[FM24] Discovering Britain & Ireland while winning some trophies (1/49 | we've got a start)

AM23 · November 13, 2023

Introduction

Well, after pondering about it for a while I have now decided to give documenting my save another try. Last year I did so for the first time and actually really enjoyed doing so. Sadly my career did not last long as my laptop died only 2 months into the save. This actually also demotivated me from playing the game, so I have only picked it up again now with the release of FM24.

Anyways, I did have a lot of great save ideas in mind, but all through different reasons did not yet follow up on those ideas. Eventually the memory of the British & Irish steel challenge popped into my mind, and since I have never managed in any of the British or Irish leagues besides some short spells in England, I thought I'd give this a try.

I have done a few journeyman saves before, but never managed more than 4 different clubs, as I usually get attached to a club at some point. Also, I have never managed to keep a save going for more than 10 seasons. All in all I have set myself up for failure with this challenge, but you can never be too ambitious right? All that being said, I guess you will have a great struggle to enjoy :lol:

The Challenge

Basically, the goal of the save is to win all playable leagues and cups in the UK and Ireland, as well as all European competitions and the Euros, World Cup and Nations League. If I remember correctly, the original challenge only allows you to use players from the UK and Ireland too, but I won't be following this rule. If I am correct, these are the 49 leagues/cups I need to win:

Game setup

I have of course loaded up all of England, Ireland, N. Ireland, Scotland and Wales, as well as some extra European top flights. For the rest I have disabled the first transfer window.

As for the manager, I will be starting without any coaching badges and playing experience. Let's hope I can manage to land a job somewhere in Wales or Northern Ireland with this.

AM23 · November 14, 2023

Job hunt

Searching for a job was relatively easy, helped by the fact that at the start of the save there where two Welsh second tier teams without a manager. After applying to some jobs in Wales and Ireland, I eventually got offered both the job at Trefelin BGC (Cymru South) and Llanidloes Town (Cymru North). Both teams were predicted towards the bottom of their respective regional leagues, and have a comparable wage budget. Not a lot to seperate the two really, so what my final choice came down to is the fact that Llanidloes Town play in green and yellow, which are the same colours as my favourite team plays in.

The club

Llanidloes Town FC was founded in 1875, and is based in, of course, the small town of Llanidloes. Llanidloes in the middle of Wales and is inhabited by around 3000 people. The club has the great nickname 'The Daffodils', and play their matches at Victoria Park, with the beatiful old stand you can see above.

In its long history, the club has never had too many succes, mostly playing in the Mid Wales league system. They did win some Mid Wales league titles and cups in this time. In 1992, they became one of the 20 founding members of the new League of Wales, but their precence here was short-lived, as they got relegated in the first season of the league's existence, and are yet to return. It even went from bad to worse, as they dropped back into the third tier in 1999. Even then, the worst was yet to come, as from 2008-2010 the club played at the 4th tier, which was the lowest level they had ever played at. But they found the way back up, winning the Montgomeryshire League in 09/10 and a few years later in 12/13 also managing to win the Mid Wales League, bringing them back up to the second tier after 14 years of absence. After 2 years though, a relegation followed, and it took them 5 years to get back into the second tier, where they have now spent two seasons at the lower end of the table again.

Rick87 · November 14, 2023

Good luck, I used to enjoy the British Steel challenge.

AM23 · November 14, 2023

Pre-season

Pre-season was short, as I only came in two weeks before our first competitive fixture. It was mostly about figuring out the squad, which was quite imbalanced with more than 35 players in it. As I disabled the first transfer window, this only really meant that I terminated some contracts of players I was pretty sure I was not going to use anyway.

I was not there yet for the first game, so I actually managed to go unbeaten, albeit against Welsh and English lower league sides. For the rest it is clear that this does not have a whole lot of meaning.

Tactic

Well, I have heard the talk about the 4-4-2 being awful defensively, but given my players I still thought this would be my most logical formation. I also just didn't feel like going for another gegenpress system, so we'll see how this goes. For the rest it seemed logical for me that a team expected to fight against relegation would use a little bit of a more defensive tactic, and given the fact that I have played a save with a very succesful defensive 4-4-2 last year, I thought I'd give it another go.

Squad

I will only give a short overview of the squad here, and probably show some players in more detail later in the season. Of the 36 players we started with I already let a few go. Also, only 6 of our players are actually earning some money.

In goal it is an obious choice, Nikki Lee-Bulmer will be our man in between the posts.

Immediately it is clear that we are short at the backs, especially on the left, with only Adam Worton being a real defensive option here. On the right my first choice will be Sergio Gomes. In the center it will be Drew Reynolds and Jordan Ambris to start with, though we do have enough back-up options here.

As said before, we only have one defensively minded left back, but Jones and Archie Bales, do give us some options there, although Bales will also be my starting winger on the left. On the right this honour goes to Josh Hartrick, who looks better than the star ratings suggest. In the center it is clear that the defensive midfield postion goes to Tom Goodwin, with Lance Jones next to him filling in a little bit more attacking role.

Jamie Breese is our star man, and really should perform as well, as he takes up 30% of our wage budgets. But with him listed as the third best player in the league, I hope he will show us he is worth it. He will be our first choice pressing forward. Next to him I think I will start the season with James Smallwood as he has some great physical attributes with which I hope he can disrupt some defenses.

Season preview

With three teams going down we are looking like one of the favourites for relegation. Let's hope this won't happen as it would mean that I would get fired at my first job, which would not bode well for the future. For the rest we really should not be thinking about anything else, with only the top team going up, which seems very far out of our reach.

Board expectation

The board is mild, only expecting us to fight against relegation, as well as being competitive in all three cups we play in. Not a whole lot of ambition from their side. I personally hope to go on at least some kind of cup run. If we were to cross anything of the list this season our best (and probably only) bet would be the Tier 2 League cup, though this will be very tough too.

AM23 · November 14, 2023

1 hour ago, Rick87 said:

Good luck, I used to enjoy the British Steel challenge.

Thanks! I'm excited to get started. I always find it fun to discover some new leagues. Also, I love the amount of cups there is, because who doesn't love a little cup run.

AM23 · November 14, 2023

July 2023

We start our campaign with a League Cup fixture, where we have a very good draw, as it is a home fixture against one of only two lower league sides (apparently wild-cards). Would be nice if we could win that one and immediately gain some momentum there. The game against Bangor is a hard one, as they are predicted to finish 5th despite them being newly promoted.

Only negative we have so far is that our star man Jamie Breese picked up an injury in pre-season, which means he will probably miss both of these games.

Llanidloes - Penrhyncoch (League Cup)

That's exactly how you want to start a season! Did not expect to be able to relax after 10 minutes into this match. Our young left winger Archie Bales led the way, getting assists on the first two goals. After this we never really got in danger and managed to get two more goals at the end to make the result look even better.

The draw for the round of 32 has not been kind to us, as we will take on Newtown FC, who play in the Cymru Premier.

Bangor 1876 - Llanidloes

Sadly we could not build on our previous result. After their 1-0 our poacher James Smallwood missed a penalty, and despite us getting some chances, we were never really looking good enough to get away with anything here.

Next month the season will really break loose, with two cup games and also our first home games of the season.

AM23 · November 14, 2023

August 2023

A nice sequence of 4 home games will hopefully see us pick up some wins. Buckley are predicted mid table, so I hope to come away with at least a point there in front of our own fans. Following up on that game we take on Cymru Premier side Newtown in the League Cup, where we will need to be at our very best to be in with a chance. Then a tough home game against Airbus UK Broughton (who apparently finished last season's Cymru Premier with -4 points). We close of the month with a cup game against lower league opposition and finally an away game to Guilsfield.

Llanidloes - Buckley

xG: 1.22 - 1.44; Shots: 12(1) - 11(1); Possesion: 56% - 44%

Ouch... This one was really unnecessary. Jamie Breese making his first appearance in the starting XI after his injury failed to make an impact, while his partner up front James Smallwood squandered the few chances we did have. On the defensive front we did very well though, aside from Adam Worton giving up a free-kick with a stupid tackle and then pulling down his man when the free-kick was crossed to him to give up a penalty.

I am not panicking just yet, but have decided to shuffle some players around a little bit. Mostly, I have been very disappointed with Lance Jones, who plays as our central midfielder and should be one of the best players in our squad. Also, our biggest talent according to me, Sergio Gomes, is yet to put in a good performance at right back, but given that he can also play in midfield, I have decided to give him a go there. For the rest James Smallwood has been missing chances left and right, so he will be replaced by Jack Orbell for the time being.

Llanidloes - Newtown (League Cup)

xG: 2.69 - 2.04; Shots: 9(6) - 16(6); Possesion: 48% - 52%

Wow. Just wow. What a game. After 10 minutes I had a déja vu to our first round match, when we were the team with the comfortable early margin. After that total madness broke out, though, with Sergio Gomes showing he can absolutely play in midfield. At half time I thought most of the spectacle was already behind me, but boy was I wrong. After they took the lead again we totally turned the game around with a quickfire two goals. That lead did not last long either, and after they scored the 4-4 I mostly just hoped we could see the 90 minutes out to get to penalties. But their red card was the start sign for us to throw out one more attack, which was headed home by James Smallwood coming from the bench.

A man who may not be visible on the scoresheet, but should definitely be credited as well is Josh Hartrick. Despite two braces he was the one coming away with the MOTM award, as he provided three assists today.

Let's take this momentum into our next league game please!

Llanidloes - Airbus UK Broughton

xG: 1.83 - 1.22; Shots: 12(4) - 13(5); Possesion: 55% - 45%

We have our first points on the board in the league! The scoreline does flatter us a little bit, but I could not care less really. Sergio Gomes proving my choice to put him in midfield to be right once again. More of the same, as Josh Hartrick got MOTM once again too.

Next is the opening round of the Welsh Cup, where the bookies somehow prefer tier 3 side Brickfield over us.

Llanidloes - Brickfield (Welsh Cup)

xG: 1.42 - 1.91; Shots: 11(6) - 10(4); Possesion: 51% - 49%

A little bit of a rotated side made it a lot harder than it should have been. Rhys Evans got his first minutes of the season as we rested Hartrick, and repaid faith with a goal and two assists. On the other wing Archie Bales did well to pick up his 4th assist of the season already. I am happy we are through, but a little bit disappointed at conceding 3 goals against such opposition.

We have certainly given our fans their money's worth so far, with 24 goals coming in our home games, 16 of which scored by us.

Guilsfield - Llanidloes

xG: 1.76 - 0.63; Shots: 11(8) - 10(4); Possesion: 44% - 56%

The small winning streak we were building comes to a screeching halt in Welshpool. Sergio Gomes again with a goal, but even in the 40th minute it already felt like a consolation, and that about sums up our afternoon here.

Already a little bit further into the save and forgot to take a screenshot of the league table, so that will make its delayed first appearance next month. I can tell you that we are currently in 14th place.

We've got a big month coming up with three league games, as well as (at least) three cup games. Still enough to sort out going into September where we hope to get out of the relegation spots.

Edited November 14, 2023 by AM23

AM23 · November 15, 2023

September 2023

A healthy amount of 6 games in this month, which could even become 7 with a win in the Welsh Cup. We start the month by travelling to Chirk twice. They were predicted dead last at the start of the season but have actually started well with 9 points from 5 games. Then we have Airbus UK Broughton coming up at home again. Last month we beat them 3-0 in the league, so let's hope for more of the same. Then two more league games with us being most likely to gain something from the Gresford game. After that another big game in the League Cup, where we will be playing Penybont for a spot in the quarter finals.

Aside from the league, my focus will mostly be on the Tier 2 League Cup, as this realistically is the only competition we really have a chance of winning this season. Just the 5 wins there would get us our first trophy, and only teams from the Cymru North/South participate.

Chirk - Llanidloes

xG: 3.22 - 2.56; Shots: 21(6) - 13(5); Possesion: 44% - 56%

Oh man, this one hurts and I only have myself to blame really. With only 15 minutes to go I thought we had this game in the bag and decided to give young right back Joshua Peck, who is not quite ready for the first team yet, some game time. He had not even been on the pitch for 5 minutes when he made a mistake to bring Chirk back into the game. After this our defence crumbled and the 2-2 fell quickly. Before all this it was Jack Orbell who once again proved me wrong in not having him in my starting XI early in the season. He won us a penalty and looked to secure us our second league win of the season, but that wasn't to be.

Very tough one to take this. I hope we can bounce back next week against them in the cup.

Chirk - Llanidloes (Welsh Cup)

xG: 2.08 - 1.51; Shots: 17(7) - 11(3); Possesion: 43% - 57%

No revenge for us here. Not our game really. Jamie Breese missed a penalty in the 34th minute. We did manage to score the 1-1 eventually, but after they grabbed back the lead right away we never came close to another equaliser.

First competition we crash out of, and the next game could make that two of we don't watch out. As I said, the Tier 2 League Cup is our best chance at a prize for now, so hopefully we can get through this round.

Llanidloes - Airbus UK Broughton (Tier 2 League Cup)

xG: 2.31 - 1.77; Shots: 20(10) - 16(10); Possesion: 49% - 51%

A crazy first 45 minutes saw us give away the lead twice, after which they scored the winner from a corner in a more quiet second half. Rhys Evans was given his second start of the season, this time on the left instead of an out of form Archie Bales, and once again showed us he is a great rotation option. We have the right to feel a tad unlucky to not have come away with the win here, given the fact that we actually had the better of them in the second half. All in all a disappointing and unnecessary early exit in this cup.

Back to the league now where we do need to start picking up some points.

Llanidloes - Holywell

xG: 1.91 - 0.63; Shots: 19(8) - 10(6); Possesion: 59% - 41%

I cannot believe this... Their midfielder Ryan Edwards had scored a grand total of 14 league goals in 11 years and 248 league appearances prior to this game, but today everything he touched turned into gold. We absolutely one of the favourites for promotion and with revelation Sergio Gomes chipping in with another goal and assist we looked to set to send Holywell back empty handed. Even in those last 10 minutes we had the better chances, but a last second free-kick left us disappointed once more.

Giving up leads of two goals in the last 10 minutes in our last 2 league games has done something to the morale of the team. Next game though, we take on Gresford at 'The Rock' (great stadium name) who are currently in last place. Great opportunity to bounce back.

Gresford - Llanidloes

xG: 0.51 - 0.81; Shots: 7(2) - 8(4); Possesion: 38% - 62%

We really can't catch a break at the moment. They had one chance all game and it went in. Drew Reynolds has been our most solid defender all season long, but today this was not the case. He forgot to mark his man which gave them the lead, and then got two yellows in a second half where we desperately tried to break through their backline without any success.

We finish the month with an away trip to Penybont for the League Cup. They are in 5th placed in the Cymru Premier, which is two places below Newtown who we beat in the last round. Given our current form of 6 winless games I don't have high hopes for this match at all.

Penybont - Llanidloes (League Cup)

xG: 3.03 - 1.37; Shots: 24(9) - 6(2); Possesion: 55% - 45%

This is getting tiring. I am not gonna claim we were the better team here, but giving up two late goals again really feels like a punch in the gut. We actually kept them away from our goal for most of the game, restricting them to long distance shots and crosses. We did however give up two identical free-kicks at the end, both of which were chipped over the wall to an unmarked player to end our last ongoing cup run.

Especially their second goal hurt us, as the game would have gone straight to penalties after 90 minutes otherwise.

Just the 2 points in the league this month, but it should have been so much more.

As for the cups, the three eliminations have really affected our morale.

All this means we currently have a 7 game winless streak across all competitions, but to be honest it feels like this was not needed at all. Giving away leads in 4 of our games this month is just disappointing to see. One part of me says that I should start looking at a chance of tactics, though that might not even be the right solution at the moment, as we did have the upper hand in about half of our games this month but just failed to capitalize.

AM23 · November 15, 2023

October 2023

4 games in this month where we look to bounce back from our recent dispiriting results. Mold Alexandra were predicted as relegation candidate but have been doing surprisingly well. Llandudno too should be a winnable fixture. The two away games are against more difficult opponents.

Llanidloes - Mold Alexandra

xG: 1.32 - 0.54; Shots: 13(6) - 11(2); Possesion: 42% - 58%

Great way to start the month! I have said his name before and I'll hopefully say it again: Sergio Gomes. The 20 year old has now scored 7 goals in 11 matches he played from midfield. He did pick up his 5th booking of the season which means he misses the next game, but we won't let that spoil the fun. Someone who I have not named a lot yet is Tom Goodwin who has been solid as our defensive midfielder and scored a beautiful free-kick to give us the lead in this game. After that we never looked back and thank god we did not give up 2 late goals again.

Denbigh - Llanidloes

xG: 1.33 - 0.74; Shots: 17(2) - 8(4); Possesion: 56% - 44%

A stolen point here really. Only thing we did well this game was not letting them come to close to our goal, but for the rest we were totally dominated all throughout. Gomes' suspension gave Lance Jones another chance to show himself, but he did not live up to expectations once again. This meant Ed Clarke got his first minutes this season from the bench and he linked up together with fellow substitute Rhys Evans to create our only real chance of the game, which sees us return home with a cherishable point.

