which meant a lot of grown men, some of whom play for the two clubs, simply couldn’t be normal about it. But it was the least cranky game between the two that I have ever been to, made all the nicer by a come from behind win. This team has cost plenty of money but it still needs a professional job to be done – they have done it repeatedly.

    They’ll be playing in League 1 next time and that is an intriguing prospect. Even while the team was right in the automatic promotion mix it didn’t take much for some people to be writing Phil Parkinson’s obituary, not for the first time since he came somehow. I would admit that the style of play isn’t always lovable and his methods are rigid. Some of the reactions to his team dropping points were hysterical though, with occasional reference to “this is how his other jobs have ended” and, best of all, “League 1 is his ceiling” when he has got teams promoted from it twice! Even the much-discussed away form is judged on feel rather than results – on away form only Wrexham were a playoff team, but you wouldn’t think so after a defeat. What comes next will be a test of everyone’s mettle; there will need to be changes to get this squad near the top of the division, including a smarter focus on who comes in rather than just waving cash around, and I suspect a year to have a look and just be competitive would be fine and dandy. Can people handle a year of win, lose, win, lose, or god forbid, win, draw, lose, lose, draw, win, lose etc? Probably not without the dreaded “I think he’s taken us as far as he can” debate rearing its ugly head, and fans on social media nibbling at opposing fans mocking every dropped point (come on people, you’re going to have to start getting used to that without blowing a gasket). Unless relegation is looming I would say a change next time would be a huge mistake; when he came Wrexham needed Parkinson more than the other way round, and given the man’s pedigree, the club is still blessed to have him. It’s going to require a little more nous and patience next time after two years of bludgeoning the rest with a big bag of swag. Everyone is still as twitchy as hell though, despite success, but he has earned the right to ease his way into League 1 – let him do it.

    I also managed to see the Wrexham women’s team three times. It would have been nice to be more but a) Des Williams is a bad man and you shouldn’t give him your money by going to the Rock and b) the cup final being in Newport is beyond even my enthusiasm. The decision to stream all their games via iFollow really was a boon and if you were watching a contractually obliged Premier League game on Sundays at 2pm I feel like you missed out. To stay in the division would have been a success, but to finish a comfortable third, and only drop points once against the teams below meant this was done with expert efficiency. It wasn’t like the team wasn’t tested as teams who were well beaten early on proved tougher opponents in the return games. This is most clearly shown by the two games against TNS that I went to. The first at Park Hall was a bit of a classic, with Wrexham being 2 down after 12 minutes, but level by the break, and ultimately going on to win 3-2 in a game that could have gone either way. The Welsh Cup semi-final against the same opponents at Flint was a little different; Wrexham had to dig in to win this with a great defensive effort and Rosie Hughes taking Wrexham’s clearest chance. There were harsh lessons for Wrexham too; they played games against Cardiff or Swansea a total of ten times (cup final still to come against Cardiff at the time of writing), and only avoided defeat once, with Cardiff being particularly ruthless. The team got its overdue chance at the Racecourse against Swansea and put in their best performance against either of the big two there. Swansea would have been lucky to escape with a point, so that a freak goal won them all three was a kick in the teeth. An attendance of 2000 there should be celebrated, I saw the men play in front of that many almost exactly a decade earlier. However, I get the sense that the club could have pushed the game harder and earlier seeing as over 9000 watched the team at the Racecourse the previous year. But maybe their season shouldn’t be picked at – it was as good as could be expected and the women ought to be worthy of that Racecourse stage more often.

    The general hype around Wrexham is a curate’s egg. You have to be rather picky, ie like me, to not just ride the wave. The general buzz has nowhere near abated but I’m not sure you can make a leopard change its spots, and in Wrexham’s case that means non-stop emotional incontinence. There are still a lot of petty rows around, and for a ground packing in three times what it was pre-takeover it is only occasionally febrile. Let’s face facts, you know that half of the people there aren’t fans unconditionally, and the excellent home record creates expectation rather than Beatlemania – you need more jeopardy for the latter. My concern about the direction of the club, led by assorted uber-corporate types, remains. It seems to me that the hardnosed and/or cynical tactics to remove WST protection of the ground, and the acceptance of a hefty debt despite the fact that we were promised there would be none, is something that people are reticent to discuss. Yet another staff member removed, but actually providing a peek behind the curtain rather than leaving without saying anything, showed an ugly side of the business we are rather too eager to excuse. As was the club’s refusal to make a statement on the scrapping of FA Cup replays (potentially embarrassing for Shaun Harvey whatever the statement said) and the late season flurry of club fans issued, with McElhenney clearly trying to manage a situation that had got out of control. A lesser told tale of another fan’s treatment over the last summer, at that fan’s own request, is as unpleasant a tale of targeted nastiness as I can ever think of from the club at any point in my memory, based on nothing more than a desire to flatten criticism. It’s unavoidable that the ruthless approach of their people on the ground is exactly what the owners are looking for, bar the occasional flashpoint, and I’m not quite sure how people keep looking past that to allocate no blame to them. You have to drink a fair amount of the Hollywood Kool-Aid to truly believe in the myth of community being at the heart of the motivation of anybody working for the club, or owning it for that matter. However, it’s been nice to get more of a slice of it this season than I did last time. It will be a period of the club’s history that is talked about for as long as anyone is alive to remember it, and it won’t last forever, so it’s worth stopping to smell the flowers. God knows I have my issues with the whole circus of it, and I only take part on my terms these days, but I can’t deny that it’s mostly fun.

