PICTURE by Richard Gregson
LLANGOED Football Club’s new manager says he wants to ‘instil a positive atmosphere’ into the club ahead of football returning in the near future.
David ‘Twm’ Thomas is nothing short of a club legend at the club. But, he is set to have a new role there when they can return to Tyddyn Paun and other fields around the island in the near future (we hope!).
The 35-year-old was recently appointed first team manager of his home village club after the departure of Mark Thomas who had guided Llangoed to an eighth place finish in the Gwynedd League last season.
Thomas, who can play as a centre back and a centre mid and will no doubt continue playing for Llangoed when needed, has enjoyed an interesting career to date and one that is very different to many other players on the island I’m sure.
That is because he once played for German club Viersen FC – a fantastic opportunity which came about whilst he was serving in the army.
Talking about those days playing in Germany he said: “I loved my time playing in Germany, the language barrier was always a sticking point for them but it worked. I just threw some Welsh in the mix just to confuse them even more!
“The game I feel wasn’t as frantic as it is in matches on Anglesey, you seem to always have plenty of time on the ball in Germany but in the lower leagues here it’s often a 100mph which in turn I use to my advantage playing in Germany as they weren’t use to the high tempo Llangoed style of playing should we say.
“I think I improved vastly playing in the German league with the extra fitness through the army, it definitely put me at an advantage.”
After 12 years serving in the army, where he also played for many other clubs at different levels, Thomas returned to Llangoed where he has since enjoyed many a success as a player.
He was part of the club’s famous cup-double winning side of 2016/17 which also earned promotion to the Gwynedd League and has remained a key figure in their squad – even picking up the Committee Player of the Season prize at the end of the 2019/20 season.
Commenting on what he hopes the future holds for the club with himself as manager, Thomas said: “I’m looking forward to instilling a positive atmosphere within the club moving them forward in the right direction to push the club onwards to improve on an already great squad and guiding them to victory.”
When asked why he chose to be manager, Thomas said: “It’s simple really; it’s Llangoed – who wouldn’t want to manage them? I’ve been with the club pretty much my whole life. I’ve got lots of great memories since childhood with this club.
“I’ve had so many great years with the club to be honest. Just helping Llangoed win any game Is always a highlight for me – I treat every game like its a cup final.”
All the best to David when football returns – I’m sure he’s got plenty of passion to spur his home village on to glory!
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