Next up is a clash against Llandudno, who have taken over our 14th position. With it being a home game, this is a big chance to get a little bit of a margin on the relegation spots now.

Llanidloes - Llandudno

xG: 2.83 - 0.92; Shots: 14(5) - 9(1); Possesion: 50% - 50%

Best game of the season so far! We blew them away in the first half, and got our first clean sheet since mid August. After missing an early chance Jamie Breese went on to terrorize Llandudno's defence, who had no grip on him at all. Our best defensive performence goes to Drew Reynolds who has been solid for us all season and kept their striker in check.

We finish the month with a tough away fixture against Prestatyn Town. I would be happy to come away with anything there.

Prestatyn Town - Llanidloes

xG: 1.16 - 1.65; Shots: 11(3) - 12(4); Possesion: 55% - 45%

Great win to finish of the month. Jack Orbell and Jamie Breese are getting better and better together up front, with the rest of the team also starting to click now. We opened the scoring with a nicely built up attack over the left side and gave away nothing in the first half. They came out of the dressing room furiously, but when the goal they wanted did not come they calmed down again quickly. The match then died down a bit and our 2-0 looked to seal it, but a mistake by goalkeeper Niki Lee-Bulmer gave them the spirit again and had us longing for the final whistle.

In the end it means our first away win of the season and that too against the team 3rd in the league. Nothing to complain about here.

We have shot up to 9th place in the table, though we are still only 3 points of the relegation spots. Something that might really help us later in the season if we can keep it up is our goal difference, which is a lot better than that of the teams below us at the moment. Flint Town were favourites for the title and are showing why so far, while Chirk who were the big favourites for relegation are proving everybody wrong. For the rest Bangor and Broughton are the biggest underperformers so far.

This month has been great and I have already praised our striker duo a lot, but what has also been really important in our success here is our defensive performance, with only 3 goals conceded in the 4 games this month.

I just miss out on my first personal prize. Would have been nice but Ruthin came from the same spot as us even winning all of their games, so not a lot to do about that.

We do have our first players in the team of the month, though I have absolutely no idea how Josh Hartrick managed to get in as he did not do a whole lot this month apart from 1 assist.

Edited November 15, 2023 by AM23

AM23 · November 15, 2023

November 2023

We start the month by playing in-form Ruthin, who have won their last 4 matches. After that, some weird fixture scheduling sees us play back-to-back games against unbeaten league leaders Flint Town, before we cap off the month in a winnable game away at Porthmadog.

Llanidloes - Ruthin

xG: 2.71 - 0.39; Shots: 25(12) - 4(1); Possesion: 49% - 51%

The danger duo up front did it once again for us in an amazing allround performance. Going into halftime we only had ourselves to blame for not having scored at least one goal. Luckily we did so early in the second half and gave away absolutely nothing at the back. Our second goal came from our 20th(!) corner of the match and made an end to any doubt there might have been, as Ruthin's good streak comes to an end.

Crazy to think that a little bit more then a month ago I almost wanted to start changing tactics, while now all of a sudden everything seems to be clicking within the team. Will be interesting to see what we can do against Flint Town.

Llanidloes - Flint Town

xG: 0.74 - 0.44; Shots: 7(3) - 7(4); Possesion: 42% - 58%

Another great defensive performance, and we should have gotten a draw. Their goal came from a shot just outside the box which seemed to be going straight at our goalie Niki Lee-Bulmer but somehow it went in. The fans did not get to see a great spectacle today in what was only our second home loss of the season.

Flint Town - Llanidloes

xG: 2.56 - 0.52; Shots: 17(7) - 9(5); Possesion: 56% - 44%

Expectedly, they were a lot more dominating at home, and had the upper hand throughout most of the game. This time out however, it looked like we might take the point we deserved last week through a Jack Orbell header. Sadly that was not to be as an unnecessary foul by Adam Worton gave them the chance to take the lead from the spot before another defensive mistake saw the game end in 3-1.

We shouldn't worry too much about these defeats, as Flint Town really look to be in a league of their own at the moment. Instead, we should try and bounce back next game, when we take on 13th placed Porthmadog, who have just appointed a new manager.

Porthmadog - Llanidloes

xG: 2.33 - 0.00; Shots: 19(7) - 0(0); Possesion: 64% - 36%

Awful really... Don't want to spend a lot of words on this, just that I can't remember ever having an FM game where my team did not have a single shot. The send off was fully justified as Josh Hartrick came in with a two-footed tackle from behind.

Just gonna leave this graph out there. We are yellow for anyone interested.

The win against Ruthin saw us get a little bit of air with 6 points above the relegation spots, but our defeats after that mean that this margin has already been halved. Still, nothing to complain about being mid table halfway through the season.

In other news, 5 of the teams have already sacked their manager.

Transfers

Also, I have made the first signing of the save! We picked up regen Harri Edwards as a free agent. He looks like a good prospect, and is actually already a decent player for our first team. I don't really see him as a winger though, so will try to retrain him to a central (attacking) midfielder.

AM23 · November 16, 2023

December 2023

When we met Ruthin last month, we had both found the way up and had our respective unbeaten runs. After that fixture, which we won, both teams lost 3 games in a row, so the atmosphere around this game is totally different than last time around. We have had 3 free weeks to work on our game since our last fixture though. For the rest there is just one more game for us in December, which will be a tough home game against Caersws on Boxing Day.

Ruthin - Llanidloes

xG: 0.93 - 0.82; Shots: 8(2) - 6(3); Possession: 61% - 39%

Not a classic by any means, with close to nothing happening in the first 70 minutes. The match seemed to be destined to be one of the most boring draws one will ever see, but then a little magic happened. We crossed a ball into the box and it was Jamie Breese who opened the scoring with a bicycle kick from an impossible looking angle. It was only after this moment that the game opened up and we finally saw James Smallwood get his first league goal of the season. We could not keep the clean sheet, but that does not bother me at the moment really. Most important is that we are back to winning with this second away win in the league.

A man who has not yet been among the goals but is having a great season so far on the left hand side is young Archie Bales, who took the MOTM award today as he provided 2 goals bringing his assist tally this season up to 9.

As a result of this match Ruthin have fired their manager Phil Hudson, who is incidentally the one who prevented me from getting my first manager of the month award back in October.

Some bad news too in this match, as we have to deal with our first big injury. Tom Goodwin has been steady for us in defensive midfield all season, starting in all but one game. He will be missed, and I think this injury might also mean the end of his time at the club, as I have not yet offered him a new contract.

In his absence I will move Sergio Gomes to the be our ball winning midfielder, while it does open up an opportunity for Lance Jones to finally prove how good he can be.

Never have I agreed more with anything

Llanidloes - Caersws

xG: 2.65 - 2.27; Shots: 15(9) - 16(5); Possession: 48% - 52%

Scintillating stuff really. Absolutely unbelievable. We had our biggest crowd turn up of the season for this Boxing Day fixture and then we go on to play our worst half of football. Without Tom Goodwin all balance seemed to be gone. With 1-4 at the half I was mad, so mad I threw the first water bottle of the save. The players were not happy.

We've had some good comebacks againt us, but this one tops all of those. The 'Danger Duo' gave the fans their money's worth in that second half. Jack Orbell, you beauty. First hattrick of the save and even getting an assist too.

In minute 73 it was Orbell to Jamie Breese with a cross from within the box followed by a free header. Minute 89 saw exactly the same happen, albeit Breese to Orbell this time. Hope started to come, a chance, but Orbell shot it so far wide that it literally hit the corner flag. All seemed to have been for nothing. 95th minute, a desperate ball over the top by left back Adam Worton, suddenly Orbell appears again behind the defense and calmly puts it past the keeper. Ecstasy.

Yes, half of our xG came in extra time.

We kept our comfortable spot in the top half and can even relax a little at the moment. In other news Flint Town have finally lost a game, against Llandudno of all teams.

Great moment for Archie, who got there with 3 assists for the month.

Transfers

A few free agent regens have started popping up now and I have already given a contract to another one. Wayne Staines looks like a great little talent and might be our starting right back very soon. With a bit if training I think he should also be able to do a good job as a defensive midfielder.

Contract news

With the last 6 months of contracts entering, I have also started to renew the contracts of our more important players. The following players have renewed so far:

Goalkeeper Niki Lee-Bulmer. He has been solid so far, not amazing, but he is a good goalkeeper for us.

Jordan Ambris did not have the greatest of form at the start of the season, but he has been better recently and is the leader of our defense. Also, his personality and determination make him a great mentor for younger players.

Our leading player in assists is Archie Bales, and because of that he fully deserves the contract extension. Only 20 years old as well and has shown some steady improvement in his attributes so far.

Last but not least, how could anyone forget them, is the 'Danger Duo' of Jamie Breese and Jack Orbell. We have been very reliant on them, with 19 of our 28 league goals scored by the two of them. Besides that they also have 6 assists between them. Especially with Breese there was a little bit of suspense to if he actually wanted to extend his contract, as there was some interest from Cymru Premier sides at the start of the season. Luckily we got him to sign and he even agreed to a pay cut of €2000 per year.

Jack Orbell

Jamie Breese

A little bit of bad news too, sadly, as we probably won't have Sergio Gomes with us next season. He was a real revelation in the first half of the season as a midfielder, being our top scorer for quite some time actually. He does however not qualify for a work permit, and it does not look like he will in the near future. Don't know how he got one in the first place, but happy we at least got to play him this season, as he has been an important player for the team.

Edited November 17, 2023 by AM23

AM23 · November 17, 2023

January 2024

Really don't understand the league planning here, as playing Caersws on New Year's Day means we will have played 2 teams back-to-back in the league now. First two games are going to be tough, but the second half of the month should see us get some points. Especially at home against 13th placed Denbigh, looks like a good chance for a win.

Caersws - Llanidloes

xG: 3.57 - 0.68; Shots: 23(10) - 6(0); Possession: 53% - 47%

An abysmal performance on all sides of the pitch. We only had our first shot after the 60th minute, but by then the game was already beyond us. Wayne Staines made his starting XI debut at right back and had an awful time out there. He gave away the penalty and was put out of his misery at halftime.

I praised our relatively good goal difference earlier in the season, but we are slowly losing this advantage with performances like these.

Llanidloes - Prestatyn Town

xG: 0.88 - 1.66; Shots: 7(2) - 15(9); Possession: 45% - 55%

I actually felt like we were a tad unlucky when they opened the scoring, as the match had been very even up to that point with us having the best chance. After that two defensive howlers saw them extend their lead, most notably a long pass from 40 meters which our goalkeeper Niki Lee-Bulmer totally misjudged as it flew over his head into the back of the net.

To be honest, not a bad performance at all against the league number 2, just disappointing that the scoresheet doesn't reflect this.

Since the Tom Goodwin injury we have suddenly conceded 10 goals in 3 matches. I knew his injury could have some impact, but didn't expect it to be this big.

Mold Alexandra - Llanidloes

xG: 0.83 - 1.88; Shots: 9(4) - 15(6); Possession: 49% - 51%

Not good enough. We're just giving away the goals too easily at the moment. Not one player who played a good match here. Mold Alexandra go past us in the table with this result as we slip back down to 13th place. Still a 4 point cushion to the relegation spots, but we do need to start winning again soon.

Next up is Denbigh at home. Should take at least a point there.

Llanidloes - Denbigh

xG: 1.10 - 1.08; Shots: 11(8) - 13(3); Possession: 49% - 51%

Some very important points to end the month with. This match could have gone either way, so it's nice to be one the good side of the result. The early goal helped settle the nerves and Sergio Gomes, back at central midfield after a bit of shuffling around following Goodwin's injury, showed he still has the ability to chip in with a goal at the right time. Jack Orbell set up both goals and deservedly went home with yet another MOTM award.

Not a great month, which is shown in the table as we drop from 8th to 11th. However, a clear gap is starting to form between the bottom 3 and the rest of the teams, so that's very positive for us.

If anything, this month has once again shown how important our 'Danger Duo' up front is for us. When they don't score, we don't score and we lose. Our reliance on them is partly due to our tactic, but also because no one else besides Sergio Gomes has shown the ability to consistently score goals.

AM23 · November 18, 2023

February 2024

A month with possibilities, as we meet 8th through 10th in the table, with two home games as well. A good set of results here could definitively put an end to any relegation fears for us.

Llandudno - Llanidloes

xG: 1.28 - 0.78; Shots: 14(4) - 7(2); Possession: 57% - 43%

Not a single thing happening all the way through this match until suddenly Daniel Lewis, fresh of the bench at right back, hammered home a free kick from an odd 30 meters out. Of course it wouldn't be a match of ours with some more late drama to get the Llandudno a deserved point. All in all not a bad point to take, just a shame about the late equaliser.

Llanidloes - Gresford

xG: 2.19 - 2.45; Shots: 10(5) - 14(4); Possession: 57% - 43%

A game of two halves if there ever was one. We got totally dominated in the first half and should have been 2 or 3 down at the break, but instead Sergio Gomes provided us with some magic which gave us hope that more could be done. We didn't let Gresford get back to what they had been doing in the second half, and with Gomes getting into double digits for the season in all competitions we even got the lead. The icing on the cake was Archie Bales finally scoring his first goal for us.

Llanidloes - Porthmadog

xG: 2.14 - 1.27; Shots: 11(6) - 10(8); Possession: 33% - 67%

Well... Only have ourselves to blame for starting so bad really. Always up against it that way, especially if you can't keep them away from your own goal even in the few minutes after you've scored. They had everything going for them as it seemed that all their chances were going in, and this means we have now lost both our games to Porthmadog. Sergio Gomes again our best man with two assists this time.

Don't want to jinx it, but it feels like we are going to be staying up. The teams at the bottom have just not been able to string a few good results together so far.

At the top of the table Flint Town have hit a rough patch for the first time all season and are suddenly not so sure of the championship anymore.

AM23 · November 19, 2023

March 2024

4 of the remaining 6 games being played in March means we have the chance to secure our spot in the league this month already. Buckley away is a game we should be looking to get 3 points from, as they are in last place. The next 3 games are all against top half opposition, but as two of them are at home, I do hope to get some result there too.

Buckley - Llanidloes

xG: 1.51 - 0.54; Shots: 12(3) - 4(3); Possession: 42% - 58%

A pretty weird game this. In the first half every shot seemed to go in with some questionable goalkeeping on both sides. Then two of our players went off injured before we got that red card too. In the end I'm honestly happy we managed to keep it at a draw.

Most notable moment for the rest was Wayne Staines getting his first goal contribution with an assist from a cross. We picked him up in december and he has become our starting right back since then.

Llanidloes - Guilsfield

xG: 1.53 - 0.83; Shots: 11(5) - 9(4); Possession: 52% - 48%

Oh yes this was just amazing! Not the most comprehensive of victories, but we definitely played the most beautiful football I have seen from us all season. Guilsfield didn't know what was happening to them, as we were all over them combining through their defense with some terrific attacking plays. We were very unlucky to go into to break with the scores tied, but luckily just kept going in the second half and got the result we fully deserved.

That man Sergio Gomes just keeps going on and on. I am hoping for a miracle that gives him a work permit for next season.

One more win can secure us staying up now, as well as any loss by teams below us. Let's get it done next match!

Airbus UK Broughton - Llanidloes

xG: 1.15 - 0.32; Shots: 14(3) - 6(3); Possession: 56% - 44%

And there is our confirmation! Not a classic by any means, as we did not show any initiative after Rhys Evans opened the scoring early with a shot from outside the box. A good chance to give some defensive praise though, as we kept them quiet for the whole game except for a late push. Wayne Staines has been training to become familiar at the defensive midfield position and played an absolute masterclass there today at only 17 years old. Niki Lee-Bulmer has been criticised by me a few times but kept his goal clean today for the first time since early november.

Very happy to go into another year here. I have had a great time this season and hope to continue that in the next. Also, it would be nice if the board would now let me take a coaching course as that still hasn't happened yet.

A little bit of a wage rise makes me the best paid person at the club by far

Llanidloes - Chirk

xG: 0.83 - 1.02; Shots: 12(4) - 10(6); Possession: 59% - 41%

First dead rubber and a boring game immediately. Their 3 goals came from set-pieces, and a draw would have been a better reflection of play. Bright spot for us was Harri Edwards coming of the bench and scoring his first goal for us from the left wing.

The result wasn't the worst thing to happen today though...

A big injury means our 'Danger Duo' won't finish the season together. In the worst case scenario Jack Orbell will even miss the start of next season.

Very nice to see us there mid table, let's try and keep that position in the last two games. Elsewhere Flint Town have sealed the championship and promotion in what has been a dominant season by them.

Youth intake

We have also had our youth intake last month. All players were actually given 5 star potential, but I don't think that means too much at this level. As the youth contracts do take up some space I only signed the players with good personalities.

Rúben Faria being Portuguese will be there to remind us of Sergio Gomes when he will be gone

For the rest there are two players close to the first team already:

Cian Daniels

Jonathan Jones

AM23 · November 19, 2023

April 2024

Two games to go. Hope to finish the season on a high against (probably) relegating Bangor in front of a home crowd.