    WELSH FOOTBALL

    The Racecourse got its moments in the sun for internationals too. Wales men hadn’t been here since 2019, so even a changed team playing a friendly against Gibraltar isn’t to be sniffed at – qualifiers aren’t a realistic prospect. The game was a sell-out and a bit of a breeze at 4-0, but a reward for the North Wales fans who put the miles in, one we should ideally have every year. Of course, we now know there is no other reward this summer; to have taken one of 13 European places at the World Cup but now not be part of a 24 team Euros is a big regression, albeit with the mitigating circumstances of some big players being missing since then. However, I’m the last apologist for Robert Page, less because of passionately wanting to keep him, and more because even during his period of success the way people have talked about him is disgraceful. He got the job in difficult circumstances while the Giggs shadow remained. Getting out of the last Euros group wasn’t to be sniffed at but there was better to come. To have become the only Wales manager to qualify directly for the World Cup seems to be underrated somehow, overshadowed by not performing very well at the tournament, despite the fact that we should have been thankful the team got there at all. This is particularly laughable when you consider the mostly respectful attitude there is to – takes breath – Mike Smith, Mike England, Terry Yorath, Mark Hughes, John Toshack and Chris Coleman. Not one of those men finished higher than third in World Cup qualifying and Page’s record trounces any one of their records generally except Coleman. I would also argue that the performances immediately after Bale and Allen retired bottomed out a year ago, creating a risk in making a change now rather than then. Page has lost the people so he’s probably wasting his time trying to turn the tide, and you can’t ignore that decline in performance, but he should never have to buy a drink in Wales again. In years to come when you’ve stopped sulking you’ll all claim you weren’t on his case. However, I have a sinking feeling that if he stays the discussion around him will get worse rather than better, and that would be a bit bleak.

    The return of the women’s team was also overdue – literally, as a slot for a Racecourse game was announced for a year earlier and not mentioned again. Rhian Wilkinson took her first game as manager against Croatia, and a competitive game to boot. While her predecessor Gemma Grainger did a good job, her team was a bit of a tough watch. If the game at the Racecourse was anything to go by there is going to be a sea change in style under Wilkinson, albeit there will be tougher tests than her opening games. Croatia were played off the park, beaten 4-0 in front of a crowd of 4100. This number is worth noting; the team came to Wrexham in 2012 and drew 1000 when entry was free. The next time they came in 2020, 2000 people paid £5. Double that again paying £10 each is moving very much in the right direction. While the men’s team will always play competitive games in Cardiff, I would like to see the women rotate theirs between East, West and North, and hopefully the turnout will show that this is viable.

    The club scene in Wales is having one of its many existential crises. I got a sense of it at my first competitive game of the season. Connah’s Quay, clearly the second best team in Wales, having to play a European game at TNS’ home Park Hall, not getting a kick against their opponents from Iceland and out of Europe before the kids even broke up from school. I saw a handful of games in the Cymru Premier this time, and I would always recommend a trip to Newtown in particular, a quirky and characterful ground where the host club always punch above their weight. Bala is a lovely day out although they perhaps display one of the league’s challenges; a club in a tiny place paying decent money to incomers to play for them despite there being a ceiling on the kind of club they can be, and if you want a drink you’d better stay in the town. Despite the size of the club, they are always pushing for Europe. There is a general sense that the money in Welsh football is in all the wrong places, with some pumped up clubs with no fans while a tantalising dream of all of our bigger clubs being in the top division at once continues to evade us – we should all groan at Rhyl’s Devon Loch leading them to another year at level 3. This season rammed this home more than ever as TNS showed themselves at their most ruthless, yet they might actually feel disappointment in losing two cup finals. Their Irn Bru Cup final defeat in Scotland displays the size of their next challenge; once they went behind they faced a match situation they didn’t know how to handle, and it’s hard to avoid the feeling that this will continue to hobble their chances of European progress. They are the lightning rod for a lot of criticism of the league, but it’s worth reminding yourself that they aren’t really doing anything wrong, and just hoping they go away is a race to the bottom. How you create more clubs like them, making themselves the best club they can be, is a challenge for greater minds than mine.

    Just like the previous couple of seasons, the Cymru North proved to be rather more interesting, with a genuine three-way title race that lasted the distance before Holywell won out. My visit there convinced me that they would be the team that won the title; even though they had a long winning run last season they looked even more lively and incisive this time. Their ground isn’t the most slick and modern but you would have hoped they found a way to make it Premier compliant. To have had their Premier licence turned down drew much wailing and gnashing of teeth but I’m not sure what to make of that, all the more so as the club didn’t even appeal. I definitely don’t agree that the FAW should lower standards, the league was, and is, in need of off field standards and I’m not sure that many of them are unreasonable for a league you can qualify for Europe from. However it does seem that the process of becoming compliant isn’t the two-way journey it ought to be. It feels more like “you can apply in September, and we’ll judge you in April” without enough input in between to help the clubs get from A to B. The FAW gets a lot of banal criticism about the licencing process; in my opinion, it has been a canary in the coalmine for clubs who weren’t fit for the league. Without it I’m not sure clubs would spend any time on the necessary elements the licence requires, but the FAW needs to help clubs become compliant, and not just punish the ones who aren’t. The announcement that clubs will be receiving funding to employ someone full-time to run their clubs makes sense, and should hopefully assist both general administration and marketing.

    Airbus were competitive after a nightmare relegation from Cymru Premier, albeit being a little less ruthless than the Champions. I have always enjoyed going there but the match day experience was a little inconsistent, with food availability unreliable and an amazing club shop open…sometimes. I have no bias but I was pleased to see Flint get the promotion spot, as they have the most fans of the three title contenders (and most of the Premier clubs) and a ground I prefer to the others, despite the temptations of Holywell’s social club with a view of the pitch, compared to Flint’s before you get in. There were other delights at this level; Buckley is a great ground whose veranda is possibly THE place to watch football from, and it was a blow that they were forced to play elsewhere for a time due to someone pouring undiluted weedkiller on the pitch. I made my first trip to Denbigh in several years on a filthy Friday night and got my game of the season, a 6-5 triumph over Buckley which could have seen even more goals. The FAW love their ground and if their social club plans take place it will rival Buckley as a loved venue, despite me needing a 37 point turn to get out of the car park. Despite the stress of needing expert clutch control to leave the ground, a visit to Mold is worth your time, child friendly, dog friendly, beer friendly, and a good team too, and hopefully a managerial change over the summer won’t derail their superb season. Chirk will have to settle for level 3 football next time but this is also a much improved venue, more seats, more cover, but still no place to be in winter. Despite that, I still hope to visit them next time and hope their improved end to this season gives them momentum to bounce back. Prestatyn also got a first visit in a while, a perfect stop off on a seaside day out that meets all your needs. The local public has disengaged from them somewhat, and off field rumours that have plagued their last few years continue to abound, exposed by a points deduction for playing a ringer. The game is almost entirely unregulated when it comes to who owns clubs, they look like the next set of victims of that, and this remains something nobody in Welsh (or English?) football really has a grip on.

