WE ARE only around a month or so away from domestic football returning to our lives now and I for one can’t wait to get back on that sideline
With that in mind, I’ve decided to stop and take a look at some of the Anglesey League’s biggest transfers of the summer so far …
ARRIVA BANGOR have managed to re-sign their goal machine Scott Hughes (below) who hit 46 goals for them last season as they won a cup double. They have also re-signed the likes of captain Liam Roberts and talented Japanese full-back Mutsu Oyama too. Keep an eye out for dangerous forward Matty Jones too – he didn’t get the chance to play much last season, but manager Kevin Jones is keen to see him feature a lot more this time around.
At BODORGAN, they too have managed to re-sign nearly all of their squad from last season. Striker Luke Allaway hit 28 goals for the club last season and he will be returning to Cae Cob for 2018/19. Other key players such as midfielder Jake Hughes, captain Sam Hallas (below) and defender Steve Davies also return. They have lost talented striker Danny Connolly to Gaerwen but solid midfielder Owain Rowlands (brought in from Llangefni Reserves) will add more quality to their side.
Richard Owen’s BRYNGWRAN BULLS have been very active in the transfer window so far. They have lost their 54-goal star striker, James Ryan, to league rival Caergybi but they have moved quickly to add talented forward Craig Moore (below) (from Trearddur Bay) to their ranks in his place and he will no doubt score goals as he has plenty of higher league experience.
The loss of centre back Hari Jones to Llanerchymedd will be a big one for Bryngwran, but they have added AFE’s Goalkeeper of the Season Lee Heywood (Llangoed Reserves), midfielder Mark Hamblin (Valley) and tricky winger Matty Reynolds (Aberffraw) to their ranks. With the likes of Andrew Bailey, John Jones, Matty Roberts and Henry Caldecott all re-signing at Cae Ysgol, I’m sure we’ll see The Bulls competing again this season.
CAERGYBI have probably been the busiest team of the transfer window so far and have made some fantastic additions. They have added the highly-talented midfielder George Hibbert to their squad from Trearddur Bay and I’m sure that he will stand out amongst the crowd this season. As mentioned before, Dale Moffat has also managed to convince striker James Ryan (below) to make the short move from Bryngwran to Millbank too in what will no doubt be a smart transfer.
Cybi have also managed to re-sign the 2017/18 Anglesey League top scorer Gary Jo Owen and his brothers Liam and Casey Williams, as well as the likes of Glenn North and Luke McKittrick so I fully expect them to be up there challenging for everything this season.
Waves are being made at LLANDEGFAN too as they bring a new-look squad into the league for 2018/19 as they attempt to have a much better season this time around. The loss of Player of the Season and centre back Matthew Roberts to Bro Goronwy will be a huge one, but they have brought in Byron Jones (Caergybi) and Alex Clarke as replacements, with a few more in that position currently training with the club.
Young left back James Hall (Pentraeth Reserves) has impressed during pre-season and the likes of attacker Dave Parry (below) (Llanllyfni), midfielder Liam Jones and goalkeepers Jamie Kiely (Caergybi) and Chris Nightingale (Bryngwran) will add some quality to their side. With several members of last season’s squad returning too, it will be interesting to see where Llandeg end up at the end of the 2018/19 season.
Meanwhile, PENTRAETH RESERVES have teamed up with Sunday League side Dreigiau Pentraeth to form one side. Their new look squad sees the likes of Nathan Jones (below) (Bryngwran Bulls), Ryan Hughes and Jack Halton sign on at Bryniau whilst the likes of Dyfed Alston, Gez Jones and Tomos Adamek have also re-signed for the club. Will the merger be a success for Danny Jones and Paul Matier? Time will tell …
VALLEY have also been busy getting a strong side together over on that side of the island. “Mr Valley” Marc Wilson (below) returns for his eleventh season with the club whilst strong forward Mike Williams and solid defender Ashley Hughes have also re-signed. Mark Hamblin, who featured regularly in Barry Rowlands side for the past few seasons has left, but the club has moved quickly to find his replacement in the form of Elliot Patterson from Caergybi. The additions of centre back Grant Chambers (Pentraeth Reserves) and goalkeeper Jacob Reid should be good ones too.
CEMAES BAY and CEFNI FC also look set to join the league next season and either MYNYDD TIGERS or their reserves side will also sign up. We will know more after the league’s AGM is held this coming Friday.
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