Holywell - Llanidloes

xG: 3.10 - 0.46; Shots: 21(12) - 4(2); Possession: 59% - 41%

Relegation averted, focus gone. That seems to be the case here for us. Holywell are not a bad team, but they should never be this much better than us. We were lucky that the score didn't end up much higher and that Rhys Evans even saved some honour for us.

Hope to end with a win against Bangor, although they are still fighting relegation as they grabbed a late winner today.

Llanidloes - Bangor 1876

xG: 1.76 - 0.61; Shots: 9(3) - 11(5); Possession: 43% - 57%

We seal Bangor's faith in a boring affair where a penalty was a fitting end. They just couldn't break through our defense, which was nice to see for once.

No coaching course for me still is my only complaint.

Great to see us end the season in 9th. In the end we got a good margin from the relegation spots halfway through the season and never really got in danger again after that.

For the rest of the league, Bangor were the biggest underachievers, as they were expected to finish around 5th place. Chirk on the other hand surprised everyone. They were predicted dead last but defied expectations in the league and also managed to win the Tier 2 League Cup.

AM23 · November 19, 2023

Season review 23/24

First season has gone very well for us. I am pleased with how we did here, and glad to be here for another year. Going into next year I hope to seriously strengthen the squad, aiming at a place in the top half this time. The only thing I wanted this year that I didn't get was a coaching course, as the club say they think I will leave them for a bigger club as a result of it.

Competitions

So this is how we went about in the league. The start saw us perform as we were predicted to, hovering around the relegation spots and only winning 1 of our first 7 league games. Then October came and we suddenly went on an amazing run of form with 13 points from 5 games, which saw us climb to 7th in the table. It was also here that our 'Danger Duo' of Jamie Breese and Jack Orbell really started to play together well and score goal after goal. After that a little bit of a winter dip came, with just 4 points from 8 matches, though we did have some tough opposition around that time, as well as the Tom Goodwin injury happening there. We never really came into danger of relegation again luckily, as we always stayed at least 3 points above the relegation zone and got well away from it towards the end of the season. In the end we were officialy safe after matchday 27, and got a steady mid table finish in 9th place.

Nothing special in the Welsh Cup where we knocked out lower league opponents before league rivals Chirk outplayed us.

The League Cup is where we really showed ourselves early in the season. Against lower league side Penrhyncoch we played our first competitive fixture and immediately got our biggest win of the season. After that we met two Cymru Premier sides. First we had that amazing game against Newtown, where we were 2-0 down after 10 minutes, but had a spectacular game in the end with Jamie Smallwood getting us the win in the 86th minute. Our campaign ended in heartbreak away to Penybont, as they turned our 1-0 lead around at the death to keep us away from the quarter finals.

The Tier 2 League Cup is the only competition I was disappointed in our doing. This was the only competition were we had any hopes of winning this season, but those hopes were gone early.

Squad

I mostly agree with this best XI on the right, though I would get Archie Bales in for Rhys Evans here. He got 11 assists and was our best provider with those. On the goal scoring front it is somewhat worying to see how dependent we have been on only 3 players, although this is also a consequence of the tactic we play.

Looking towards next season, I want to do a bit of a squad overhaul, especially as our reserves are just not up to par. For the rest I am searching some direct reinforcements for our defence and central midfield. Tom Goodwin will be the most notable player we won't be seeing back next year. His attributes declined a lot with his injury and he is also already 34 years old, so time for some fresh blood. For the rest, Adam Worton retiring is also worth mentioning.

Edited November 19, 2023 by AM23

AM23 · November 22, 2023

Pre-season 24/25

This year's pre-season was mostly about strengthening the squad, while also getting rid of some deadwood. Some postions have been a lot harder to find players for than others, which means we have a bit of an imbalance of squad depth at different postions now, though I hope to fix that in the remaining time of the transfer window.

Some good performances against lower league sides before Cheltenham demolished us in the first half an hour. Overall though, we weren't that bad against Cheltenham, so I would call this a good pre-season.

Budgets

No transfer budget as expected, however the board did give us some extra wage to work with in comparison with last season. Might have to do with the fact that the finances are looking relatively healthy:

A small loss over the course of last season, but nothing to be too worried about I think.

Transfers

First of all, there is nothing to be seen on the outgoing front as I have only release some players / let their contracts run out, so here are the most important players from last season that won't be back:

Tom Goodwin: was talked about before, as he is 34 years old and had a lot of declining attributes after his big injury.
Daniel Lewis: played a lot at right back and centre back, but is also getting old and just not up to standards anymore.
Adam Worton: I think he played every match for us last season, as our only real left back in the squad, but sadly he decided to retire. He is still at the club as a coach.
Lance Jones: looked like one of our best players last season but never showed his ability on the pitch. Honestly very happy that he is gone as he also started complaining about a lack of playing time.
Sergio Gomes: the most notable of all. I am heartbroken that we needed to let him go, as he was my favourite player in the squad. Our 3rd highest goal scorer, and the best developing player at the club. I don't know how he got a work permit for last season, but I am happy we had the pleasure to have him then at least.

Now onto the incoming transfers:

Ifan Knott and Rhys Wilson (profile below): two goalkeepers, although I was actually only looking for one. Knott is a back-up with potential, whereas Wilson just fell into my lap as a very good first choice. Wilson's arrival means I am looking to move Niki Lee-Bulmer to another club, as he earns way to much to sit on the bench.
Callum Humphries (profile below) and Louis Bradford: two central defenders who could well be playing together in the starting XI. I am most excited about Humphries, who is not all that great defensively, but is a big aerial threat. Bradford still has some growth in him, and can also slot in at right back and defensive midfield which is always handy.
Adam Boydell and Paul Johnson (profile below): both well-rounded central midfielders in their prime. They give us some good options to work with on that part of the pitch.
Billy Osborn: might be the player I am most excited about bringing in so far. He is a very good player for us already and is still only 19 years old. He played in the Watford youth before Ruthin picked him up on a during last season, but now he has chosen us.
Eric Durnell: a player mostly there for squad depth, as he can play on the wing on both sides. Only 19 years old as well.

Only thing left to speak about is what we still need, as there are some positions where we are lacking at the moment:

Left back: I've got only one player there at the moment, and he came through our youth intake and might not be quite ready for the first team just yet. I had good hopes of signing a very good player here, but he chose for a Cymru South club. At the moment I have another two offers waiting to be answered, but once again with other clubs bidding as well.
Right wing: This is a position we really lack in quality. Once again, I was eyeing a great player here, but he too chose another team. The situation now is getting a little bit precarious actually, as I am having a hard time finding any quality players here.
Striker: Just the one option now besides the 'Danger Duo', which means I would like to get an extra back-up here. The player we were eyeing for the right wing was perfect, as he could also do a good job as a striker, so really gutted to miss out on him.

Tactic

Last season went well, so still using the same tactic. I do hope that we will become a little bit less dependent on our strikers for goals.

Squad

So, Rhys Wilson should be the man to do it for us in goal this season. Looking at the salaries, it is clear why I want to get rid of NLB.

In the centre and on the right side I am happy with our options, though it is obvious that I am desperately looking for a decent left back. It is needless to say that Wayne Staines will be first choice on the right side. In the middle I will start with Jordan Ambris next to Callum Humphries, as he has already shown what he can do for us last season. On the left side I will probably go for Ben Davies for now.

We are looking very good at the center here, but on the sides there is much to be improved still. Billy Osborn will be our defensive midfielder, with Paul Johnson and Adam Boydell battling it out for the other central spot. Archie Bales has to be credited for his performances last season and thus will be starting on the left. On the right side I will go for Eric Durnell for now.

Rhys Evans might look out of place here, but did a good job last season as a back-up, while also being assistant for our u19 for free.

The same guys as last season. As said, I am hoping for one more striker option, but if the 'Danger Duo' of still operates as good as last season that won't be a big priority. Jamie Breese still is the big earner of the squad by a mile.

Season preview

Predicted just a little bit higher than last season, but outside of the relegation spots this time. We are a bit unlucky I think with both the relegated teams coming into our league. I am also surprised with newly promoted Rhyl being so high up, but we'll find out soon enough if this can be justified, as they are our first opponents.

Yeah, I think Jamie Breese still deserves his wage :lol:

Don't think he will get close to topscorer though, as he will be playing as our pressing forward again, so not the main goal scorer in our system.

Board expectation

For some reason they are not ambitious at all yet again. At the end of last season I got a mail in my inbox that mid table was the expectation, but they have backtracked from that.

I want to do a lot more than the board expect of me. Mainly, I am looking at the Tier 2 League Cup, as I think this is a great chance at our first price with just 5 wins needed. As for the league I hope to do better than last season, which would mean finishing top half.

Edited November 22, 2023 by AM23

AM23 · November 22, 2023

July 2024

Our league rivals Mold Alexandra in the League Cup to start of our season. Not a bad draw, just a shame that it is an away game. After that we will meet newly promoted Rhyl 1879 in front of our own fans, and although they are predicted in 3rd, I want to start the league with a win there. Airbus UK is a team we beat twice in the league last season, but we are definitely not favourites for that fixture.

Mold Alexandra - Llanidloes (League Cup)

xG: 0.69 - 0.66; Shots: 9(1) - 6(4); Possession: 57% - 43%

The end result looks pretty comprehensive, but the match was not easy at all. It was a very cagey affair with us not managing a single shot in the first half. Luckily our defence with lots of debutants did a great job at keeping the opponent away from our goal as well. In the second half we were able to take a lead early, when 17 year old right back Wayne Staines dinked a ball over the top which was nicely put away by Jamie Breese. This settled some of our nerves and from that point we were very effective in front of goal mostly.

Adam Boydell was the man of the moment, scoring two goals after only coming on in the 67th minute. Especially his second goal was a piece of magic, as he chipped the keeper from a few metres out of the box.

I really hope this defensive performance is a sign of more to come, as I felt we didn't get nearly enough clean sheets last season. Rhys Wilson had a very quiet debut in goal, which is nice.

The draw has paired us up with Flint Town in the next round. They beat us twice in the league last season and got promoted by a good margin.

Llanidloes - Rhyl 1879

xG: 0.38 - 0.45; Shots: 7(2) - 10(2); Possession: 40% - 60%

Last season we had quite some spectacular matches, this season not so much as of yet. I don't really know whether I should be happy or not with this result, as Rhyl are newly promoted, but also predicted in 3rd. I can at least say the defense was great once more, with a special shoutout to Jordan Ambris, who regularly struggled being the leader of our backline last season, but has come out with back-to-back great performances now.

Jack Orbell picked up a small knock and might not be fit for our midweek game.

Airbus UK Broughton - Llanidloes

xG: 0.92 - 2.07; Shots: 10(2) - 17(7); Possession: 52% - 48%

We were great this match! Unlucky not to get the win, but this is a performance we can build upon. Following our lack of chances in the last two games I set our right winger to be a little bit more attacking and it paid of. We started the game furiously, hitting the post twice early. However it was Rhys Wilson conceding his first goal of the season by scoring himself, as a shot came of the post onto his back. Callum Humphries showed that he is a real aerial threath, scoring from a corner.

In the second half the match got quiet after we grabbed the equaliser through Kristian Pierce, who is the right winger we were searching and played only his second match today.

A very early table sees us unbeaten still

Transfers

We have managed to wrap up all the necessary business in the first two weeks of the season, so don't expect a lot to happen after this.

First of all, we have managed to get rid of Niki Lee-Bulmer which is a relief given his wage. He served us well last season, but was never as reliable as you want your goalkeeper to be.

Onto the incoming transfers now:

Kristian Pierce: already played 2 matches and scored his first goal. He is the right winger we were looking for and is also a good back-up striker. Very happy to have him in the squad. His personality is also nice, as it means he can be a good mentor for young players.
Camden Duncan: he only just arrived and I feel like I might have been a tad too generous with the wage I've given him, but nothing to do about that anymore now. He is a good left back, though not great defensively, but his ability to also play on the left wing vouches for him.

Edited November 22, 2023 by AM23

AM23 · November 22, 2023

August 2024

We have got a busy month ahead, with the two cup fixtures once again being away from home sadly. In the league we have the chance to get some wins before we meet recently relegated Aberystwyth Town in what will be a tough fixture for us. In the cups we have not had great luck in the draws, getting Cymru Premier side Flint Town in the League Cup and Ammanford from the Cymru South in the Welsh Cup where there are mostly non-league teams at this stage.

Llanidloes - Gresford

xG: 2.93 - 0.43; Shots: 17(9) - 7(2); Possession: 48% - 52%

This was just amazing! We completely blew them away in that first half. Jack Orbell scored an early brace after the first 'Danger Duo' link up saw us grab the lead. A half filled with chances for us was capped off by Adam Boydell scoring a free kick. We kept them away from our goal which meant yet another clean sheet.

Next up Flint Town away. Will be interesting to see how we hold ourselves against a top tier side.

Flint Town - Llanidloes (League Cup)

xG: 1.00 - 2.40; Shots: 9(2) - 15(9); Possession: 51% - 49%

Wow! Wow! Wow! Second year in a row that we knock out a Cymru Premier side at this stage in the League Cup. It was Flint Town's first competitive game of the season, and it seemed as if they had not found their concentration yet. We were already 2-0 up when they remembered they play a tier above us, and even then they weren't the better team. Adam Boydell has so far proven himself to be an excellent replacement of Sergio Gomes, with again a goal and an assist too.

This just shows how dominant we were at some stages.

We have gotten a pretty good draw as well, as we will meet newly promoted Mumbles from the Cymru South in the Round of 16. It is another away game though.

Guilsfield - Llanidloes

xG: 1.35 - 1.98; Shots: 10(7) - 13(7); Possession: 46% - 54%

Well, that's how you lose your momentum... We were cruising in the first half as Jack Orbell continued his great form this month. Then two sudden goals around the break and we were level again. After that we couldn't get any grip on the game anymore and they deservedly grabbed the lead. Not a great way to lose for the first time in the season.

Also, Archie Bales had to be subbed off with an injury for the third time this season already.

Ammanford - Llanidloes (Welsh Cup)

xG: 0.85 - 2.11; Shots: 11(6) - 14(8); Possession: 48% - 52%

Oh come on. We were so much better this game, but everything is flying in for our opponents at the moment. Can't even say our defending was bad. It was just that they scored 3 goals from distance and then scored the winner with the last kick of the game. Bright spot was Wayne Staines getting his first goal for the club.

Llanidloes - Denbigh

xG: 0.89 - 1.31; Shots: 9(5) - 14(7); Possession: 38% - 62%

This time around we were the lucky team, as Denbigh had the upper hand most of the game. Kristian Pierce was phenomenal in this match against his former team. He gave the cross which led to the own goal and then had two great individual actions which led to a goal and an assist. Also good to see James Smallwood finally grab a goal again.

Aberystwyth Town - Llanidloes

xG: 1.65 - 2.04; Shots: 12(4) - 10(5); Possession: 63% - 37%

A huge result this! We have been starting our games very well lately and once again hit the road running with a Callum Humphries header from a corner and a 'Danger Duo' special. After that they came into the play more, and it looked like we had given away another lead. Luckily, we had the last laugh, as Jack Orbell got yet another goal.

Our first away win in the league and that against a team that only got relegated last season. Very happy with this.

I can only be happy about this really. Last season the highest we got was 7th, so we already topped that. If we can get the defence back to how they were at the start of the season, then we could be in for some very good times.

Colwyn have really had an awful start to their season. They came down from the Cymru Premier and are yet to pick up a win, whilst finding themselves in the relegation zone.

A very good month almost gets Jack Orbell some individual honours. He just misses out but can be very happy with his form.

Second time I get into the top 3 here, and again I have to settle for 2nd place. We will get there some day!

AM23 · November 23, 2023

September 2024

Just the two league fixtures this month. Colwyn Bay are struggling, but are still favourites against us. We have already beaten Mold Alexandra in their own backyard in the League Cup, so I hope to repeat that here. In the cups we have two more away fixtures, which makes that 5 from 5 this season :rolleyes:

First up against Gresford in the Tier 2 League Cup. I really want to see us go on a good cup run here.

Gresford - Llanidloes (Tier 2 League Cup)

xG: 0.96 - 2.15; Shots: 10(4) - 17(5); Possession: 58% - 42%

That man James Orbell has been so good for us. He just converts his chances at such a high rate. The other part of the 'Danger Duo' has not been named as much this season, but has been very important too, getting another assist today.

We were the better team for most of the match, until they got stronger towards the end, and especially the 2-1 made for some squeaky bum time on our side. Either way, very happy to get through this first round this year. Next round we will be playing Llandudno, which is a strong opponent.

Llanidloes - Colwyn Bay

xG: 1.39 - 1.41; Shots: 7(4) - 10(4); Possession: 46% - 54%

Colwyn Bay grab their first three-pointer of the season whilst handing us our first home defeat. We were honestly second best all game, so I can't really complain t0o much.

They grabbed a much deserved lead halfway through the second half, when goalkeeper Rhys Wilson inexplicably forgot how to catch a ball. Our first real chance only came in the 82nd minute when we got a penalty. It was the man inform Jack Orbell who stepped up but saw his attempt stopped by their keeper. Two minutes later we did get the equaliser we were looking for, through a Billy Osborn screamer. We smelled blood and looked to press on, but this backfired horribly.