    So what to do about the challenges in the league system?There are numerous issues but it’s hard to find silver bullets for any of them. While I think that gripes about a league of twelve clubs and repeat fixtures are overstated – plenty of other leagues have something similar – most would say that this setup has overstayed its welcome and will cheer the expansion we know is coming. In the short term an expansion is likely to lower standards but if the variety stimulates interest then it is probably worth taking the short term hit. It also makes sense to focus investment into pitches as was stated in the FAW’s strategic plan. This will presumably include grass but I’m also happy with more 4G pitches rather than less, but with community agreements. Installing them needs to come with conditions of access to local clubs, which can’t be withdrawn by vindictive owners or committee men (hello again Des Williams). Engagement at every level is key. I’m also positive about the league moving to Friday nights, it has always felt like a more natural fit for games that I have been to, although we’ll see how they manage sending Haverfordwest to Flint then, that has to come with FAW assistance somehow. An increase in Premier numbers has been announced for two seasons time but we will see to how many that will be in September. I’m resistant to some of the other oft-mentioned ideas; splitting the league into North and South would only make a league with an image problem even more tinpot and a switch to summer doesn’t convince me either – people seem to forget that this opens up at best a few clear weeks of other competing football. Although I must admit that being positive about Fridays but not further regional groups may contradict each other, and nobody calls the NFL tinpot. It will also be interesting to see how S4C juggle more Friday nights – you don’t want your TV and live audience to cannibalise each other by too many schedule clashes.

    If the promised investment into the league is to make a material difference it needs to be targeted in the right places – it’s a shame that some of it will have to pay for the dreaded VAR due to UEFA edicts, although at least they are contributing to that. Dare I suggest a Rugby League style cherry picking of who is deemed to add value to the Cymru Premier, encouraging a merger or two, a bitter pill to take you quicker to the outcome you’re hoping for organically? Including a one shot deal to Merthyr to sign up now into a 16 team top flight? It might need something as drastic as that to improve gates. I would also like to see the English based clubs have their arms twisted to join a revived Premier Cup; four groups of five with either a home or away game against an EFL team guaranteed in the group stage before quarters, semis and a final. This with no pressure on who the EFL teams pick to play but that the games must happen at their proper grounds. I loved the old tournament; it could give the domestic game a boost now and it’s the least the EFL clubs can do (Cardiff and Swansea played in the Nathaniel MG Cup this season anyway). There could be other pathway activities for players – a more formal system of loans for young players at the EFL clubs, or EFL trials for young players at Cymru Premier clubs to be part of the mooted plan perhaps. Maybe a mandatory slot in Wales under 21 and under 19 squads for a Cymru Leagues player as a carrot too? It would also help to enter a partnership with the EFL clubs to ensure their grounds are available for nearby Cymru Premier clubs to host European games, and/or ensure the bigger Cymru Premier venues are up to scratch in every region, as some of the scratching around for venues has been disappointing. It must be said that the England based clubs are the elephant in the room; while they operate there the league here will always be second rate, but they won’t be coming back this side of an independent Wales, a thing I would like but don’t expect to see any time soon.

    Grassroots clubs face enough challenges as it is without the FAW waiting for things to go wrong and paddling clubs with fines and points deductions, and it was positive to hear the FAW acknowledge that even they want to see the back of that, and funded full time employees will help. If best practice is identified that helps clubs engage with their communities, don’t just wait for clubs to find it and keep it to themselves, but share the information and investment needed so everyone can do it, perhaps the central funding will ensure that happens. Recent focus is on the top division but we also need to help the pyramid lower down; I have enjoyed attending level 3 games at Brickfield, Penycae, Llay,Llangollen and Llansantffraid this season, and that those clubs have decent facilities for fans really does help, whereas others are basically parks with a 100 seat stand plonked next to them. For what is ostensibly a local league, some of the travelling involved is quite incredible and most people will have noticed that the league names and geographical reality don’t match up. An additional division at level 3 to cover mid-Wales, and ensuring that the North East and North West divisions mean just that, seems like a no brainer. One of this season’s positives was seeing the level 4-5 North East Wales League complete its campaign without any teams folding before the end of the season. I hope that this doesn’t mean they are forgotten, as it’s easy to only pay attention when clubs at that level are having a crisis or doing something wrong. You would hope for encouragement to help those teams progress if it suits them (Brymbo, Rhostyllen and Lex feel like clubs that should be playing higher), but also if it doesn’t (Queen’s Park seem to be doing just fine as they are).

    Ultimately, we have to leave nothing concrete off the table and be prepared to listen to anyone. The strategy has been released but this should be a process rather than just an event. We need to open to spending the game’s money on anything that increases the numbers of people involved, on the field, in the stands, in the bars, and makes life simpler and more entertaining for those people. That simple then! No doubt, there are people whose desires are very different to mine, or whose methods to get there are different, and getting a unified approach is as big a challenge as anything else is. In the meantime, we should be backing the league rather than making every issue a showstopper. Welsh society is a bit like this anyway; we can’t just have unpopular policies from Welsh Government without a groundswell of opinion that Welsh democracy should be wholly absorbed into England’s (where they must have no issues of course). I would like to see Welsh football be more mature than this – it’s our league and we’ll get more out of supporting it than cursing not being able to allow clubs into the Northern Premier League. Early reaction to the still vague plan is still mixed so we could do with some people cooking their jets.

    And finally…

    My writing has been a useful project to me. It served a purpose to help me increase my Cymraeg skills in order to pass an exam, it continues to be my most reliable way to stretch my knowledge there and is the prime motivation for the site existing. I work from home and speaking opportunities aren’t what they could be. To make a tiny contribution to Welsh language culture is another motivation, despite occasional indulgences like this and the Welcome to Wrexham piece (by far the biggest driver of traffic to the site). It’s a niche pursuit otherwise, sometimes it is clear that I have written only for myself, but that’s worth doing as well. Social media is my only way to get any kind of audience, if indeed I get one at all, but it has its downsides. I’m more inclined to try to stretch myself on here in both languages rather than there in the future, to take the echo chamber to its logical conclusion, and use social media mainly just to promote this place and try to do a little better than be talking to myself here. It’s scary out there so maybe I’m better off here.

