I’M CONTINUING this popular series tonight by taking a quick look at some of the recent family ties over at Llangoed FC.
Down the years, several brothers have taken to the field for the Tyddyn Paun club – many of which were part of the successful side which won a cup double and earn promotion to the Gwynedd League in 2016/17.
In that side, attacker Darren Edmunds was a player who popped up with a few vital goals during that memorable season. He even scored the opener against Valley in the Dargie Cup final success.
Darren then went on to play for Anglesey League clubs Arriva Bangor and Llanfairpwll before calling time on his playing career.
His brother Paul was also a huge part of Vinny Walker and Spud Thomas’ side back then.
The hard-working right back, who had also played alongside his brother for Dreigiau Môn in the Sunday League, remained with Llangoed for two seasons after that before joining Arriva Bangor – where he helped the Busmen onto lifting three cups over the course of two seasons in the Anglesey League.
Also involved in the formidable side of 2016/17 were the deadly attacking duo of brothers Wayne Thomas and Craig Jones (below).
Thomas is a naturally gifted player who just last season passed the 150 goal mark for his career – a great achievement for the striker, as he netted 21 goals in all competitions for Llangoed who were operating under Mark Thomas in the Gwynedd League.
The 16/17 season saw his partnership up top with brother Craig being one which was great to watch as both were able to play off each other and always seemed to find each other in and around the box.
That season was Thomas’ second greatest goalscoring season to date also as he netted 25 goals, bettered only by the 26 he scored back in 2012/13.
Craig himself was a nightmare for defenders to deal with. Known for his aerial ability and hold up play, he was one of the more experienced players in the squad in the 2016/17 season.
By now, Wayne is still leading the attack for Llangoed and Craig is still involved with the club committee to this day.
Club captain back in those days was Nick Williams and he too had a brother who joined him on the pitch, attacker Carwyn (both pictured below).
The centre back’s leadership and experience prove vital to the success of 16/17 and Carwyn, who was mainly a wing back, contributed a ridiculous 28 goals to finish that season as one of the island’s top goal scorers.
The pair later joined Bro Goronwy before Nick returned to Llangoed and Carwyn moved to Gaerwen. Nick has now retired from the game and Carwyn is back at Tyddyn Paun as of last summer.
Many other brothers have also starred for the club in recent times; including attacker Shaun Morris and defender Lee Morris (below) who played for the first team and the Reserves in 2017/18.
The pair last played alongside each other for Bethesda Athletic in the Gwynedd League last season, having also previously been part of a successful Llanfairpwll side.
Shaun, who once hit 50 goals in a season for Llanfairpwll Reserves, is now without a club I believe whilst Lee is with Llandegfan.
Even to this day, there are new family ties involved at the club.
Nathaniel Evans, 20, was joined on the pitch by brother Aaron, 17, for the seniors last season.
Nathaniel (above) is a tall central defender/midfielder who is calm on the ball and solid in the tackle. Aaron (below) is a skilful winger, who can also play central. Last season, which I believe was his first with the seniors, he impressed and notched up five goals in Gwynedd League competitions.
They both starred for Llangoed’s first team and the under 18’s sides last season, where Aaron once hit all six goals in a 6-0 win at Nefyn Reserves just before the coronavirus pandemic struck.
Im told the pair’s father Phil was once a great goalkeeper for Llanfairpwll also.
Both Nathaniel and Aaron have remained committed to the club and continued their good form in friendlies for the club before Christmas.
Elsewhere at the club, you have the super-talented youngster Sam Gregson, whose father Richard is also involved with the club behind the scenes and is also club photographer (which has come in very handy for my blog!).
Midfielder Sam (below) who is from Llandegfan, was phenomenal for Llangoed in his first season in senior football in 2019/20.
He was so young at the start of that campaign that he had to miss Llangoed first few Gwynedd League matches. But once he turned 16, there was no stopping him out on the pitch.
The Caernarfon Town academy player scored nine goals and showed he had a very bright future ahead of him if he can maintain that sort of form.
Another young starlet – Tom Zalot (above) is the grandson of Llangoed’s legendary chairman Owen ‘Spo’ Williams.
Rapid forward Tom scored a combined total of 13 goals for both Llanfairpwll in the Anglesey League and Llangoed in the Gwynedd League last season. He’s a brilliant finisher.
Grandad ‘Spo’ (below) first became involved with the club in 1956 and by today the clubhouse is even named after him!
He’s the very definition of a club legend.
These are just a few examples of what I’m sure is actually a far bigger family connection within Llangoed FC. A great bunch!
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