Mold Alexandra - Llanidloes

xG: 0.91 - 1.28; Shots: 8(6) - 14(6); Possession: 57% - 43%

Quite a similar game to our early season matchup in the League Cup. Both teams held each other in a stranglehold for most of the game, but once again we were the one who came out on top. It was our deadline day signing Kieran Evans who managed to break the deadlock with a header from a Wayne Staines cross. We quickly doubled our margin after that and kept the clean sheet.

Despite him not appearing on the scoresheet, it was Kristian Pierce who took his third MOTM award already in only 8 league games. He was our most dangerous man in attack and got another assist.

Next match sees us travel to Mumbles Rangers in the League Cup to fight for a spot in the Quarter Finals. They are mid table in the Cymru South, so this one could go either way.

Mumbles Rangers - Llanidloes (League Cup)

xG: 2.01 - 0.92; Shots: 14(8) - 10(4); Possession: 60% - 40%

Nerve-wrecking. Unbelievable result! They were all over us this game, but somehow we managed to score 3 to get it to penalties. I don't think we have gotten outplayed like this before in this season. We came out lucky in the penalties as their 7th taker lost his nerve and shot the ball into the stands.

Paul Johnson got only his second start of the season and gave us the lead early after a fluent counter attack. They pegged us back quickly though, and early in the second half finally grabbed the lead they deserved. A Jamie Breese screamer once again levelled the scores, but not for long and they seemed to be the team going into the next round. In the end however, it was Adam Boydell who was the hero, coming on in the 80th minute for an injured Johnson and immediately making an impact getting the game to penalties.

Onto the quarter finals we go! We finally get a home tie in any cup this season at the 7th time of asking. We will be playing Cymru Premier outfit Cardiff Met Uni.

Our go to back-up winger did not make it to the end of this match and we will have to do without him for a month.

We have been performing great so far and it shows as we hold onto our 4th place. Looking at the table we can be a bit disappointed with the Colwyn Bay defeat, but they do have the better players. A small sidenote is that we have mostly played teams in the bottom half so far.

Caersws have just been brilliant this season and already have a margin over the chasing pack.

Transfers

I said we didn't necessarily need any more players coming in, but with our left wingers not being of great quality I decided to give a contract to Kieran Evans. He is significantly better than our other options there, and has already scored his first goal for the club.

Edited November 23, 2023 by AM23

AM23 · November 24, 2023

October 2024

Some tough fixtures this month. On paper Chirk is the easiest, but last season we couldn't beat them once in three matches. Holyhead and Prestatyn Town are both close to us in the league, as is Llandudno who we hope to beat in the Tier 2 League Cup. The League Cup quarter final is a match we should mostly just enjoy.

Llanidloes - Chirk

xG: 1.62 - 1.40; Shots: 13(5) - 7(3); Possession: 48% - 52%

We started off this game very well and should have taken the lead early, but it was Chirk who got in front as a result of a questionable penalty. We then lost the plot for a bit. After the break we looked back to focus, though a corner immediately gave Chirk back their lead. After that we needed to fight for a point, which we eventually found as James Smallwood got himself a goal from the bench.

We should have won this match both by the flow the game and by where we stand in the table. Let's bounce back quickly.

Prestatyn Town - Llanidloes

xG: 1.44 - 2.26; Shots: 13(2) - 10(8); Possession: 55% - 45%

How is that for a result! Certainly a good way to bounce back. Would have been the perfect game if we wouldn't have stopped defending at the end, but I will take this any day of the week.

It was Adam Boydell who put Jamie Breese in front of an almost open goal twice in two minutes giving us a comfortable margin early on. In the second half it was Jack Orbell who started scoring, with his first coming of a third Boydell assist. A complete performance we can be proud of.

Llandudno in the Tier 2 League Cup coming up. They are 2nd in our league and have just beaten first placed Caersws, so will be a tough game.

Llandudno - Llanidloes (Tier 2 League Cup)

xG: 1.27 - 5.41; Shots: 7(1) - 25(10); Possession: 53% - 47%

Same goalscorers, same result, even better game! The 'Danger Duo' is on a roll now. Amazing result once again puts us in the quarter finals.

They took the lead through a penalty which should not have been given according to the media. Before that we had already seen a goal chalked off for offside, but we didn't let that stop us. The whole match was just one big flurry of chances for us, with Kristian Pierce creating a staggering number of 6 clear cut chances, getting two assists from it.

We travel to Holywell next round. Once again league rivals, as the draw is split between leagues until the final.

A big blow for the club, although we are semi-professional, so don't really know how that will work here.

Llanidloes - Holyhead

xG: 2.05- 1.77; Shots: 10(3) - 14(3); Possession: 50% - 50%

Again and again and again. We are just flying now! We walked over them and only started giving away chances after the 3-0 had been scored.

Jamie Breese just announced his retirement, but shows that he can still do so much for us. Another good performer was Archie Bales, who picked up an assist for the second game in a row after being left out of the team for a while.

Cardiff Met Uni in the quarter finals of the League Cup to finish the month. They are currently 5th in the Cymru Premier and have beaten TNS this season. Can we continue this form and get another shock win? A big miss is that we can't make use of Kristian Pierce in this competition as he played the first round for his former c.lub..

Llanidloes - Cardiff Met Uni (League Cup)

xG: 1.87- 1.13; Shots: 8(2) - 8(4); Possession: 38% - 62%

We fall just short in a closely fought match, which means our cup adventure ends. We did not play bad by any means, but they held us off well after taking the lead. It was Jamie Breese himself who won and scored the penalty to get the scores level after they took the lead early. Unfortunately they immediately answered and after that we were unable to make another goal.

I think we can be very proud of our performance in this cup, and should not be too disappointed with this result.

7 points in 3 games while teams around us dropped some more suddenly sees us as high as 2nd, and just 3 points behind the league leaders Caersws. Awesome to see us this high up. I think the next two months will be crucial for the rest of our season. If we can keep going there, then we can really start thinking about those top spots. Especially next month is big, as we play the 4 teams we have not yet played in the league, who are all in the top half.

Awards

Shows how good the 'Danger Duo' was. Jack Orbell unlucky to just miss out for the second time this season.

One day...

AM23 · November 24, 2023

November 2024

A huge November, with all teams we meet in the top half and within at most 4 points distance. Caersws and Llandudno complete the top 3 with us, so those will be some very tough away games. Our performances this month can have a big impact on the rest of our season. We end the month with a Tier 2 Cup quarter final against Holywell.

Llandudno - Llanidloes

xG: 2.34 - 1.35; Shots: 11(4) - 9(4); Possession: 60% - 40%

A terrible start cost us here. They scored from their first two shots, but after that the game was pretty even actually. Sadly for us, the game was already decided at the half as they managed a third goal. We got out consolation through some nice passing play, but never came close to a second goal.

At home to Porthmadog next. They scored 7 goals in our two matches last year. We can't let that happen again.

Llanidloes - Porthmadog

xG: 0.19 - 1.41; Shots: 3(1) - 16(8); Possession: 34% - 66%

What a weird game. We couldn't get anything going, while Porthmadog honestly didn't do much better before we started throwing our men forward. They did however score a beautiful goal from an odd 25 meters out.

We travel to league leaders Caersws with 3 defeats in a row. They are not in the greatest form themselves either though, so it should make for an exciting match.

Caersws - Llanidloes

xG: 1.54 - 1.36; Shots: 14(5) - 7(3); Possession: 59% - 41%

Luck was not on our side today. For the most part, this game was pretty similar to the previous one, until tired legs started showing in the last 15 minutes and the floodgates opened on both sides. Before that Caersws were slightly better and had taken a deserved lead, while we were unlucky in some situations and just fell short of a draw.

As so often it was Jamie Breese who was the main character in this match. With the scoreboard still at 0-0 he was unlucky to hit the crossbar with a destructive shot early in the game. He then saw his equaliser chalked off on a very close offside call at the start of the second half. To finish things off, after he finally got his goal, he was unlucky to hit the crossbar once again.

We haven't been too bad this month, but never really were the better team. We now have to games against Holywell to prevent this month from being a total disaster.

Llanidloes - Holywell

xG: 0.91 - 2.20; Shots: 7(3) - 17(8); Possession: 47% - 53%

Hard one to take really. Definitely not an unjust result, but we being so close to a much needed win it is really deflating to concede this late.

After we had turned their lead around in the first half, with Kieran Evans scoring a nice goal, we were under pressure for the rest of the match. Still, it seemed as if we would take it over the line, but unnecessary ball loss in midfield meant they could equalize.

With us dropping down the table now, the only chance at a trophy this season is the Tier 2 League Cup. We meet Holywell again next weekend for a place in the semi finals. Let's get the win!

Holywell - Llanidloes (Tier 2 League Cup)

xG: 0.81 - 2.50; Shots: 6(4) - 15(2); Possession: 44% - 56%

Oh man, we can't catch a break. We were amazing in this match, especially considering our last few games. It didn't matter though, as luck fell their side.

There was one player who did not play good today for us. Callum Humphries scored an incomprehensible own goal, when he could have just controlled it as there was no one around. It did not stop there, as he made a big mistake in the lead up to the 2-0 aswell.

In attack we were great, but forgot to hit the target. Jamie Breese hit the woodwork thrice this match, but this time it was all his own mistake, with him missing two free headers for an almost open goal. Kieran Evans helped us back in the game scoring his second goal in as many matches, but did get injured with 15 minutes left on the clock. We had already made 3 subs by then, which meant we had to throw our remaining 10 men forward exposing us at the back.

Ouch...

A horrible month all in all. I knew it was gonna be tough, but did expect us to do a little better. It does show that we are not just yet consistent enough to play for those top spots.

Edited November 24, 2023 by AM23

AM23 · November 24, 2023

December 2024

December comes with us on a 6 game winless streak in all competitions, while only getting a single draw in 4 league matches. There is some perspective though this month. The first match is a continuation of a series of difficult games, as Airbus UK currently sit in 4th. After that it gets easier, with 3 games against bottom half teams, of which Rhyl is in the relegation zone. We should get back to winning ways in this month.

Llanidloes - Airbus UK Broughton

xG: 1.26 - 2.42; Shots: 15(4) - 9(7); Possession: 41% - 59%

I can't tell you how mad I am about this game. First giving away a comfortable lead in the first half, then conceding a late equaliser just like our last league game.

Our defensive midfielder Billy Osborn helped us off to a brilliant start. First a long range shot by him hit the woodwork and was put in the net in the rebound. Just 5 minutes after this he decided to score a trivella from the edge of the box. It felt as if we knocked them out cold, as they could not produce a single shot in the first half an hour. This turned out to be untrue however, as we inexplicably went into halftime trailing. Late into the match we would take the win in the end, thanks to a brilliant late turn around produced by subs Harri Edwards and James Smallwood. A late and unnecessary penalty cost us dearly.

There is one man in this team I have had enough of at the moment. Rhys Wilson came in late in the summer as a significant improvement in goal, and started the season out well. In the last three months though, I don't think I have seen him save a single shot in the highlights, while he also makes regular mistakes. He earns way too much to play so badly, so will go to the bench for the next few games.

Rhyl 1878 - Llanidloes

xG: 1.76 - 1.79; Shots: 16(7) - 13(7); Possession: 49% - 51%

Yes, after all that talk I forgot to take Rhys Wilson off. Yes, I subbed him off when he was on another 6.0 rating.

Jack Orbell scored his 16th of the season to surpass his tally from last year.

Gresford - Llanidloes

xG: 2.16 - 0.96; Shots: 13(5) - 6(3); Possession: 59% - 41%

I was getting ready to throw my laptop out of the window when new goalie Ifan Knott dropped the ball in front of their striker. It didn't come to that yet luckily, as two subs save the day once more.

James Smallwood has been very good lately coming off the bench and might be in contention for a starting place soon as Jack Orbell isn't in great form.

If we don't win the next game I'm changing tactics.

Llanidloes - Guilsfield

xG: 2.62 - 1.57; Shots: 11(7) - 12(4); Possession: 42% - 58%

Relief. Clean sheet. Happiness.

The result does flatter us quite a bit, although we did have all the big chances in this game. Also, I feel like we deserve it too after coming out on the wrong side of things a little too often lately.

Our signing of the season has definitely been Kristian Pierce. He has added a whole new dimension to the squad by providing from the right wing consistently, something we missed last season. He got his 7th(!) MOTM award today with a goal and two assists. Especially that first goal relieved a lot of pressure.

For the rest Archie Bales showed us he is still valueable to the team, even if he doesn't start as much as last year. And Jack Orbell showed us he still has his quality.

Great to see those ratings after a bad run.

Relegation spots started coming a bit too close, so that win was extra nice. We will keep our goal of a top half finish for now. I am very disappointed with the amount of goals against us, as this was the thing I wanted to improve most at the start of the season.

Awards

Very impressive in what was not a great month for the collective.

Great to see for Archie too. He has been a consistent performer this month replacing the injured Kieran Evans.

Edited November 25, 2023 by AM23

AM23 · November 25, 2023

January 2025

We kick off the year on the road, where we will meet Denbigh who are bottom of the league. After that we will meet two more difficult opponents, namely both teams that got relegated last season. Colwyn Bay have been in some amazing form, which took them from the relegation zone to 5th place by winning 8 from their last 9 matches.

Denbigh - Llanidloes

xG: 1.55 - 1.58; Shots: 12(5) - 12(3); Possession: 50% - 50%

Just not good enough. Denbigh were dead last (and still are), but somehow we give them all the freedom they need to go into the break with a deserved lead. As if that wasn't bad already, we immediately gave them the chance to double their lead by letting our focus behind in the dressing room. We only started playing after that, and did get some chances for an equaliser eventually, but it was too little too late.

Llanidloes - Aberystwyth Town

xG: 2.51 - 1.35; Shots: 15(4) - 12(7); Possession: 53% - 47%

I'm tired of this **** now. First half was as quiet as any half has ever been, then we take the lead and suddenly forget how to defend, while also missing chance after chance. I don't know how often we have had this sort of match now recently, but I do know this has to stop.

I would have wanted to say James Smallwood had a good game with his first start in ages, but after his goal he went on to miss the biggest open goal you will ever see.

I guess the players will love their €5 gift cards :lol:

Colwyn Bay - Llanidloes

xG: 2.36 - 0.11; Shots: 16(8) - 2(1); Possession: 42% - 58%

Colwyn Bay were always going to be the better team than us. Callum Humphries getting his second yellow ended any of our small hopes of taking something here. All those late goals have really led to our goal difference taking a tumble as well now.

We are now at the lowest we have been all season. We conceded 20 goals in the last 7 games, which gives us one of the worst defences in the league. I really hate that to be honest. I'd rather not score as much and also concede less. I still don't think we should be too worried of relegation, although we have only managed 6 points of 11 games now.

The league is really different from last year when Flint Town was dominant throughout. There are still 5 teams in with a shot of the title I'd say, which is really exciting.

Senior affiliate

I am usually not a big fan of loan players, but given the fact that we do have hard time to find good players in certain positions, I recently handed in a request at the board for a senior affiliate. To my surprise they actually managed to get TNS, who will also be paying a fee of €6000 per year, which is quite a lot for us.

AM23 · November 25, 2023

February 2025

First two are very winnable games. Prestatyn Town is fighting for promotion so that's gonna be a tough one.

I am going to try a new tactic this month. Maybe I should have done it earlier, but we're going to a traditional 4-3-3 with a defensive midfielder. I really hope it can get us to string some results together.

Llanidloes - Mold Alex

xG: 2.12 - 1.52; Shots: 12(2) - 4(2); Possession: 62% - 38%

A point is a point at this moment in time. We didn't give much away defensively, it was just that the chances they did get were all enormous. We ourselves should have scored more, but can be called lucky to at least get the draw through a late penalty.

For the first time since his arrival Billy Osborn played in his prefered deep lying playmaker role, and he filled it in perfectly, being our best player out there.

We play Chirk next. Actually a must not lose game, as this would see us only 4 points away from relegation all of a sudden. If we win this one, though, I feel like we will have secured our place in the league for next season.

Chirk - Llanidloes

xG: 1.23 - 1.71; Shots: 9(3) - 12(4); Possession: 34% - 66%

That lifts the pressure! A good allround performance got us an important win. Our first win against Chirk in 5 tries actually.

We missed some opportunities in the first half and needed a Billy Osborn screamer to get us a deserved lead. A marvelous solo by Kristian Pierce saw the lead doubled. After that we mostly tried to hold them off, and some good saves by Ifan Knott really helped us with that.

Onto the next one we go. I hope to give our home fans a something to smile about now too.

Llanidloes - Prestatyn Town

xG: 1.08 - 1.11; Shots: 4(1) - 7(3); Possession: 51% - 49%

A good draw against one of the teams fighting at the top. Nothing to be unhappy about and this result means we finish the month unbeaten!