    In the years leading up to Covid I was going to plenty of games but mostly Wrexham games at the Racecourse. When I decided that a season ticket there didn’t suit me anymore I hoped my seasons would look something like this one; I got the Wrexham games in that I needed, albeit I required the support of others for that. I must admit I gave the season ticket up not anticipating that I wouldn’t be able to bank on buying a ticket just when I wanted one, but my decision was the right one. I got enough time to support Welsh football elsewhere, internationals, women’s club games, men’s club games from levels one to five, a scattering of cups and cross border excursions. I could curse what I missed – no Ruthin, Llanrhaeadr, Guilsfield, Saltney or Whitchurch as I had hoped, and I still keep my distance from what was my favourite place at The Rock since Dirty Des did his dirty deeds there. However, it’s worth remembering that it shouldn’t be a tick box exercise, although I can lose sight of that. 

    It is also worth remembering that there are other things in life. One motivation to give up the Wrexham season ticket was to not be tied in to times and dates, so if a family trip to a trampoline park comes first, come first it must. Although the football has been a family pursuit as well. My daughter is autistic and has had a tough time of it lately. She’s not a football head but she has been my companion to about half of my games this season, and it’s nice to have something for us. On occasion the four of us have all clicked the turnstiles; hopefully this will continue. We should ignore the Barton-led footy lad backlash, it’s the last act of a dying breed. This is for all of us.

  • Llansantffraid 2 Rhos Aelwyd 2 23/4/2024

    Mae’n hawdd anghofio’r ffaith bod Y Seintiau Newydd oedd y clwb yn torri’r rhediad o bencampwriaethau gan un tîm yn dominyddu tymor ar ôl tymor yn y gorffennol. Yn 2000, sylwais i lun o’r pencampwyr cyfoes ar wal yn ystod fy nghyfweliad swydd gyntaf erioed, yn TNS yng Nghroesoswallt. Ches i ddim y swydd, ar ôl ddau gyfweliad, broses digon hir a thorcalonnus i baratoi fy hun am weld Y Seintiau’n diflasu’r cefnogwyr clybiau eraill. Ond do’n ni ddim yn gwybod hyn ar y pryd, dim ond diolchgar am rywun, unrhywun o gwbl, yn peidio un bencampwriaeth am fynd i’r Barri eto. Aeth y teitl i Llansantffraid, ac aeth sawl mwy yno hefyd. Ond mae pethau’n wahanol yno rŵan wrth gwrs…

    Mae atgofion yn bwrw cysgod hir yn Llansantffraid. Roedd y cydsoddiad rhwng TNS a Chroesoswallt yn 2003, a’r symudiad i Neuadd y Parc yn 2007, ond roedd hi’n bosib dod o hyd gwirfoddolwyr yn hapus i feirniadu’r Seintiau yn ystod fy ymweliad cyntaf i Llansantffraid yn 2021. Hwn oedd noson ryfedd beth bynnag, y gêm olaf yng Nghymru cyn egwyl am fis i bêl-droed oherwydd y cyfyngiadau olaf Covid. Mi gaeth bêl-droed a chlybiau nos eu gwahardd ond dim byd eraill, ond mae gen i ddiddordeb yn dim ond un ohonyn nhw. Roedd eu gêm yn erbyn Aber-miwl yn un adloniant, 6-2 i’r tîm gartre, felly ro’n i’n gobeithio am rywbeth tebyg heno heb y tristwch.

    Mae’r gemau’n dod yn aml ym mis Ebrill. Daeth Rhos Aelwyd i Dreflan yn Ardal North East, dim ond ddeg diwrnod ers chwarae yn erbyn ei gilydd yn Rhos. Enillodd Rhos 2-0 ond roedd hi’n dal yn anodd rhagweld yr enillydd heno, efo dim ond un pwynt yn cadw Rhos uwchben Llansantffraid. Mae’r ddau glwb yn saff ynghanol y tabl ond bydd Llansantffraid yn hapusach na’r ymwelwyr. Mi ddaeth Rhos yn 6ed yn yr un adran y llynedd felly bydd hi’n anodd gorffen mor uchel eto. Dyma’r tymor cyntaf yn yr ardal i Llansantffraid ar ôl ddyrchafiad, wedi’i ennill oherwydd y broses trwydded ar ôl iddyn nhw ddod yn 3ydd yn lefel 4. Maen nhw wedi gwneud yn dda i fod yn saff o’r cwymp, ond daethon nhw i’r gêm heb fuddugoliaeth yn saith gêm. Roedd y cyflwr Rhos yn well, gan gynnwys gêm gyfartal yn erbyn Penrhyncoch, y pencampwyr tebygol.

    Ar ôl ymweliad cyflym i’r clwb cymdeithasol, ble dw i’n meddwl rhai pobl oedd yn yfed ar ôl angladd, aethon ni i’r eisteddle. Mae eisteddle mawr tu ôl y gôl, ond mae arwyddion o broblemau achos rhai pobl wedi torri rhes o seddi, rhywbeth rhy gyffredin yn bêl-droed lleol. Penderfynon ni i sefyll tu ôl y seddi, a gwelon ni hanner cyntaf fywiog iawn. Roedd y ddau dîm yn awyddus i ymosod o’r munud cyntaf, efo angen arbediad da gan David Jones, gôl-geidwad Llansantffraid, ac un cyfle arall ble’r ymosodwyr Rhos rhwystrodd ei gilydd. Roedd Llansantffraid yn agos unwaith yn benodol wedi rhediad troellog cyn iddyn nhw daro’r trawst – basai hynny fod wedi bod yn gôl anhygoel. 

