After three years out of the top-flight, Briton Ferry Llansawel certainly made their mark in the Genero Adran Premier on the opening weekend.
Travelling away to last season’s fourth-place side Aberystwyth Town, the Reds’ triumphed 4-0 to begin the campaign in style. For a squad that largely stuck together throughout life in the second tier, it felt like a long time coming.
After finishing second in the Genero Adran South in 2021/22, Ferry won the title in 2022/23 but lost 1-0 to Wrexham in the promotion play-off, before finally going up last season by winning all 12 league matches and the play-off against Llandudno.
“It does feel like a finally moment for us as a squad,” defender Alice Broadley says. “We finally deserve to be here, and we have earned our spot here this season. It’s been three long years trying to get here, but we’ve done it now, and we’re all looking forward to it.”
When you get promotion, you can tackle it in two ways. You can either revamp the squad and bring in plenty of players, or you can put your faith in what you’ve already got, and Ferry have done the latter.
The core of last season’s promotion side have stayed around for their top-flight return, and Broadley couldn’t stress enough the importance of that.
“It’s such a positive that a lot of last season’s squad are here for this season. We are really close as a team, and once you’re in at Briton Ferry, then you are in. There’s such a family environment here and we all get along well. I’m so glad we’ve managed to stick together during the tough times, and we’ve managed to get up there.”
That’s not to say the club haven’t brought new players in. Three new faces have arrived at Old Road: Aimee Heath from Carmarthen Town, Tija Richardson from Cardiff City, and Maia Owen.
Owen joins from the FAW Girls’ Academy and scored Ferry’s first goal of the season in the win against Aberystwyth. Plenty of talent has emerged from the academy of late, and Broadley has touted Owen to be the next star.
“I honestly think Maia is going to be the one to watch this season. She’s been so good for us over the preseason period. She’s young, she’s fresh, and she’s really been a breath of fresh air for us. It’s been a really positive thing having her on board with us.”
Also, on the scoresheet at Park Avenue was Alison Witts, while Laura-May Walkley recorded an assist, and Tija Richardson was named in the Genero Adran Leagues Team of the Week after a Player of the Match performance.
All three have top-flight experience, and the Ferry defender believes it is a huge positive having them as part of the squad.
“It’s really good that we’ve got the likes of Laura, Alison and Tija who have played in this league before, and they’re all playing a major part in our development as a club. It’ll be a good thing having the likes of them around to help the younger players in particular.”
The opening day win in West Wales will provide this team with plenty of confidence, but Broadley says Ferry will take it one game at a time and will try to prove to people why they deserve to be part of the Genero Adran Premier.
“We want to show that we do deserve to be here and do deserve to be playing in this league and to get some good performances under our belt. Getting wins early on is going to be a big part of that, and we want to show that we are able to break into that top four.”