We did not start the match focused at all, and could well have been 2 down after 5 minutes. Short thereafter we were the ones failing to capitalise as Jamie Breese missed a big chance. He did score in the second half, but it was ruled offside. Before that the match had become very quiet, with no shots for more than half an hour from either side. We got gifted a penalty late by the referee when Harri Edwards looked to make an obvious dive. The draw did come in danger still, as they scored from the kick off, but they too were ruled offside.

We sit comfortably in mid table now. Top half does look a step too far from here, but we should not give up just yet.

At the top it remains incredibly tight.

Tactic

So here is the tactic that has kept us unbeaten for the last 3 games. It's nothing special really, but we did need the change. To be honest, I should have had an extra tactic made ready at the start of the season, so we could have switched easier and earlier.

I am especially happy about the fact that we only conceded 2 goals in the last three games with this playing style.

AM23 · November 25, 2023

March 2025

Holyhead is a game we should be able to win, while Llandudno will be a tough one. If we want to get top half, we need to beat Porthmadog.

Holyhead - Llanidloes

xG: 1.19 - 0.39; Shots: 12(6) - 4(0); Possession: 42% - 58%

Holyhead pass us on the table and top half looks like a far away dream. A corner put our heads down early and we never really created anything.

Last season we were officialy safe after matchday 27. That is next week, so let's try and repeat that.

Llanidloes - Llandudno

xG: 0.59 - 1.19; Shots: 9(5) - 13(7); Possession: 50% - 50%

Not too bad by us. We hit the woodwork thrice this match. I feel like we hit the woodwork ten times as often as our opponents and on average at least twice a match. Could be an FM thing but then I don't get why it does not seem to happen to the opponents that often.

This season is dying a slow death now. Not too much to do about it really. I can set one more goal, and that is at least getting to the same points total as last season. We need 2 wins from 3 for that.

Porthmadog up next. They destroyed us three times before. Will be interesting to see how a new tactic can affect this.

Porthmadog - Llanidloes

xG: 1.20 - 1.24; Shots: 6(3) - 12(5); Possession: 54% - 46%

A convincing victory officialy sees us safe from relegation. This was a performance we can be happy about. Two headers got us a nice lead early, after which we never really looked like giving it away.

It was our midfield trio who really stood out today with two goals and an assist between them. The best of the bunch was Paul Johnson. He has had a difficult time at the club being on the bench for most of the season, but came into the starting XI when we switched to the 4-3-3.

Nothing special this month, but as wins have been scarce for us since October we can be content with it. 2 more games, 1 win needed to equal last season.

Youth intake

Well, this certainly gets me into a much better mood. An absolutely ridiculous intake with no less than 5 players who are already very close to the first team! Besides that also a lot of good personalities. This could be very big for the club's future. The majority of them have been signed.

Isaac Matthews

Joel Brewerton

Linden Bridge-Wilkinson

Paul Bishop

AM23 · November 25, 2023

April 2025

Caersws were on top for a long time, but need two wins and a lot of luck to get the title now. Holywell is another strong contender and are currently leading the table.

Our last two wins came against teams I had not beaten yet. Caersws is also such a team, so only positive signs for us, right?

Some good nice on a personal front to start the month. I get a 10% wage rise too.

Llanidloes - Caersws

xG: 1.14 - 1.25; Shots: 10(4) - 10(3); Possession: 57% - 43%

We finish the home season with a good draw here. A very early goal against, but we managed to salvage a draw thanks to our wingers Kieran Evans and Kristian Pierce linking up.

We end the season away to league leaders Holywell. If they win, they go up. If not, they probably won't. We want to spoil their party!

Also, I am going back to the 4-4-2 for this last game, as Jamie Breese will indeed be retiring in the summer. It will be one last hurray for the 'Danger Duo'.

Holywell - Llanidloes

xG: 2.50 - 1.52; Shots: 19(6) - 14(6); Possession: 53% - 47%

Oooh the drama! Big controversy too.

Holywell was the better team overall, but one last 'Danger Duo' special seemed to ruin their day, their season. A late, late goal saved them, with the ball hitting the bar and bouncing mere centimeters over the goalline. All of this was after we looked up to yet another early disadvantage, when the referee gave a very discutable penalty to Holywell.

For us none of it mattered, but Llandudno will be gutted, missing out on the championship and promotion on goal difference.

We have to congratulate Holywell too, as they have had a phenomenal second half of the season. They were in 7th halfway through, but went unbeaten after that only drawing four games aswell. They can make their season even better still, as they play in the Tier 2 League Cup final too.

So this is how it ends for us. Same position as last year, 2 points less, 7 goals scored more, 3 goals more against. We have to be disappointed with our second half of the season, winning only three games.

AM23 · November 25, 2023

Season review 24/25

I aimed for a top half spot, and when we were in 2nd after 11 matches, I even started dreaming about a title challenge. We slipped hard after that sadly, giving us a 9th position, which has to be called disappointing in the end, as we have not improved from last year with better players. In our early season form we also had some good cup runs, which we can be happy with.

Competitions

This graph tells the story of our season. We hit the road running, being in 2nd place with 21 points after matchday 11. The next 12 games led to only a single win and 7 points though, leading to a change in tactics. Thereafter we steadied the ship and ended in exactly the same place as last year, though the story was very, very different. We would have liked to do more this season, so ultimately it was disappointing. Jack Orbell led the way up front, getting 15 league goals. He slowed down towards the end though, even losing his place in the starting XI with the change in tactics. Our best performer was new signing Kristian Pierce, who even equaled a league record by getting 7 MOTM awards.

The Welsh Cup is not our favourite memory this year. We were the better team against Cymru South's Ammanford, but couldn't make that clear in the score. The game looked to go to penalties, but an injury time winner prevented even that and knocked us out.

The League Cup was were we were at our best. We started our season by beating league rivals Mold Alexandra, though the score was more comfortable than the match. After that we showed some of our best football and just outplayed Cymru Premier side Flint Town. The next round was a lot less convincing, as Mumbles Rangers were dominant, but a late goal got us to a penalty series, which we won by the grit of our teeth. We crashed out in a tense and equal match against Cardiff Met Uni. A cup run we can take pride in for sure.

The Tier 2 League Cup was marked by me as a chance at silverware, and will be again next year. The first round saw us edge past Gresford, before we played the best match under my reign against Llandudno. They were all over the place and we could just as well have made 7. Holywell knocking us out was no shame, though a bitter pill to take given the fact that we were the better team in that match.

Squad

Rhys Wilson: his stats here aren't right. I got rid of him halfway through the season as he was not playing well enough for his salary at all. Besides that his attributes were declining and he couldn't accept criticism. Our worst transfer of the summer.
Defensively Wayne Staines and Camden Duncan were our backs most of the time, whereas Callum Humphries played most of the season in the centre. We never really settled on that second central position though, switching regularly between Ambris, Davies and Bradford.
Our most improved players are Billy Osborn and Wayne Staines. Osborn really showed his worth for us, starting every match as a defensive midfielder, and being solid throughout the season. Staines, still only 18 years old, also started every game and was very decent. Especially Osborn developed very well during the season.
Adam Boydell looked like he might be a worthy replacement of Sergio Gomes early on in the season, but sadly couldn't keep that form going. He was still good for us, but could not let us forget about Gomes.
Best signing was Kristian Pierce, only coming in days before the first league match he immediately showed his worth for us. He created so many chances, while also scoring himself regularly. We have managed to extend his contract, although he might start declining soon given that he is 31 years old now.
Kieran Evans never really broke lose on the left wing.
The 'Danger Duo' was lethal early on in the season, but lost a bit of its power after and even got pulled apart by the new tactic. The last match made for one final succesful unification. Jamie Breese will be missed dearly.

Next Season

The wage budget is going up, though we didn't even make full use of the €37k we got this year. The board just told me they expect a mid table finish next season, but that also happened at the end of last season and then we were eventually asked to fight relegation again.

Personally, I really think we need to get top half next year. Once again, I will look to strengthen the squad, and once again, I am hoping our defence will be better next season, as I cannot stand conceding so much.

Progress

Edited November 25, 2023 by AM23

AM23 · November 26, 2023

Pre-season 25/26

Well, there is some good news and some bad news about this pre-season. First of all, the good news, which was a big positive surprise. Jamie Breese has signed a contract and will be a player for us for another year! You may remember that the inbox item said he would retire from professional football, and his profile still says so. Because we are semi-professional I thought that he might continue playing for us, but every time I tried to offer him a contract he only wanted a staff role. However, at the end of last season, that suddenly changed. I had given up my hopes already, and wanted to keep him at the club as a coach, but all of a sudden he was keen to extend his playing time.

Onto the negative side of things now. I said I wanted to really strengthen the squad again at the end of last season. Well, this did not work out at all. It has been difficult finding players who are real reinforcements and want to come to us. For some reason, the few players that do want to enter negotiations are asking for ridiculous wages, which means there has not been a lot of transfer business going on so far.

Due to the lack of new players, I decided to promote 8 players from the U19 squad for this pre-season, with the idea to keep them in the first team if they performed well. Our youth intake last year gave us this option and I'm quite content about how some of them performed. 4 of them stay in the squad for now.

Despite the lack of fresh blood the pre-season friendlies have gone very well. We have gone back to our 4-4-2 again, as I think it is still a good tactic, given our success with it for the first one and a half seasons.

We started off against a local club, and immediately Isaac Matthews from the youth team showed himself by scoring a hattrick. Then we outplayed Denbig, which is something we couldn't do last season, even though they got relegated. After that we met the best two Cymru Premier teams from last season at home. We grabbed an amazing surprise win against Newtown, before holding our own well against TNS. In the match against TNS I actually somehow managed to substitute two players of for one coming in, which meant we also played the last 30 minutes with a ten men.

Finances

Not even spending 70% of our wage budget. Good for the clubs finances, but I would have liked to bring in some more new players. It just wouldn't be rectifiable for me to pay someone €6k when they aren't even our best player.

Finances still looking good, we even made some profit over last season.

Tranfers

Uhm yeah...

Some of the interesting players that have left the club, all because I let their contracts run out:

Rhys Wilson and Ifan Knott: both of our goalkeepers last season have left us. Wilson was underperforming, while Knott didn't develop and was not really of the level we want.
Jordan Ambris: he served the club well as a central defender, both got less game time as last season went on. He also didn't really feature in my plans for this season.
Archie Bales: another player who was here for two seasons and did well for us. However, he is now 21 and never really improved his attributes. Difficult choice but I felt like we wouldn't play him that much anymore.
Paul Johnson: a signing who I was very happy about last summer. He eventually spent most of his time on the bench though, and his salary was just too high for that.

Onto the many signings:

Craig Edwards: a young talent who is already a good player for our squad. Besides looking like a good central defender, he can also do a job at left back, which might come in handy. On top of all that he also has a good personality to develop.
Ryan Forde: another player who is quite young still. He looks like a very good goalkeeper for us. I really hope he can be someone we can have confidence in, as we lacked that in goal so far.

For the rest, I am still looking for players in these positions:

Central midfielder: At the moment only Adam Boydell looks good enough to fill in this place consistently, and even then I think we could use a player better than him. Also, if we would want to switch systems ever, we will want some depth here.
Left wing: A similar story, as only Kieran Evans will be playing here mostly, and he has not really convinced me last season.
Striker: Not a priority, but would be nice as Jack Orbell is not that good for the level of players we currently want.

Squad

Ryan Forde will be our first choice in goal for the league at least. I do want to give some gametime to young Linden Bridge-Wilkinson as well as he has great potential and did well in the friendlies.

Three 18 year olds, two of which will be starting for us most the time. Wayne Staines is still very young, but already an essential part of our team. Next to Callum Humphries we will have either Ben Davies or Craig Edwards, who are both versatile enough to play as a back as well. On the left side Camden Duncan is still a very good option.

Billy Osborn has played well last season, and also developed very well, making him our best player now according to star ratings. He will obviously be our go-to at defensive midfield. Given the lack of other options Adam Boydell is the one to start as a central midfielder. Kieran Evans on the left needs to show his worth this season, which is something Kristian Pierce already did last season on the other side. For Harri Edwards this is a bit of a do-or-die season, as he has not been improving a lot since he is with us, while also not putting in consisten performances. The other two young guys are back-ups and will hopefully learn a lot from being with the first team.

Jamie Breese has started declining a little bit, but we should still be able to squeeze at least one more good season out of him. For the rest I think Jack Orbell is still our other best option allround, but purely as a poacher Isaac Matthews looks better. As he performed very well in pre-season, Matthews will be the one starting next to Breese for now.

Season preview

Similar prediction for us to last season. Some weird things going on at this tier, as 5 out of 6 promoted sides go into the Cymru South, presumably due to geographical location. This means two mid table teams from that league are moved to our league now, while we also have another relegated side coming into our league. It seems as if the league is only getting harder so far looking at our opponents.

Board expectation

Still the same as in previous seasons. Don't really understand why the board only expect us to fight bravely against relegatino still, as we are an established side. Would expect them to at least want us to avoid relegation alltogether.

Edited November 26, 2023 by AM23

AM23 · November 26, 2023

July 2025

A difficult month to start with. As always, our first fixture is in the League Cup, a competition we have loved so far. League rivals Airbus UK are favourites here, as they are predicted 3rd by the bookies. We then start the league against sky high title favourites Colwyn Bay, before taking on another team that is expected to finish near the top in Aberystwyth Town.

Llanidloes - Airbus UK Broughton (League Cup)

xG: 2.20 - 1.80; Shots: 12(7) - 11(3); Possession: 41% - 59%

Wow! This is extraordinary really! This man Isaac Matthews has just turned 16 a month ago, then turns up to his competitive debut in senior football, and gets a hattrick within the first half. I don't think I have ever seen such an amazing debut in all my time on FM.

Another man who helped us get of to the great start we had was Kristian Pierce, providing the first two assists. We were fully dominant in the first half, but after Jamie Breese got a second yellow right out of the locker room it was Airbus UK who took control. Our win never really came in danger though.

We are up against another fellow Cymru North team in Holyhead next round. A good draw to be honest.

Llanidloes - Colwyn Bay

xG: 1.80 - 2.54; Shots: 12(7) - 13(8); Possession: 43% - 57%

15. That's his age. John Hughes came on in minute 71 and gave us an unlikely win. He received the ball on the right side of the box, cut inside between two defenders and calmly curled the ball around the goalkeeper. Title favourites Colwyn Bay beaten on matchday 1 by a child.

Before that Colwyn Bay took the lead twice in a first half where they were in full control. In between their goals it was Isaac Matthews who showed he can also create chances by putting Adam Boydell in a one-on-one twice, who put the second chance in the net. The second half saw a more even game, where we got the equaliser when they returned the gift of a penalty to us.

Amazing result here makes this the first time we start the league with a win.

Aberystwyth Town - Llanidloes

xG: 1.18 - 1.46; Shots: 11(6) - 7(4); Possession: 51% - 49%

Another good result for us to cap off a great opening month. A fair result too looking at the match.

We got a penalty for the second game in a row, which was slotted home by Jamie Breese to give us an early lead. This lead didn't last long as a counter from a corner saw them equalize. Aberystwyth had the upper hand for the rest of the first half. At the break we decided to go for some shorter passing play to get a little bit more control, which worked out well.

AM23 · November 27, 2023

August 2025

August is a big month as always and will see the games come at us in fast pace. Lots of games at home, with a lower tier side drawn in the cup. In the league we meet teams who predicted on all sides of the table.

Llanidloes - Conwy

xG: 0.62 - 1.17; Shots: 6(2) - 7(4); Possession: 43% - 57%

Our lack of squad depth showed here as we had some tired legs in this third game of the week. We never got a grip on the game and are lucky to come away with a point. I would have liked to get a win at home against a newly promoted side, but we were second best today. Ryan Forde did well to get his first clean sheet, making two big saves.

Llanidloes - Holyhead (League Cup)

xG: 1.47 - 0.70; Shots: 9(4) - 5(3); Possession: 63% - 37%

We were not at out best today, but that is no excuse to give up a 2-0 lead like that. We were still dominant and shouldn't have let it come to penalties.

At the break we were relaxed as it looked like a powerful Camden Duncan strike and yet another penalty had already gotten us through to the next round. We let them back in the game too easily, but still should have finished it off. It was Jack Orbell who missed an absolute sitter in injury time.

Prestatyn Town - Llanidloes

xG: 1.47 - 1.93; Shots: 12(2) - 9(2); Possession: 52% - 48%

A great result as Prestatyn Town have been good performers in the league over the last two seasons. We got our result in the first half, which was also were they got most dangerous, mainly through some corners. In the second half we managed to kill the game and take the three points with us.

Isaac Matthews with his first league goal now too, and he looked to have added a second, but this was ruled offside. Again a goal for Camden Duncan, who I have moved from left back to left winger in the last few games. He has been doing well on the wing so far.

Llanidloes - Trefonen (Welsh Cup)

xG: 1.78 - 0.56; Shots: 14(5) - 4(2); Possession: 51% - 49%

An expected win in an easy cup game. First goals of the season for Jack Orbell, while new midfield signing Mac Masters (see bottom of post) grabs the MOTM award with two assists in his starting XI debut.