    Yn araf dechreuodd Rhos ddominyddu, ac allai’r tîm gartre ddim yn cadw Rhos allan. Daeth y cyntaf wedi 36 munud gan James Haynes, wedi’i helpu gan wyriad bach. Roedd Rhos yn awyddus i fanteisio ar gyfnod cryf, a daeth yr ail o gic rydd wedi 44 munud gan Aled Bayley, wedi’i helpu gan wyriad enfawr y tro ‘ma, yn gadael David Jones yn gweiddi cyn i’r bêl guro’r rhwyd. Perfformiad perffaith oddi cartref… ond roedd digon o amser i orfodi cic rydd eu hunain gan Llansantffraid. Efo cic olaf yr hanner, curodd James Clewlow ergyd fel bwled i adael rhywbeth i gydio wrth ar yr egwyl.

    Do’n i ddim yn disgwyl pethau i newid pa mor gyflym wedi’r egwyl. Yn syth ar ôl y gic gyntaf, aeth bas drwy’r canol yn gadael ras rhwng gôl-geidwad Daniel Roberts a Chris Aitken. Cyrhaeddodd Aitken y bêl yn gyntaf i sgorio. Doedd dim gymaint o gyffro wedi hynny, efo llawer o ymdrech ond y ddau dîm oedd yn canslo ei gilydd. Roedd gamgymeriadau gan Jones yn y gôl Llansantffraid ond, diolch byth, dim byd i golli’r gêm, a bydd y ddau dîm yn hapus i rannu’r pwyntiau. Hyd yn oed ar ôl i’r gêm fynd i’r diwedd heb gyfle gwych i gipio’r tri phwynt, roedd y gêm yn ddifyr wedi’r cyfan. Roedd hi’n bosib chwarae’r gêm heb gymaint o ymrwymiad heb bethau yn y fantol, ond daeth y reddf gystadleuol i’r arwyneb. Dylen ni ganmol y chwaraewyr.

    SUMMARY SAESNEG

    The spirit of TNS title triumphs casts a long shadow at Llansantffraid. The two teams could have been forgiven for not being as committed as they were. Give space to social club drinkers in case they’ve been to a funeral.

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  • Yr Wyddgrug 0 Fflint 4 16/4/2024

    Oherwydd y ras ar frig y tabl, a’r nifer o gemau ar ôl oherwydd y tywydd, mae gan Cymru North wythnos brysur. Mae’r gynghrair wedi ymestyn y tymor erbyn wythnos, ac yn croesi bysedd na fasai mwy o gemau wedi gohirio. Roedd llawer o gemau wedi’u symud i gaeau 4G i adael sefyllfa hylaw. Hefyd roedd gymaint yn y fantol ar y cae beth bynnag. Basech chi’n disgwyl Treffynnon i ennill y bencampwriaeth oherwydd gemau ar ôl ble dylen nhw ennill. Tasai Fflint yn ennill yn Yr Wyddgrug, bydd angen un pwynt mwy o leia gan Dreffynnon ar y dydd olaf i sicrhau’r bencampwriaeth (efo Treffynnon yn ennill un awr yn hwyrach heno). Ond fel arfer mae pethau’n fwy cymhleth yng Nghymru…

    Mae’r broses o gael trwydded i gael dyrchafiad yn un dadleuol. Dw i’n cytuno efo’r syniad oherwydd yr angen i godi safonau ym mhob adran, ond dydy’r broses ddim yn teimlo’n hollol agor, a gallech chi’n dweud bod hi’n deg i adael un tymor i glybiau newydd i gyrraedd y safonau ar ôl dyrchafiad. Mae Treffynnon wedi methu’r broses, dydyn nhw ddim yn apelio, ac mae Fflint ac Airbus wedi llwyddo, felly er bosibilrwydd cryf o weld y tlws yn mynd i Dreffynnon, mae aneliad gwahanol i Fflint. Roedd y gêm yn Yr Wyddgrug yn un wrth gefn, a basai buddugoliaeth Fflint yn golygu dim siawns i Airbus, ac yn gadael cyfle i Fflint ar y cae ond yn ennill dyrchafiad oddi ar y cae ar yr un pryd! Mae hynny wedi digwydd yn y gorffennol mwy nag unwaith, dw i’n cofio Derwyddon Cefn yn sicrhau dyrchafiad o’r ail safle cyn iddyn nhw golli 7-0 i’r pencampwyr Caernarfon. Ond edrychwch ble mae Caernarfon a Derwyddon rŵan – weithiau mae methiant yn creu rhywbeth cryfach yn y dyfodol.

    Beth bynnag sy’n digwydd mae Sir Fflint wedi dominyddu’r gynghrair, yn cymryd safleoedd 1-4 yn y tabl. Doedd Yr Wyddgrug byth yn y ras i ennill y gynghrair ond maen nhw wedi cael tymor llwyddiannus. Mae safle pedwerydd yn berfformiad positif iawn ganddyn nhw, ac maen nhw’n edrych ymlaen at y gêm derfynol o’r cwpan Gwasanaeth Gwaed Genedlaethol ar yr 20fed yn erbyn Briton Ferry. Bydd y gêm yn heriol iawn yn erbyn y tîm sydd wedi sicrhau eu lle yn yr Uwch Gynghrair y tro nesa. Oedd hi’n bosib gallai’r chwaraewyr Yr Wyddgrug yn mynd yn haws i achub eu hunain am y gêm derfynol a dim byd ar ôl i ennill yn y gynghrair? Rhywbeth i ystyried – basech chi’n disgwyl Fflint i eisiau’r fuddugoliaeth yn fwy.

    Gorfododd Yr Wyddgrug gic cornel yn y munud cyntaf ond roedd rhaid iddyn nhw dreulio gweddill yr hanner yn amddiffyn. Mi gaeth Fflint ddau gyfle i sgorio yn y deg munud cyntaf, peniad yn erbyn y trawst gan Akpa-Akpro ble dylai fo wedi sgorio, ac un arall wedi’i chlirio oddi ar y llinell. Roedd ergydion agos dros y trawst gan Ben Hughes a Jake Phillips hefyd cyn y moment mawr. Mewn cwrt cosbi brysur, gwelodd y dyfarnwr llawio gan amddiffynnwr Yr Wyddgrug. Ymddangosodd y penderfyniad yn llym, ond nad oedd Josh Jones yn poeni am hynny, i adael Fflint ar y blaen yn ystod hanner amser.

