PICTURE by Cemaes Bay FC
A FEW days ago, I featured an attacker who was in fine form for Anglesey League champions Cemaes Bay last season in the form of veteran forward Andy Williams. Now, it’s time for another prolific Bay goalscorer who has been one of the best finishers around during his playing days.
Steven ‘Tyco’ Whittaker once again showcased just how good he was for the School Lane club as he netted 39 goals (27 in the league) in a title-winning campaign. That tally placed him as the Anglesey League’s third top scorer in all competitions with only Arriva Bangor’s Scott Hughes (41) and Mountain Rangers’ Sam Williams (45) outscoring him and he was just four goals shy of his best-ever tally for a season.
You have to consider also that the season ended early due to the Coronavirus pandemic and he was also injured for a good portion of the season. Had this not been the case, he would have easily smashed the 50 goal mark in my opinion.
Having started out as a goalkeeper in his younger days, season by season, Tyco has undoubtedly gone on to build himself a reputation as one of the finest goalscorers on the island by now.
The 33-year-old’s greatest ever season to date came in 2014-15 whilst playing for The Bay. During that campaign, he hit 42 goals in the Anglesey League, helping Cemaes finish second in the table as club captain. In the same year, Whittaker was also crowned the Alwyn Rowlands Player of the Season and handed the Carwyn Williams Top Goalscorer award, as well as the Top Scorer, Players’ Player and Supporters’ Goal of the Season awards at Cemaes Bay’s presentation night.
In 2016/17, Tyco grabbed 25 more goals for Cemaes, who were in Welsh Alliance Two at the time.
Whittaker, who has also played for the likes of Bro Goronwy and Amlwch Town in the past, then went on to play for Welsh Alliance side Bodedern Athletic – where he continued to impress under manager Ricky Williams. In a team full of hard-working and talented individuals, Tyco was one of the best. In 2017/18, he netted 38 goals, 30 of which were in the league (Welsh Alliance Two) to help Boded earn promotion to Welsh Alliance One – their second successive promotion.
He was also part of the Boded side which narrowly missed out on promotion to the Cymru North division after Llangefni Town pipped them to the WA1 title in 2018/19.
in the summer of 2019, Tyco returned to Cemaes Bay to play in the Anglesey League. Whilst it’s fair to say the League of Wales (Cymru Premier) days the club once enjoyed at its School Lane home ground are long gone, the talent on show there last season was phenomenal with a number of other higher-league players and former players – including Keenan Downey returning to play for Darren Thomas’ side.
Tyco proved to be their top scorer once more with 39 goals to his name as the Bay won the AL title on Points Per Game (PPG) = pipping rivals Mountain Rangers to glory at the end of a curtailed season. He had also helped the club reach the prestigious Dargie Cup final – where they would have faced Tom Scott’s young and exciting Hotspur Reserves side in what would have been a thriller for sure.
A fantastic finisher and great example to those around him on the field, Tyco is a true Cemaes legend by now and rightly so too.
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