Lucky draw for us as we go away to another non-league team in the next round.

Llanidloes - Abergavenny

xG: 1.97 - 0.41; Shots: 12(7) - 5(1); Possession: 40% - 60%

What a game of football! Such a dominant display is lovely to see. It was the big Jamie Breese show today, as he got us of to the best of starts and also got a assist later on.

A beautiful team goal got us the lead early on, and we had them longing for the break throughout the first half, giving up absolutely nothing. They got a consolation goal early on in the second half, but it was Isaac Matthews who put the icing on the cake after that with a filthy chip over the keeper.

Carmarthen Town - Llanidloes

xG: 1.13 - 1.45; Shots: 12(4) - 12(6); Possession: 47% - 53%

Another one! This is turning out to be a really good start again. It didn't come as easy as last match, but a win nonetheless.

We were lucky not to be behind as they failed to hit the target early one. Then two combinations between Jamie Breese and Kristian Pierce put us in the drivers seat, after which Mac Masters hammered home his first goal for the club from distance. We seemed to be in for another relaxing second half, but did start to sweat a little bit after the 3-2 was scored.

I can only be happy with this really. Amazing start has us very high up the table, now we need to keep it going. Airbus UK have been phenomenal so far.

Awards

Close again.

The first time we have defensive player in the team of the month!

Transfers

Mac Masters: the midfielder I was desperately looking for. So desperate that I gave him a way higher salary than I would have liked to, but we really needed him. It's nice that he can play in central midfield as well as defensive midfield. His first matches have been good.
Hari Roberts: a good young back up on the right wing.

Still looking for a left winger now. I thought I had a good player for a loan, but he rejected us sadly.

AM23 · November 28, 2023

September 2025

Two very winnable cup fixtures to start the month, before we try to keep our unbeaten start in the league intact.

Churchstoke - Llanidloes (Welsh Cup)

xG: 0.44 - 1.72; Shots: 7(1) - 13(3); Possession: 50% - 50%

We played a little bit of a rotated side here and they did well mostly, but kept the game tense until the final whistle as they were not clinical enough in front of goal. Quite a lot of chances went begging throughout the game. We did well defensively, although they did hit the post twice in the first half, so a bit lucky there. Cian Daniels from our U19 made his professional debut today at left back and held his own, being one of the best players on the pitch.

The next round will take place at the end of this month already. The draw has been done and we will travel to last season's winners Haverfordwest!

Llanidloes - Hay St. Marys (Tier 2 League Cup)

xG: 0.49 - 0.85; Shots: 6(1) - 7(5); Possession: 44% - 56%

This was a very boring match that looked destined to go to penalties, but when we tried to push forward to avoid that it were our opponents that got a late winner. Not a disaster to go out of this cup, but I'm still fairly disappointed as I believe this was our best chance at a trophy this season.

Our focus goes back to the league now with a winnable home game against Gresford coming up.

Llanidloes - Gresford

xG: 1.14 - 0.45; Shots: 5(1) - 7(1); Possession: 51% - 49%

We have been very solid this month, but not spectacular by any means. I tried to create some energy by switching to the 4-3-3 when Isaac Matthews got injured at the end of the first half, but this did not change the state of play in the slightest. We did get the best chance to win the match, as the referee pointed to the spot shortly after halftime. It ended up being a painful moment though, as Jamie Breese's shot down the middle was literally caught by their goalkeeper.

Next week we have the chance to take revenge against Hay St. Marys for our cup loss. They are having a good season themselves so far and have also just knocked Cymru Premier side Caernarfon out of the Welsh Cup.

Our young striker is out for a month. This will mean that the 'Danger Duo' will be back together in the starting XI.

Hay St. Marys - Llanidloes

xG: 1.06 - 1.77; Shots: 10(5) - 8(2); Possession: 65% - 35%

And it is the reunited 'Danger Duo' that gets us our revenge through Jack Orbell! It did not come easily in this game, but in the end we take a deserved win back to Llanidloes.

We should have been in the lead already at halftime, but squandered some chances by being unable to get them on target. It was actually Orbell who missed the biggest of all, which was an absolute sitter. This has happened to him too often since the winter and is the reason he lost his place in the starting XI. He made it up in the second half though, getting himself in a good position for a Kristian Pierce cross and tapping in the winner.

Another clean sheet for Ryan Forde in goal. His 4th already in only 8 league matches. He really has been what we needed between the sticks so far. Someone who is also partly responsible for those clean sheets is our only summer signing in defence, Craig Edwards. He has really been a breath of fresh air at center back and has given us much more assurance at the back.

Haverfordwest - Llanidloes (Welsh Cup)

xG: 1.99 - 1.44; Shots: 21(11) - 7(3); Possession: 59% - 41%

We knock out the current holders! Another magical game to add to our growing list of cup classics. It seemed like we were in for a long day at the office after an early double strike by them, but we pulled it back before halftime and managed to hold on to the draw from there.

Jamie Breese started our comeback soon after their second goal, and nearly levelled it all up himself mere minutes later. Eventually it was Mac Masters who tied the scores with his second goal for us, in what was a very good allround performance by him. In the second half we didn't get much going in attack, but held them of well. They took a lot of shots without creating any big opportunities which meant we had to go to penalties for the second time this season. They hit the woodwork twice there which helped us complete a special game from us.

Next round provided us with an even more difficult, but nonetheless amazing draw. We will be taking on The New Saints in front of our home fans.

Still looking very good in the league, while Airbus UK have finally dropped points for the first time. Will we be able to keep it going this season?

Carmarthen Town were relegated from the Cymru Premier last season and have had an awful time here so far. The same thing happened to Colwyn Bay last season and they did manage to get themselves together eventually. Will be interesting to see how this turns out.

Awards

Two clean sheets in two league matches get Ryan Forde his second consecutive appearance in the team of the month.

AM23 · November 28, 2023

October 2025

Not the easiest of months, as we take on two mid table teams to start and end the month with a home game against second placed Llandudno, who missed out on promotion last year by goal difference. In between those games we have the biggest match of this save so far coming up. We played our senior affiliates TNS in pre-season and held our own, only losing 3-1.

Llanidloes - Holyhead

xG: 0.79 - 1.83; Shots: 8(2) - 11(2); Possession: 47% - 53%

Holyhead continue to trouble us after knocking us out of the League Cup, now handing us our first league defeat. We weren't at our best and Holyhead honestly were not much better, with most of their danger coming from set pieces. Their goal came from a scrimmage and apart from a Callum Humphries header from a corner we didn't come close to an equaliser.

Next week we travel to Welshpool where we take on Guilsfield. Not a place we have fond memories of, being smashed for 4 goals on our previous two games there.

Guilsfield - Holyhead

xG: 2.23 - 2.04; Shots: 16(10) - 9(4); Possession: 57% - 43%

Oh yes! Those late winners make for the best feeling don't they? We had absolutely no business winning that based on the second half, yet we managed a very good win.

This match showed the difference between a goalkeeper can make, with their man between the sticks making a mistake leading to the opening goal, whereas Ryan Forde was reliable as always. This really might be the biggest difference this season as opposed to last year for us. A deflected shot doubled our margin, but two rebounds after the break gave Guilsfield energy and had us gasping for breath. Totally unexpected we managed to get the win anyways, when Billy Osborn served the ball on a plate to substitute Harri Edwards for his first goal of the season and the 3 points for the team.

Hopefully we can use some of that momentum against TNS now!

Llanidloes - The New Saints (Welsh Cup)

xG: 0.53 - 1.64; Shots: 6(3) - 13(7); Possession: 44% - 56%

TNS are already a very difficult opponent, so it doesn't really help to play half the match with 10 men then. We still gave them a good fight though, and up until halftime the match was pretty equal. Camden Duncan got us the equaliser we deserved in that first half through a nice individual action. In the second half with a man less on the pitch we were mostly looking to defend, but they got the lead from a corner and we couldn't change that anymore.

Llandudno at home next. A huge match at the top of the table. A win will see us come level in points with them, while a loss would see us fall behind the top 2 teams.

Llanidloes - Llandudno

xG: 1.91 - 0.94; Shots: 17(11) - 10(3); Possession: 48% - 52%

He is just so good for us is Jamie Breese. Unbelievable performance by him with a 10 match rating to get us a huge win here. A lot of credits must also go to our defence, getting yet another clean sheet and not giving away a lot of chances either.

The first half whizzed by, with neither team creating anything and at the start of the second half it did not look like that would change a whole lot. That was not counting on our man up front then. His first hattrick since I'm at the club and what a game to choose for it. Defensively I want to credit Ben Davies here today, as he was the best performer there. He can fill in all positions at the back and has been steady for us as a left back lately. Besides that, this match also saw Billy Osborn get his 3rd assist in as many matches.

The good results also mean the board have finally given me permission to start a coaching course! I don't know how many times I have asked them, but I do know I didn't really expect them to give in anymore.

With that last win we go up to second, which is exactly the place we were last season at the end of October (with 3 points less back then). We only lasted in second for 1 match that time around, as November was were our downfall started. Now I have been looking through some stats, and according to xG we are really overperforming. We're scoring more than our xG and especially conceding a lot less then our xG-against. So maybe we shouldn't be too surprised if we can't hold this position for long.

Awards

Just the hattrick for him this month but it still gets him close to individual honours. Made it into the team of the month too.

AM23 · November 29, 2023

November 2025

So just like last year we go into November placed second. And just like last year we have some difficult opponents. Two very tough away games up first, most notably against league leaders Airbus UK. After that the opposition gets a bit easier, with Mold Alexandra the game we should definitely win. I really hope we don't fall back as hard as last year.

Porthmadog - Llanidloes

xG: 2.48 - 1.68; Shots: 20(8) - 11(6); Possession: 60% - 40%

Put with both feet back onto the ground. We always seem to have a hard time against Porthmadog, who have had the same manager since the start of the save and play some really short passing play.

After 34 seconds we were already chasing, as a through ball straight down the middle split our defence open. The first half was pretty equal and should have seen us score an equaliser. In the 40th minute a cross by us hit a defender on the arm and went into the goal, but the referee had already blown his whistle for a penalty. It was Jamie Breese who stepped up and missed for the second time in a row. He seemed to make up for it shortly after with a header, but this time he was just offside. At the end they scored when we directed our men forward. Young striker Ethan Langford got us a consolation with his first professional goal, after already getting an assist last week.

It doesn't get any easier as we travel to Broughton for a match against the league leaders who are on a high after just having beaten fellow top team Llandudno. We do however have quite a good record against them and knocked them out of the League Cup at the start of the season.

Airbus UK Broughton - Llanidloes

xG: 1.27 - 0.87; Shots: 10(3) - 9(2); Possession: 57% - 43%

A huge win! I am so happy Jamie Breese hasn't retired just yet. In a static second half where both teams mostly seemed scared to lose he was the one to come up with a moment of brilliance right at the death. He got played in on the edge of the box with a defender right behind him, but turned around anyway and surprised everyone including their goalkeeper with a quick shot.

We only gave up two real chances in this match, though both were very promising. The first one was scored, that too in a first half where we looked to have been better. Quickly after the break a scrimmage after a corner saw Ben Davies score his first goal for us to level the scores, after which a cagey half of football unfolded.

Llanidloes - Caersws

xG: 0.53 - 0.59; Shots: 8(1) - 7(1); Possession: 47% - 53%

Not a spectacle by any means, but a very controlled win as we kept them in check the whole game. Airbus UK has just drawn which means we go level on points with them, only behind by 3 goals on goal difference.

I had noticed before the match that their left side of defence was very strong, but that the right side was lacking, so I decided to direct the play more over our left side. This worked out well as that is exactly where our goal came from, as well as where the red card was given. Camden Duncan took advantage of their weakness perfectly, while we only gave up one chance ourselves.

We finish the month against Mold Alexandra who are dead last at the moment.

Mold Alexandra - Llanidloes

xG: 1.31 - 1.24; Shots: 15(6) - 10(2); Possession: 54% - 46%

Ouch... A humbling defeat this. And I can't say we deserved more from this game either. We got of to the worst of starts when we left three men free behind our wall when they had a free kick. Especially annoying to see King-Phillips score as I have been trying to sign him before. We equalised from a scrimmage after Wayne Staines played an amazing ball over the top. Sadly they decided the match with a thunderous strike in the second half, after which we didn't manage to get any real opportunities to score a second.

Before this month I would have definitely taken 6 points from it, but given that our second defeat came against Mold Alexandre I am still a little disappointed in the end. Our win against Airbus UK was most important though, as it has kept us within reach of the league leaders.

Transfers

Looking through the scouted players last month I came across a good striker currently without a club. Given that Jack Orbell has not been good lately, slowly starting to become out of his depth as we are obtaining a better squad and that Isaac Matthews is now on a dry spell after hitting the road running, I thought we could use an extra striker.

By the looks of him, Archie Hatcher can be a very good player for us. Only 20 years old, but I don't think he is far away from Jamie Breese's quality. As he is a similar player to Breese, he could also be the perfect replacement should the former retire. Overall I'm very happy with this signing.

AM23 · November 29, 2023

December 2025

Two very difficult games to start the month, as we take on the 4th and 2nd placed teams in the table respectively. If we perform well in those games, it can really be seen as a statement of our intentions for the rest of the season, but losing them could see our confidence fade quickly. After that we have two winnable games against teams in the lower half of the table.

Llanidloes - Aberystwyth Town

xG: 1.16 - 1.84; Shots: 5(3) - 15(4); Possession: 54% - 46%

He does it again! Only the 6th match he gets game time, all of the bench as well, but John Hughes is decisive for the second time. It has brought us a stolen win really, as we got outplayed for the better part of the game.

Aberystwyth had the better of us for all of the first half and thus had every right to be in front at the break. Even after that, we couldn't turn things around and were very lucky to see an Aberystwyth goal chalked off just after the break, when the linesmen debatably ruled one of their players to be blocking the vision of our goalkeeper in offside position. It was clear we couldn't keep going the way we were, so I decided to switch to the 4-3-3 and make some changes. One of those was bringing on Hughes, and the rest is history.

We haven't had a shortage of luck this season, as this is already our 4th time in the league that we grab a very late winner. And it doesn't stop there, as we also have been overperforming according to statistics by a lot. The xG table has us in 7th place with 10 less points than we currently have.

Next up is an enormous task, as we face a Colwyn Bay side that has found their form to say the least. They had a tough start to the season, but have now won 10 of their last 11 league games, while also having Tier 2 Cup and League Cup semi finals coming up. Most recently they demolished league leaders Airbus UK in their own backyard to grab the top spot.

Colwyn Bay - Llanidloes

xG: 2.13 - 1.14; Shots: 9(5) - 6(3); Possession: 50% - 50%

I am left in disbelief after this match. We were arguably the better team, after surprising them by playing our 4-3-3 from the get go. It was however our most consistent performer this season who let us down massively. Goalkeeper Ryan Forde will have nightmares of this match for a long time, as he dropped the ball twice in front of an attacker in 10 minutes, giving them a 3-1 lead all of a sudden.

The first half was over before I knew it, and after we took the lead through a surgical counterattack ending with a perfect cross from Kristian Pierce I was over the moon. They pegged us back quickly, but I would still have taken a draw here any day of the week. That was before I could suspect a goalkeeper meltdown.

Conwy - Llanidloes

xG: 0.86 - 0.95; Shots: 6(3) - 9(2); Possession: 54% - 46%

We bounce back well from that dispiriting loss. We controlled the game and were deadly effective in front of goal. The win was honestly never really in doubt today.

An early deflected Mac Masters shot got us the lead, which was doubled early in the game aswell. They scored with their only shot in the first half, but didn't come close to us after Craig Edwards gave us back the two goal margin with his first goal for the team.

We have now already equaled last season's point tally of 36, which is something I'm very happy about. It does show me that bringing in a few real reinforcements can be better than a lot of half-decent players.

First landmark will come up on Boxing Day. Let's make it one to remember!

Llanidloes - Prestatyn Town

xG: 2.13 - 0.45; Shots: 15(8) - 4(1); Possession: 43% - 57%

And one to remember it is! A Christmas spectacle headlined by yet another Jamie Breese hattrick. 3-0 up within 15 minutes is not something I've been able to enjoy often.

Great performances all around with assists coming from all sides of the pitch. Center back Callum Humphries scores his first goals of the season, the second of which was an unexpected belter from outside the box. I could go on to praise every single player almost, so I'll just put the ratings here:

I am going to say it right here and now: this season is already a success. We've surpassed our past two seasons in points and look almost certain for a top half season, which was my goal. Now we just need to stay in the battle at the top for as long as possible. Colwyn Bay have been on a rampage since their average start and look almost impossible to stop now.

Awards

Very close again for Jamie. I really don't understand how Colwyn Bay managed to pick up this Kargbo guy. He is way too good for this level, and has even played 9 matches for QPR in the Championship in the 2023/24 season.

Never winning this...

Good to see Callum Humphries getting in as our first defender ever.

AM23 · November 29, 2023

January 2026

We start 2026 with plenty of opportunities, as we play solely lower half teams this month. Abergavenny are in last at the moment, and is a team we have comprehensively beaten the last time we met them. The other teams did give us some closer games earlier in the season, with Gresford the team we couldn't get past in a goalless draw.