    Roedd Yr Wyddgrug yn fywiog ar ôl yr egwyl, yn creu gofod ar y dde a Fflint oedd yn lwcus i ddianc dwywaith heb gosb, yn enwedig y tro cyntaf ble roedd y bêl yn sownd dan y traed ymosodwyr Yr Wyddgrug. Dyma amser peryglus ar y gwrthymosod wrth gwrs, ac aeth yr ail gôl gan Elliott Reeves wedi tafliad hir ar ôl 65 munud. Chwarae teg i’r Wyddgrug achos roedd angen dau arbediad gan Rhys Williams yn y munudau wedyn. Daeth y prif sgoriwr Danny Warren ar y cae wrth Yr Wyddgrug yn teimlo’n hyderus (pam nad oedd o’n dechrau?)…ond roedd Fflint yn barod i fanteisio ar ei dulliau ymosodol. Sgoriodd Josh Jones ei ail wedi 73 munud â foli anhygoel oddi ar y postyn. Llawer o amser iddo fo gyflawni hatric, a gwnaeth o hynny yn amser ychwanegol tra’r amddiffyn yn blino. Felly mae Fflint yn gallu dathlu dyrchafiad efo gêm ar ôl er amgylchiadau anfodlon, ond byddan nhw’n gobeithio am golled Treffynnon ar nos Wener i gipio’r bencampwriaeth. Mae’r sefyllfa yno wedi dod hyd yn oed mwy cymhleth oherwydd damwain meddygol yn achosi eu gêm yn erbyn Llanidloes i beidio – rhaid iddyn nhw drio eto rhywbryd.

    Noson dda iawn ym Mharc Alyn ble mae’r tîm gartre yn gallu bod yn hapus efo eu hymdrechion er y sgôr – pob lwc yn dod â’r tlws i’r Gogledd dros y penwythnos! A diolch am ddarparu teganau a llyfrau lliwio yn y clwb cymdeithasol – mae fy merch wedi mwynhau rheina.

    SUMMARY SAESNEG

    The constant off-field shenanigans of Welsh football made this game more live than it would otherwise have been. Flint dominated despite Mold’s hard work, but were more clinical when counter attacking. The toys and colouring books in the social club were a nice touch.

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  • Wrecsam 4 Crawley 1 9/4/2024

    Mae tensiwn yn cynnyddu ac mae nerfau’n crynu wrth Wrecsam yn agosáu at ddyrchafiad eto. Mae’r tymer ar gyfrwng cymdeithasol yn un gobeithio am ddim ond gwneud y swydd heb gymaint o ffys a phroblemau. Falle llai o ffys na’r gêm oddi cartref yn erbyn Colchester dros y penwythnos. Roedd angen gôl brin yn hwyr gan Max Cleworth i sicrhau’r tri phwynt, ac roedd materion dadleuol i drafod. Yn gyntaf, roedd sôn gan Danny Cowley, rheolwr Colchester, am chwaraewyr Wrecsam yn ymladd yn y tynal wedi’r hanner cyntaf, ond baswn i’n awgrymu dylai fo canolbwyntio ar ei chwaraewyr ei hun. Yn ail, mae Paul Mullin wedi cwyno am gefnogwyr Wrecsam yn canu am gyflwr gwael oddi cartref y tîm. Mae cefnogwyr yn awyddus i amddiffyn y gân, yn dweud ei bod hi’n eironig, ond dw i’n cytuno â Mullin. Mae cefnogwyr Wrecsam yn tueddu gorymateb i’r colledion, felly does dim byd eironig yno, yn enwedig achos mae’r cyflwr oddi cartref yn 5ed yn y gynghrair. Bydd angen iddo fo groen trwchus os mae cyflwr yn dod yn wael mewn gwirionedd, dydy Mullin ddim wedi clywed camdriniaeth waethaf y cefnogwyr. Ond mae o’n gywir am y gân, a does dim rhaid iddo fo gyfiawnhau mynegi ei farn.

    Ro’n i’n ystyried gêm yn y Cymru North ond wrth ystyried y tywydd, sydd wedi achosi’r gemau’n cael ei ohirio beth bynnag, a’r cynnig o’r tocyn sbâr, gwnes i baratoi am y gwynt a glaw, dan do diolch byth, i fynd i Wrecsam eto (gwaith da i’r staff Wrecsam am gadw’r gêm yn addas i chwarae wedi’r tywydd a’r nifer o gemau’n ddiweddar). Mae’n bosib hwn oedd fy ngêm olaf yno’r tymor ‘ma, felly mae’n teimlo fel y penderfyniad cywir. Roedd y gêm ar ôl yn un bwysig i ennill, i greu bwlch rhwng Wrecsam a’r cystadleuwyr Milton Keynes, ond doedd dim byd hawdd am y her i ennill y pwyntiau. Mae Crawley yn ymladd i ymestyn eu tymor, yn dechrau’r diwrnod yn y safle ail-gyfle olaf, felly basai unrhyw fath o fuddugoliaeth yn ddigon da (tebyg i’r buddugoliaeth 1-0 oddi cartref).

    Falle dylwn i wedi bod yn fwy uchelgeisiol. Dechreuodd Crawley fel tîm llawn o hyder, yn gyfforddus ar y bêl, hapus i basio oddi wrth yr amddiffyn, ac yn ymestyn amddiffyn Wrecsam, ond heb drafferthu Arthur Okonkwo yn y gôl. Pan ddaeth y gôl agored i Wrecsam wedi 21 munud mi ddaeth o allan o nunlle, efo pêl hir yn dod o hyd y sgoriwr annhebygol Ryan Barnett ar y postyn pellach. Ymhen ddau funud daeth yr ail ar ôl symudiad gwych rhwng Barnett, Andy Cannon a, pwy arall, Paul Mullin. Roedd gweddill yr hanner yn gyfforddus i Wrecsam, a jyst cyn yr egwyl dylai Ollie Palmer wedi penio’r trydydd pan gallai’r gôl-geidwad dim ond gwylio’r pêl mynd heibio’r postyn. 