Well, looks like we will have to wait a little longer to kick off the year. While our match got postponed, Colwyn Bay dropped points for the first time in 8 games, drawing away to Porthmadog.

In other news, a free agent left back I was trying to pick up who asked €50k a year for a part time contract, which is more than our whole wage budget, has just signed for a Cymru South side on an amateur deal :rolleyes:

Llanidloes - Carmarthen Town

xG: 1.61 - 0.28; Shots: 11(4) - 4(1); Possession: 41% - 59%

What a confident display this was! We had them clueless at what to try to come anywhere near our goal. In the absence of good finishing by our strikers Mac Masters stepped up to first make a good run on a ball over the top, before he was the end point of an attack that left Carmarthen Town cross-eyed. We were never in doubt really.

Due to him playing most games as a left back this season, Ben Davies has now become natural in that position. This means he is now so versatile he can fill in all positions at the back perfectly. Only 18 years old aswell.

Abergavenny Town - Llanidloes

xG: 1.73 - 0.15; Shots: 9(5) - 5(2); Possession: 49% - 51%

Just awful. I can't comprehend how we can play so convincingly the one game and then go again 3 days later just to turn up like this. Second time this season we lose against the team at the bottom of the table when we play them too.

First half saw us create nothing and a deserved comfortable lead for Abergavenny. Second half was awful from both sides until we started going forward with all we had and even got a glimmer of hope when Kristian Pierce scored the 2-1. It was never going to happen in this match though.

I threw a water bottle at the end there and now have a few unhappy players on my back too.

Gresford - Llanidloes

xG: 0.86 - 1.94; Shots: 7(3) - 14(7); Possession: 55% - 45%

We should have been 2-0 up after 10 minutes, they were after 20. That's the story of the game really.

It was a deja vu, as Jamie Breese squandered a 3rd minute penalty, his third in a row. The same thing happened in our home game against Gresford and we drew that one aswell. We were eventually saved by a TNS loanee on his debut in Bradley Lewis who got a goal and an assist.

Llanidloes - Hay St. Marys

xG: 1.85 - 0.71; Shots: 8(2) - 4(2); Possession: 43% - 57%

One thing that has been impeccable lately is our home form. This is the 6th home game we've won in a row, only conceding 4 goals in the process too.

I feel like we have been lucky this season with a lot of own goals going our way. Their equaliser was the third time in a row our opponent scored with their first shot of the game, but this time it didn't matter luckily, as we kept composed in the second half. Archie Hatcher had a golden opportunity to score his first goal for the club, but instead he was so nice to play the ball to Kristian Pierce for a certain goal.

With a quarter of the season left to go, it looks like we, and everyone else for that matter, are out of the promotion race. Colwyn Bay are showing why they were sky high favourites and have simply put just been too good for this league. What rests is trying to finish as high as possible, and for that we're still looking very good.

AM23 · December 1, 2023

February 2026

With us most likely just playing for placement now, this is a pretty interesting month still. Holyhead and Llandudno are both close to us in the table, while Guilsfield will be no pushovers either.

Holyhead - Llanidloes

xG: 1.70 - 0.85; Shots: 19(7) - 3(3); Possession: 49% - 51%

Not good at all. Early goal for us thanks to Archie Hatcher with his third assist, though he is still waiting for his first goal at the club. After that we couldn't string anything together on an attacking front, while also giving up quite a few chances. Very lucky to get the draw here.

Llanidloes - Guilsfield

xG: 0.97 - 1.35; Shots: 10(5) - 12(6); Possession: 46% - 54%

Looked like a boring draw for a long time, but towards the end they became better and eventually grabbed a late winner. We have to watch out that we don't let morale drop now towards the end of the season.

Llandudno - Llanidloes

xG: 2.06 - 1.08; Shots: 19(4) - 14(5); Possession: 61% - 39%

And it is in what I expected to be the hardest match this month that we grab our only win. An all important one in the battle for second place too.

Someone who has not yet scored this season is Billy Osborn. Despite that, he has been very important for us, being a very consistent perform in defensive midfield. Today he got his 5th assist of the year. Besides the win the best news of the day was Archie Hatcher finally scoring his first goal with a header from a corner.

A mixed bag this month but that last win means we hang on to second place. Colwyn Bay will probably clinch the title next matchday, while the real fight is going on at the bottom of the league.

Edited December 1, 2023 by AM23

AM23 · December 1, 2023

March 2026

Just the 2 games this month. Porthmadog is a team we have not had a good time against at all, while for Airbus UK the opposite can be said. Either way, both teams are also fighting at the top, so not an easy month.

After having had to wait for more than 2 seasons to finally get permission for my first coaching course, the board immediately grant permission for the second one.

Llanidloes - Porthmadog

xG: 0.82 - 2.63; Shots: 5(2) - 11(3); Possession: 43% - 57%

We have been on the good side of late goals more often than not this season, so I can't really complain about that really. For the rest it was mostly a wonder that the equaliser did not come earlier, with Ryan Forde preventing that with 2 magnificent saves.

Our form has been slumping lately. We have now only got 2 wins in the last 7 games. What is most notable is just how inconsistent we have been during this time.

Llanidloes - Airbus UK Broughton

xG: 1.23 - 0.04; Shots: 15(6) - 2(1); Possession: 53% - 47%

This is that inconsistency I was talking about. An amazing performance all of a sudden here!

Our star man Jamie Breese had to leave the pitch injured after only 4 minutes, which meant that Kristian Pierce was moved from his usual right wing position to be our pressing forward. That worked out perfectly, as he scored after an incredible first touch and celebrated it with a great knee slide. A corner short thereafter saw our lead doubled. After a horror tackle meant we only played against 10 men for most of the second half the game never came in doubt.

Ouch... This is some really bad news, both for the club and Jamie personally. We do have him tied down for another season, but I fear this might be a career ending injury given his age. The only positive is that we already have his replacement in our ranks with Archie Hatcher.

Another year here. I really want to win my first trophy with Llanidloes before leaving.

In second with a 3 point lead and good goal difference. We should be able to cling on to this spot, but we can only be proud of this season even if we lose our last games.

Prestatyn Town get relegated in a disastrous season after having played near the top for the 2 years prior.

AM23 · December 1, 2023

April 2026

So our last two games of the season are against bottom half teams. Let's get that second place!

Caersws - Llanidloes

xG: 0.62 - 0.77; Shots: 6(2) - 12(5); Possession: 57% - 43%

A good win away from home. John Hughes doesn't play all that often, but when he does he regularly delivers. The third time this season he is the match winner for us.

We did not manage a whole lot in attack in the first half, so in the second half we tried something different by switching to the 4-3-3. This worked out wonderfully, as we got full control over the match and did not concede a single shot in that second half.

We finish the season against Mold Alexandra who need a win to avoid relegation. It will be Jack Orbell's final game for the club, as he will leave in the summer due to him not being up to our standards anymore.

Llanidloes - Mold Alexandra

xG: 1.79 - 0.80; Shots: 9(5) - 11(2); Possession: 53% - 47%

We end the season on a high! A dominant display gets us up to 60 points.

An amazing farewell for Jack Orbell with his last goal for the club. We let the lead slip but didn't panick and got what we deserved through Archie Hatcher, who has broken loose with 3 goals in 4 games now.

An amazing season for us as we finish runners-up. With this points total we would actually have been champions last season. The big improvement for us came defensively, where we severley reduced the number of goals we conceded.

Colwyn Bay showed that they were just way too good for this league this season. After matchday 6 they only dropped points 4 more times, 2 of which came after they had already been crowned champions.

Awards

First personal award! Never won a manager of the month award in 3 seasons here, but this makes up for it all. Fully deserved of course given our overperformance.

Also a first this, as Kristian Pierce manages to sneak in a team of the year dominated by Colwyn Bay. Another very good year by him.

AM23 · December 2, 2023

Season review 25/26

All in all this has been an amazing season where we have really managed to take a step forward. Of course I would have liked to have been able to really go for the title, but due to Colwyn Bay being so dominant this was simply impossible. At the start of the season I definitely didn't expect us to do this well, as we didn't have a spectacular transfer window by any means. However, the few transfers we did make were all direct reinforcements, and saw us get better especially on the defensive side of things. The board love me at the moment, which is shown by the fact they have allowed me to do two coaching courses this year. In the end I got rewarded for this season with the manager of the year award too.

Competitions

This graph shows just how consistent we have been for most of the season. We never got into first place, but were in the top 3 from matchday 6 onwards. We grabbed our best result in the league in the first game, as we beat Colwyn Bay through a late John Hughes winner. Early season was amazing, as we managed to stay unbeaten for the first 8 matches, while having 24 points after 11. After that the occasional loss started to come, but we were unfazed by those, as we never lost two games in a row. We finished the season on a high with 13 points from the last 5 games to get us that second place. In the end we won 18 games, while we only had 6 losses. As said before, our big improvement this year came in our defense. We scored exactly the same amount of goals as last season, but conceded only 33 opposed to 56 last year.

We had a good time in the Welsh Cup this year. Our best run so far even. We were lucky with the draw in the first two rounds, meeting non-league teams which we beat fairly easily. In the 3rd round we had to travel to the holders of the Cup, and looked down and out a mere 15 minutes in. We managed to come back from 2 behind though, and eventually got lucky in the penalty shootout. We then got the chance to play our senior affiliates TNS, and got into halftime with the scores level. A red card for us after the break though meant we were unable to hold them off in the second half.

We started our season of with a bang, as 16 year old Isaac Matthews got a first half hattrick against league rivals Airbus UK. We couldn't progress to far in the League Cup this year sadly, as we gave away a 2-0 lead to Holyhead and went out on penalties.

Every year I say that this is our best chance at a trophy, and every year we can't do well in the Tier 2 Cup. We went out after a late goal when we were the ones trying to push forward to avoid penalties.

Squad

Ryan Forde: definitely our best signing of the season, and maybe even our most important player. He is the solid goalkeeper we couldn't find in our previous seasons. He managed 9 league clean sheets, which is our best by far. He also came second of all goalkeepers in the league on expected goals prevented, and third on save percentage.
Wayne Staines: his second season in a row starting every single match. Only 19 years old still and progressing nicely. He is just a very solid right back chipping in with the occasional assist too.
Callum Humphries: the man who holds our defence together with his experience. A decent season for him again.
Craig Edwards: he was a much needed new arrival this year. A left footed center back to play next to Humphries. He has helped us steady the ship defensively.
Ben Davies: the man who can do all. Natural in every position at the back and improving a lot. Great player to have.
Billy Osborn: another player who has mostly been very solid for us. He maybe should be a little bit more decisive for us given his ability, but at his position just in front of the back four that is not too easy.
Mac Masters: late arrival to strenghten our midfield. I wasn't too happy about the wage I was paying him, but have now managed to lower it on a new contract. He has been an improvement to our options here before.
Camden Duncan: I moved up him from left back to the wing and this gave him a little bit more freedom. Not a great season by any means, and though he will probably stay at the club, this is a position I am looking for reinforcements.
Kristian Pierce: sometimes experience is what you need to be able to excel. For the second season in a row the fans choose him as our player of the season. He is a very consistent performer with 20 goal contributions for us.
Jamie Breese: still our most important striker, although this might have been the last season that is the case. He was already declining a little bit, but with the big injury that hit him now I fear the worst for him.
Isaac Matthews: he started his professional career really well, but has had a hard time after that. He is now on what seems to be a never ending dry spell.

Next season

Wow! The board really do love me right now. This is more than triple what we're currently spending, and if we would use it all would see us top 3 in wages paid in the league. I am not planning on really going all out though, as we do need to hold the clubs finances into account. This still gives us a huge boost though, as we will be able to offer a little bit more to potential signings.

As for our goals, I think that it is only logical to aim at a title challenge next year given how this past year went. I am not saying we need to win it just yet, but getting close again should be our goal at least. I feel like we have really managed to slowly improve the squad over the last few seasons, so if we can keep doing that in the summer transfer window, we should be able to show our worth in the league next year.

Progress

AM23 · December 2, 2023

Pre-season 26/27

So, on to the next season. With the big increase in wage budget, we have had the option to go a lot further for players this summer, though I did not make use of that too much, as I don't want to ruin the club financially. Still though, we have been a lot better on the transfer market compared to last year, and have already got most of our squad together before the start of the season.

The biggest change might be that I am looking at the option of a new tactic. Last season all worked out pretty well with the 4-4-2, while we often switched to the 4-3-3 if things didn't go our way. Due to some of the transfers I have made we currently have an abundance of defensive midfielders, which means that I have been looking at a new 4-3-3 with two defensive and one central midfielder. The only reason I am a little bit hesitant is the fact that we didn't get the chance to try the tactic out yet, as some players only arrived at the club in the week before our first competitive fixture.

The TNS game came too early for us, but for the rest we showed our intentions for the upcoming season. Mumbles got relegated from the Cymru South last season, while Merthyr did the same in the Vanarama South. So naturally I'm very happy to get big wins over the two of them, especially the fact that we completely dominated Merthyr all the way through.

Our standout performer in these friendlies was Isaac Matthews, who was on a very long goal drought since September last season, but turned things around here. He came in with a whopping 10 goal contributions across these four matches, evenly distributed over goals and assists. Another player with some notable performances was Billy Osborn, who did not manage to find the net in competitive fixtures last season, but did score in our last 3 friendlies, including a ridiculous bycycle kick from the edge of the box.

Finances

Naturally no transfer budget, but that wage budget is looking real good. I am hesitant to spend a lot more of it than we are currently doing though, as I don't want to financially ruin the club. But still it has really helped with even getting some players to go into contract negotiations.

Finances are still looking good at the moment with only the small debt. A small loss over the course of last season but nothing to be worried about really.

Transfers

As always only players that have left us were with contracts running out, so here a small overview:

Starting of with the big one, Jack Orbell has left the club. As part of the 'Danger Duo' he was very important for the club in my first two years in charge. Now that our squad is getting better and better though, he is not good enough for us anymore and already did not feature too much last season.
Kieran Evans: left winger that I brought to the club 2 summers ago. He never really broke loose and last season only really came of the bench every now and then.
Adam Boydell: he has been solid for us in central midfield in the past 2 seasons, but played less and less towards the end of last year.

Now to the exciting stuff, the newcomers:

Ollie Leggett and Durell Manhertz (see below): two good left backs where I am not yet sure which of the two will be starting for us. Leggett is a little bit more well-rounded, whereas Manhertz looks the better option defensively.
Amirul Abd Razak: a very good ball winner coming in from the Northern Irish third tier. He looks like real reinforcment for us.
Riley Lonergan: another player that can play in defensive and central midfield. He is a bit more well-rounded though, and looks like he could be good as a box-to-box midfielder.
Bradley Lewis: he was already on loan at us for the second half of last season, and as I could not find any good left wingers to sign we've brought him in once again.

I am already pretty happy with the business we have done, though I would like an extra striker still. I had a very good option there who was on trial at the club. We offered him a contract but the day before he accepted he got injured for 3 months in a friendly. The board then cancelled the transfer due to him failing his medical tests, but I think he could still be good for us after his injury. He is a free agent, so I might just wait for him.

For the rest only an extra center back and right winger could be what comes to the club from now.

Squad

I am very happy with our squad now, as I think it is definitely the best we have had so far. The only area of concern is the fact that we now only have 4 players older than 23 at the club, which might lead to some problems in the hierarchy. A big reason for this is that older players are just asking for too much in wages.

No changes in goal where Ryan Forde will naturally be first choice.

I expect Callum Humphries to carry this defence with his experience. On the right Wayne Staines has started every match in the previous two seasons, and will keep doing so if you ask me. Craig Edwards will be on the left side of the center, while our two new signings here will fight it out for left back. Ben Davies' versatility makes him first back-up.

Cental in midfield we have plenty of options now all of a sudden. Amirul Abd Razak is our best option as a ball winner, while this is the case for Billy Osborn as a playmaker. The most attacking option there is Riley Lonergan. On the wings it will still be Kristian Pierce for us on the right, while Bradley Lewis is our main man on the left.

Our main striker will obviously be Archie Hatcher, who I am very happy about already bringing in during last season. For the rest Isaac Matthews will still be getting enough playing time. Jamie Breese ability has taken a little hit, but he can still do things for us. Also, his recovery has been going a lot better than expected, with him already being close to coming back.

Season preview

The best we have been predicted so far! Especially a big jump in the odds. Flint Town has come back down after two seasons in the Cymru Premier, while we also see some familiar faces between the promoted teams.

Board Expectation

And the board finally have some expectations as well! A mid-table finish is should always be within our reach, but as said before, I am personally aiming for a title challenge.

AM23 · December 2, 2023

July 2026

Three games to start of the season in July. As usual, we have the League Cup as our first competitive fixture. We meet Ammanford there who are one of the best sides in the Cymru South. We played them in the Welsh Cup 2 seasons ago and lost, so a good moment for revenge. After that two league games where at least the second one against newly promoted Penrhyncoch should result in a win.

Ammanford - Llanidloes (League Cup)

xG: 1.92 - 1.41; Shots: 12(5) - 14(1); Possession: 50% - 50%

Well **** me. Exactly the same thing they did to us in the Welsh Cup two years ago, turning around the game and scoring the winner in extra time. Only the first time we lose in the first round of this cup too.

We were the better team throughout this match, and seemed to get what we deserved. Camden Duncan, who was having an awful game and was only still on the pitch because of the lack of an alternative, scored a nice header to give up the lead. We were left wondering what happened 20 minutes later, after a rebound and an indirect free kick had turned the game around.

Llanidloes - Guilsfield

xG: 1.84 - 0.52; Shots: 15(7) - 5(1); Possession: 65% - 35%

Great start to the league campaign! First time with a new tactic and it worked out wonderfully for us. It was a special performance from Kristian Pierce, who was creating chances, making dribbles and got the only goal of the game too with a magnificent volley.

Our midfield of three men was a sight to behold. Riley Lonergan had the time of his life as a box-to-box midfielder, hitting the crossbar twice and getting an assist with a chip over their defence. Next to him Billy Osborn dealt in passes in his preferred deep lying playmaker role. Behind them it was our defence who kept the shop closed, with especially Craig Edwards being unpassable there.

Penrhyncoch - Llanidloes

xG: 1.36 - 1.09; Shots: 10(5) - 9(3); Possession: 34% - 66%

Not great to be honest. Should win those games against a newly promoted side.

In one of his first ever starts, John Hughes was immediately important again in a first half we had the upper hand in. We couldn't keep it going sadly, as they became the better team after the break and got a deserved equaliser.

Awards

Edited December 2, 2023 by AM23

AM23 · December 2, 2023

August 2026

A few tough league fixtures in August. The Welsh Cup match should be a cakewalk for us, while we should also definitely be winning against Rhyl at home. The month is a tad lighter than usual due to our early League Cup exit.

Llanidloes - Llandudno

xG: 0.21 - 0.54; Shots: 3(1) - 8(2); Possession: 57% - 43%

This match was not a joy to watch at all. We did get the win though, which is of course most important.

Our first chance was finished by Archie Hatcher and we did not do that much after that honestly. Llandudno wasn't much better, which meant we kept the lead relatively easily.

Carmarthen Town - Llanidloes

xG: 1.06 - 2.18; Shots: 13(5) - 19(7); Possession: 57% - 43%

Another win and this time with a much better performance! We were helped by an early quick double strike that put us in the driving seat for the rest of the match.

The first goal was created by new left back Ollie Leggett, who I have preferred over fellow newcomer Manhertz so far. He played a great game overall and picked up the MOTM award. We looked to be going towards a comfortable victory for most of the match, but after their late goal it still got tight, with them getting some good chances late on in the match.

Presteign - Llanidloes (Welsh Cup)

xG: 0.13 - 3.91; Shots: 4(1) - 25(7); Possession: 52% - 48%

Quite a few changes in the starting XI for this game, but a very comfortable win nonetheless. The only thing we can blame ourselves for is that we didn't score a second goal earlier to be able to relax.

Archie Hatcher is in great form currently, scoring for his third match in a row. Besides that also very happy to finally see Isaac Matthews appear on the scoresheet again in a competitive matches. Fully following the good old RvN ketchup-bottle theory he went on to score a second not long after.

Llanidloes - Rhyl 1879

xG: 1.60 - 0.83; Shots: 15(3) - 5(3); Possession: 56% - 44%

What a story! 34 years old, out with injury for 5 months. He comes back into the matchday squad and into the team at halftime only to score mere minutes after. The big man Jamie Breese can still do it for us. Amazing to see.

It was that other old guy who had put us in the lead in the first half, while it was great to see new signing Seamus Famer getting his first assist today. For the rest we have to give some credits to Ryan Forde, who has only conceded 2 goals in our first 5 league games.

Airbus UK Broughton - Llanidloes

xG: 1.20 - 0.97; Shots: 10(6) - 9(3); Possession: 54% - 46%

Hard one to take this. First league loss of the season and just like the League Cup loss it comes very late. I can't say it was undeserved though, as Airbus UK had been the better team this game. We only got one real chance and that was for Jamie Breese in extra time, but sadly for us he misfired.

More bad news. Wayne Staines will be out of the starting XI for the first time in two years.

Especially disappointing that last league loss as a win would have put us top of the table for the first time this save. Despite that, we are where we want to be though, so no reason to panick. Also notice Flint Town having a horror start. This seems to happen to the side relegated from the Cymru Premier every season somehow.

Awards

Still not winning it.

Second time in a row for Craig Edwards!

Dong21 · December 3, 2023

Stumbled across this and have just read every update. I really like your writing style @AM23, nice and clear to follow. Great work with Llanidloes, the year-on-year progress is clear.

AM23 · December 3, 2023

35 minutes ago, Dong21 said:

Stumbled across this and have just read every update. I really like your writing style @AM23, nice and clear to follow. Great work with Llanidloes, the year-on-year progress is clear.

Great to see you like the thread! I have been pretty happy about the steady progress myself. I also hope that this gives the club the chance to develop a higher standard even after I'm gone.

AM23 · December 3, 2023

Transfer Special

So...

18 hours ago, AM23 said:

Naturally no transfer budget, but that wage budget is looking real good. I am hesitant to spend a lot more of it than we are currently doing though, as I don't want to financially ruin the club. But still it has really helped with even getting some players to go into contract negotiations.

Yeah I didn't fully stick to this. In the end I think I have done the most important part of our transfer business in August, bringing in another 5 players. It is a little bit more than we needed too, but there were suddenly some very good players found by my scouts, and since our squad level has increased already, they even wanted to enter contract negotiations. We are now spending €70k in wages, which is still not close to our full budget, but almost double what we spent last year. It is also the 5th highest in the league, although this might not be a great representation since some other teams have players on ridiculous appearance fees.

Anyways, here are the new transfers:

Seamus Famer: he came in at the start of August. Only 17 years old and released from the Boston United academy. He has got his first assist for us already, and by ability is one of the best players in our squad. What I like most is his versatility to be able to play in all positions in attack. He does still have some work to do in the mental department mostly.
Daniel Ola: another player that can slot in everywhere in attack. This is the guy we had on trial earlier and whose transfer got blocked by the board due to him getting injured. I think he will mostly be a striker for us, though his composure may let him down.
David Roberts (see below) and Livesey Barkhuizen: two center backs of which Barkhuizen is going to be loaned out immediately. He is a decent player for our squad already, but for now I prefer the players I have already seen in action. Roberts though is a player I really like a lot. I have gone a bit overboard on his salary though, as his €9.5k make him the biggest earner at the club by far (after me of course ). The reason I have still gone for it is just that he looks like what might be the last missing piece to our defence.
Malachi Ogunleye: a 5th player who can play in defensive and central midfield. Came from the Bournemouth youth and just looks like a very good player for us to have.

Tactic

Didn't show this new tactic yet. We almost had to switch to a system with 3 midfielders with all the new arrivals. So far it has gone pretty well.

Edited December 3, 2023 by AM23

AM23 · December 3, 2023

September 2026

Mostly cups to focus on this month. Also, if I'm correct we would play another Welsh Cup fixture at the end of the month if we win against non-league side Tredegar. Llandudno looked to be a difficult draw in the Tier 2 Cup, but they have not had a great start to the season.

Llanidloes - Tredegar (Welsh Cup)

xG: 4.52 - 0.85; Shots: 38(13) - 2(1); Possession: 59% - 41%

Another sign of how far we've come. In the first years I didn't dare to rotate even a little bit for cup games. Now a much rotated XI is able to completely destroy our opponent.

Looking at his attributes, John Hughes really shouldn't get that much playing time for us yet, but he is just performing so well. 4 goals in the season already for the youngster. For the rest it was great to see new center back David Roberts get on the scoresheet, although I did fear that he got himself a concussion as he put his head to an absolute bullet cross. Lastly, a big shoutout to 17 year old reserve goalkeeper Linden Bridge-Wilkinson, who got his first start of the season and stopped a penalty.

Next round sees us travel to one of the better Cymru Premier sides in Barry Town. It will only take place next month though.

Llanidloes - Llandudno (Tier 2 League Cup)

xG: 0.54 - 1.16; Shots: 6(2) - 12(5); Possession: 56% - 44%

Ugh, this has definitely been our least favourite competition over the years. Third time in four years that we can't progress past the first round.

Llandudno were the better team during the game too, and although Jamie Breese got us in the lead, he was also the only one who missed during the penalty shootout. He has now missed 4 penalties in a row in competitive matches.

Our focus goes back to the league now, where we will host league leaders Porthmadog.

Llanidloes - Porthmadog

xG: 0.75 - 0.63; Shots: 8(3) - 6(3); Possession: 49% - 51%

This match got the scoreless draw it deserved. Nothing happening for most of the game, with us only getting some chances late on. Craig Edwards keeps performing very well at the back.

Hay St. Marys - Llanidloes

xG: 0.58 - 1.19; Shots: 3(1) - 11(3); Possession: 32% - 68%

One moment of concentration loss at the back and us not finishing our chances makes it a bad month in the end.

This time around it seems definite. To be honest I think he has chosen a great moment for it, as this is probably the last season he can still contribute for us.

Honestly not where I'd have liked to by right now. Our big problem has been the goalscoring, as we have scored less than one goal per game so far. I might need to look into tweaking the tactic a little bit to solve this.

AM23 · December 4, 2023

October 2026

Games against teams on all sides of the table. At the start of the season I'd have marked the Flint Town game as the hardest, but they have had an atrocious season start and are in last place now, so it will probably be Holyhead who are the most difficult to overcome. Halfway through the month we have a nice cup fixture where we can test ourselves against a real good Cymru Premier side.

Llanidloes - Gresford

xG: 1.77 - 0.56; Shots: 16(6) - 7(2); Possession: 60% - 40%

A good game by us and a much needed win in the end too, but it did not come easily. An early goal against us and Gresford looked to have doubled their lead just moments later, only for their goal to be called offside. The same thing happened with a late equaliser by them.

We got the scores level when a scrimmage after a corner fell to Craig Edwards, who didn't hesitate and pulled the trigger. It took us a few chances after that, but eventually it was substitute Jamie Breese, who gave Kristian Pierce a big chance to score which the latter capitalised on.

Flint Town - Llanidloes

xG: 0.74 - 2.04; Shots: 9(3) - 13(3); Possession: 40% - 60%

I can't believe we didn't win this game. Where luck is what helped us out a lot last year, it is something we have lacked so far this season.

Especially in the first half we fully outplayed them. The only thing we missed was the ability to hit the target, with most notably Seamus Famer having a great game from the right wing and creating chances for himself, but forgetting to finish them. He was the one who assisted Riley Lonergan to finally get us the lead we deserved. There was relieve, then there was pain, as Flint Town immediately stung us back from the kick off. We still should have scored in the second half too, but it was not to be.

Barry Town - Llanidloes (Welsh Cup)

xG: 0.46 - 0.63; Shots: 8(3) - 9(2); Possession: 50% - 50%

Another gutting cup loss. Went out once on the final kick of the game and twice on penalties this season. I just said we are missing some luck this season and it shows again here.

We needed some time at the start of the game to the pace of Barry Town, but once we had done that, we actually played really well. We kept the shop closed at the back and if anyone deserved the win in the second half it was us. In the end the draw was justifiable though, and then we were unlucky once more.

Llanidloes - Holyhead

xG: 0.90 - 1.65; Shots: 6(2) - 14(5); Possession: 53% - 47%

An early goal didn't give us the wings I hoped it would, and we were actually very lucky this time to keep it at a draw. We couldn't get anything doing in attack after taking the lead while Holyhead were getting chance after chance. Eventually we did get some opportunities late on when we had switched to the 4-4-2. Best player on our side was Wayne Staines, who put in a great shift at right back.

We need to start stringing a few wins together soon if we want to keep up at the top. I will be switching back to the 4-4-2 for now as our current tactic just doesn't give as enough firepower in attack.

Ruthin - Llanidloes

xG: 1.33 - 2.31; Shots: 16(3) - 17(10); Possession: 57% - 43%

Oh come on man. We were all over them but for the umpteenth time forgot how to put the ball in the net, even missing two seemingly impossible-to-miss oportunities. They mostly got dangerous from crosses and eventually got the lead through a corner. We needed Jamie Breese to help us out from the bench once more, and tried to push on after that equaliser. We could not do that though, and got hit with another corner in the dying seconds of the game.

How times can change. Last season we ended in second place, but were only in 6th on the xG table. This season we are in 8th but according to xG shoud have been 2nd. Defensively we have been the best team in the league by far, but we just can't finish our chances.

A bright spot. Third time of the season for him.

Edited December 4, 2023 by AM23

AM23 · December 4, 2023

November 2026

Aberystwyth is the most difficult opponent here, while we should be able to grab a win against the other two. I want at least 7 points from this month.

Llanidloes - Abergavenny

xG: 1.26 - 0.99; Shots: 8(4) - 9(4); Possession: 43% - 57%

Yet another match I feel we like we should have gotten more of. Their xG only got close to 1 due to our big earner David Roberts just gifting them the lead with a big mistake. We managed to equalise through a great assist by John Hughes that got Riley Lonergan already his third goal of the season from midfield.

2 wins needed now to hit the goal I set at the start of the month.

Caersws - Llanidloes

xG: 1.36 - 1.07; Shots: 12(5) - 7(4); Possession: 31% - 69%

Finally a comfortable and easy win, or so I thought. Kristian Pierce had put us in a great spot once again with a goal and an assist, while Caersws got absolutely nowhere. Then in a matter of minutes everything fell apart. Firstly, they scored with their first shot of the game, which looked to be from an offside position too. Soon after young winger John Hughes got a direct red which saw us reduced to 10 men for the second half. We couldn't create much after that while Caersws got better and eventually we might have been lucky to not concede a third.

Llanidloes - Aberystwyth Town

xG: 1.67 - 1.22; Shots: 10(4) - 14(6); Possession: 54% - 46%

This game is not good for my health. Honestly not a bad result though.

It was more of the same in the first half, as Aberystwyth scored with their first shot, while we missed an absolute sitter. We gave a much better showing after the break, and when Daniel Ola had gotten his first goal of the season after his long injury, we were the team looking to get the win. Another injury time goal against us seemed to throw the verdict, but another Kristian Pierce goal saved us another draw.

Despite our poor form, we are still 'only' 9 points of the league leaders halfway through the season. We do however need an exceptional second season half to be able to get a title challenge in. Our form lately doesn't bode well at all for that, as we haven't won in 6 league matches, though we drew 5 of them.

AM23 · December 4, 2023

December 2026

Last month of the year and we need to start winning now to keep our hopes of a title challenge alive. Plenty of opportunity too this December, as Guilsfield are the only team we play that are above us in the table.

Llanidloes - Penrhyncoch

xG: 2.19 - 0.58; Shots: 12(4) - 6(1); Possession: 57% - 43%

A win at last, and a convincing one too. Jamie Breese still does it for us, even after a 6 month injury. I expected him to mostly be a supersub this season, but he has outdone my expectations and won back his place in the starting XI. His assist gave us the perfect start and we never looked back after that. On the left back position Durell Manhertz has not had the best of starts of his time at Llanidloes, but today he played superbly.

Guilsfield - Llanidloes

xG: 1.54 - 0.65; Shots: 8(3) - 8(3); Possession: 45% - 55%

A draw here was a good reflection of play. Not a bad result for us too. Not great to give them the lead through a penalty, especially as they weren't dangerous at all in the first half. What I did like to see was Malachi Ogunleye getting on the scoresheet for the first time. He has been pretty good for us, whilst also developing really well. His partner in midfield Billy Osborn is getting better every season and has really found his groove now that he often plays in his preferred deep lying playmaker role.

Llandudno - Llanidloes

xG: 1.06 - 0.98; Shots: 10(7) - 11(4); Possession: 47% - 53%

When it is not going your way, it is not going your way. We could just as well have gotten away with the win here, but once again our opponents are more effective. Of course it was Jamie Breese who put us on the scoreboard again, but the rest of the team just couldn't back him up today.

The difference between home and away games this season has been gigantic. At home we are still unbeaten, while away we have only picked up 7 points in 9 matches.

Llanidloes - Carmarthen Town

xG: 2.00 - 0.26; Shots: 10(5) - 2(1); Possession: 47% - 53%

Maybe experience is what we lack in, as our most consistent performers are the only two guys in the team in their thirties. Again it was Kristian Pierce making the difference for us. He got an assist, won the penalty and put the icing on the cake with a goal himself.

A lovely Boxing Day fixture it was against Carmarthen Town who are bottom of the league. We have some history failing to win against the bottom boys but none of that was on display today. An allround very good performance, with Riley Lonergan the best midfielder with a goal and an assist. In defence everyone had a good day out, especially Ben Davies who played at right back today.

We keep looking up to see the gap with top spot grew with 1 point. Realistically we don't really have a chance anymore, but the competitive nature of the league this season does leave some hope. We need to start winning some away games fast to keep that hope though.

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