    Mae pobl yn dweud bod 2-0 yn fantais beryglus, ond dydy hynny ddim yn wir ar noson fel hyn. Roedd Crawley yn awyddus i barhau efo’r cynllun, a dw i wedi gweld timau gwaethach yn fy mywyd. Gwnaethon nhw orfodi dau arbediad gan Okonwko hefyd, un o bell, un arall pan frwydrodd Wrecsam i glirio’r bêl. Ond mae gan bawb cynllun tan iddyn nhw gael trawiad yn y geg. Daeth y trawiad efo 15 munud ar ôl, wedi’r cyflwyniad Steven Fletcher, pan wnaeth y gôl-geidwad llanast oddi wrth ergyd Elliot Lee i adael cyfle i Andy Cannon – dylai fo wedi gwneud yn well efo hynny hefyd. Roedd Paul Mullin yn gallu rhwbio halen yn y briw wedi 82 munud hefyd, wedi camddeall rhwng amddiffynnwr a’r gôl-geidwad i’w adael Mullin un yn erbyn un, i gyflawni buddugoliaeth hollbwysig. Os dych chi’n anwybyddu gôl yn amser ychwanegol gan Klaidi Lolos, ond wnaeth cefnogwyr Crawley ddim dathlu’r gôl chwaith!

    Ddylech chi byth yn dathlu tan i chi wedi gwneud yn siŵr o’r wobr, ond mae Wrecsam yn agos rŵan. Mae’n bosib sicrhau’r dyrchafiad dydd Sadwrn tasai Wrecsam yn ennill ac mae Milton Keynes yn methu, ond mae’r canlyniad heno’n teimlo fel croen banana wedi’i osgoi heb broblemau o gwbl. Dim angen i ymladd â’r cefnogwyr neu gyd-chwaraewyr!

    SUMMARY SAESNEG

    A surprisingly fractious build up to this one with a couple of squabbles hid a huge opportunity to get most of the job done. Crawley were in great form and looked an accomplished side, but ultimately didn’t get a sniff once Wrexham hit the front. It’s hard enough against Paul Mullin without rolling the ball straight to him.

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  • Are You Experienced? Practical Lessons To Negotiate Welsh Football

    This season saw me bringing up the milestone of my 1000th football game attended, albeit it has been post-Covid that games in the Welsh system have started to dominate my time. To even know this figure indicates a certain type of personality, that of a regimented and hyper organised person right on top of things (and a total nerd). This is true to a point, but it’s amazing how carelessness and complacency can catch you out. Every day’s a school day, so here are the lessons learned in Welsh football in 2023/24, but probably forgotten all too soon.

    BEWARE FUSSY STEWARDS

    My children came to games a lot with me this season, and this means hyper preparation. I arrive at games with them with a backpack that makes me look like I’m scaling Everest rather than attending a sparsely attended football match in Wales. Snacks, phones, drinks in appropriate cups, ear defenders, whatever item they have decided they can’t live without today, and all the other things you need as an autism parent on the go. Naturally I slip an emergency bottle of Lowes lemonade in there because why wouldn’t you, one of the appeals of life down the leagues is being able to walk in unchallenged with your bag, when you get the Vaselined glove treatment for this in pro football. Therefore I was somewhat caught out at Connah’s Quay’s European tie at Park Hall when a couple of hired goons were there to check bags. They zoned straight in on my lemonade, insisted the bottle top had to go (blah blah blah missile policies) and I had to manage with it sloshing around. This makes me grind my teeth disproportionately despite the fact that it has been part of pro football’s killjoy policies for years. I have finally wised up and kept a loose bottle top in my jacket pocket for such eventualities. I also hesitate to say this seeing as the Racecourse stadium manager is such a nark but…on the way in there they check your bags but not your pockets, so if you want to avoid mega queues and high prices and sneak a drink in, slip it in there – at least until they start banning you for that.

    DON’T RUN YOUR MOUTH

    All Cymru North regulars will be fans or haters of the legendary Asa Hamilton. He’s a super player at that level, now trying his luck as player-manager of Buckley, but his behaviour is somewhat volatile, blowing a gasket at all and sundry, with a range and frequency of swearing that beggars belief. This is a topic of discussion at other clubs, I sat in front of a group of fans at Holywell who spent several minutes digging him out. I saw Buckley a few times this season but he saved his most volatile display for a home game against Airbus. He did his nut at a perceived slight and a group of people next to me were giggling. Me and one of the group looked at each other and I said “he can’t be enjoying doing this can he?” to which he replied “no…he’s my son”. Mercifully for me daddy Hamilton seems like an easy going guy and was happy to discuss his boy’s tendency to go off on one, while I thanked my lucky stars that I chose my words carefully. Asa came over to his dad after being subbed off and said “this ref’s a twat…he sent me off twice last season”. So maybe I’m not the only one with lessons to learn. I’m also mindful of what happened at Lex last season when someone in the stand criticised the referee harshly and was given a gobful by said referee’s mum.

    BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU PARK

    Denbigh 6 Buckley 5 was my game of the season. I hadn’t been there for a few years and ended up pouring through the turns via Nant y Garth pass on a filthy Friday night that positively screamed “a 45 year old man was pronounced dead at the scene”. But we made it with a few minutes to spare, and parked up in one of those bloody awful diagonal parking spaces opposite the ground, so bloody awful that it was a nuisance to back in due to the lack of space opposite. So I drove in forwards and forgot about it, especially as the game was such a classic. The 29 point turn that was required for me to get out again, including mounting the pavement repeatedly while trying not to hit the wall or any pedestrians, made me wonder if an 11 goal thriller was worth it, as did another driver going through Coedpoeth at 12mph. My trips to Flint were smoother, with parking planned with military precision, public transport in Wales being something you only take when you’re absolutely desperate.

    LIES MAKE BABY JESUS CRY

    The whole family got strong armed into going to Prestatyn v Buckley by way of having a seaside day out first. Somehow despite the best of plans it required some aggressive dad walking to get into the ground for kickoff, but we all made it. Managing a faster than usual walk, getting everyone to keep up with the speed, managing an aforementioned mega rucksack and a dog must have impaired my judgement. I had what I thought was the right money on me for all of us and then noticed that my now 12 year old daughter was subject to an entry fee of, gasp, £1. I don’t know what I was thinking but I decided to vibe it rather than muck about with bags, dog leads, wallets again and just whispered “she’s eleven, ok?”. The turnstile operator asked how old my daughter was and I answered with a breezy “eleven!” before my son, not noted for his listening skills said “NO SHE’S TWELVE” at the precise point that there seemed to be no other sound in the vicinity. Game recognises game, the turnstile operator winked and let us all in without paying the additional, oh god, ONE pound, and frankly it wasn’t worth the embarrassment. I bought more cans of Pepsi than I really wanted to make up for my sin as it’s important to pay alms, and decided not to do this again. Airbus took advantage of this by charging £4 as soon as you hit twelve but that’s on them and not me.

    DRESS FOR THE WEATHER YOU’VE GOT

    This really should be obvious, but the 2024 sight of women in Dryrobes with boyfriends in shorts shows that some people just aren’t listening. Plus who among us can’t say we have never picked our jackets based on the calendar rather than what is happening outside. Preparation preparation preparation. Yes you must check all three of your weather apps. Yes your coats must all have gloves in one pocket and a hat in another. You must not shy away from the bucket hat when it’s hot or you will BURN. Your umbrella must stand up to wind as well as rain (having my pathetic effort turned inside out by the wind at Chirk was a chastening experience). But if you like local football you must really think about shoes. Your Adidas Gazelles are all well and good on the terraces, but when you walk across the grassy area at Brymbo in October you will slide for several metres, and club volunteers might laugh at you (me). Ludicrously Brymbo was the venue where two boys, old enough to know better, decided to throw themselves around while shirtless and shoeless into every muddy patch they could find. This was much to my daughter’s hilarity until she discovered they had made the toilet unusable while cleaning themselves up in there. From the Premier League to Cymru Premier you can dress at Wrexham Trainer Revival, but lower than that you need Mountain Warehouse.

    DON’T GO TO GAMES HUNGRY

    My overwhelming memory of the years I watched Wrexham home and away was being hungry all the time. True sustenance on the road is harder, or more expensive, work than it ought to be. Footy scran has taken on a life of its own due to this, with pro clubs desperate to sell you a Katsu chicken curry and naan for £12. Maybe this is understandable for people who have travelled a long way but if you have stayed local there is no need to be taken in by this. The 2.30 or 3pm kickoff has many benefits but an underrated one means you have lunch before you leave home and tea when you get back. Anything else should be snacks only, something forgotten by clubs trying to sell you a gourmet burger for a tenner. Plus where I travel these days the experience is inconsistent. I went to Airbus aware of their slooooow food kiosk from the previous season, but decided I would fill a gap there during a game I thought would be quiet. I could have burst into tears when I saw that the kiosk had gone – how could I leave myself hungry again after those years of harsh lessons on the road? The club who gets what you need is Llangollen Town. Their £2 sausage, chips and curry sauce is the ultimate snack, enough to plug the gap, or merely eat it when you aren’t hungry, but it won’t ruin your dinner later. If you really must stuff your fat face then order two. But as you drop the leagues you’re in the lap of the gods. Some places only sell hot drinks and no cold. Some only have crisps and chocolate when you want something more substantial. Some do have substantial offerings but they are expensive. You have to take the pressure off the day by making food a bonus rather than necessary.

    LIFE’S BETTER WITH DOGS

    Amongst the victims of more professional setups in Welsh football are our four legged friends. Increasingly they are getting banned from grounds and this is sad – check the Non League Dogs social media and tell me they shouldn’t be there. But when I peppered the nearby Cymru North clubs to ask if dogs were welcome the only reply I got was a positive one from Prestatyn Town. We didn’t take our dog to Newtown but the match experience there was heightened by there being quite a few good boys around with their cute faces and friendly attitudes, even in the social club. But there is a responsibility required – I got home from Newtown and noticed that Aberystwyth Town announced that too many owners hadn’t picked up their dog’s mess, and now they were banned. Sometimes we don’t deserve nice things, but we must praise those clubs who still allow them. 

    HAVE A PLAN B

    This season has seen clubs sail pretty close to the wind with postponements. Games have been called off quite late at times and you need to be aware of who else is on and, more importantly, whose grounds are bulletproof. A possible trip to Llansantffraid bit the dust and good old reliable Airbus and their 4G pitch stepped into the breach. If you’re still banging on about “plastic” in this day and age, hankering back to bobbly, muddy surfaces and knowing how easily games get postponed, you are not just a dinosaur but a maniac. Sometimes it’s best just to play safe; I had intended to cross the border to Whitchurch despite rain on and off. They said game on at 10am, I checked social media about fifty times and when 2pm came I headed there. This despite noticing Ruthin announcing their team just after half 1, the possibility that I could go there instead, and a sense of foreboding I just couldn’t shift. I arrived in Whitchurch, checked my phone…the game was called off at 2:06 with no previous communication of changing weather, a pitch inspection or anything else – unforgivable. I had to settle for the second half at Chirk while I seethed, knowing I should have listened to my heart instead of being rigid with the plan.

    ANY OTHER BUSINESS

    Give yourself time on the roads – there’s always a chance of being stuck behind a tractor. Make sure you have some cash, who knows just who and where will accept your card. Support match day programmes because they are dying out. Support social clubs too, I heartily recommend Penycae and Brickfield for setting these up at Tier 3 grounds when others at that level are basically just parks with a 100 seat stand plonked next to them. Two pints is the optimum pre-match beer amount, you’ll feel more unsatisfied with one than none and three means a session is underway (plus beer bladder). Don’t go to games at The Rock unless you’re a scab. If your child gets into Sum 41 during the season, let them have their music either there or back but not both, or you’ll go mad. If you find yourself at a Wales game you need to have practised your singing – the “i’r bur hoff bau” bit of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau is really hard to reach. Most of all, amongst Welsh football’s many crises don’t let them stop you from going to the game – you let pro clubs get away with murder so apply the same grace to clubs who just want a few of your pounds and we’ll have a stronger domestic setup.

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