Managing two teams within one club is very rare, but for Jordan Hadaway, he wouldn’t want it any other way.
Having guided the men’s team away from relegation this season in the JD Cymru North, Hadaway now has a chance to take Llandudno’s women’s team to the Genero Adran Premier.
Hadaway was given the women’s role at the beginning of the season, and it’s fair to say the title wasn’t the number one priority given to him.
“I was given the target at the start of the season of lowering the age of the team, because we’re a very experienced team in terms of the personnel that we’ve got, while also staying competitive. We finished third last year, and we knew Connah’s Quay Nomads were probably the strongest team in the league this year.
“I lowered the age of the team by bringing six players in and we managed to stay very competitive. We said that with the players that we’ve got, there’s no reason why we can’t win the Adran North, and so we did.”
Genero Adran Leagues promotion play-off
After Wrexham won the Genero Adran North and won promotion last season, many had second place Connah’s Quay as the firm favourites this year.
The manager knew how difficult the Nomads would be to face, as proven in their first meeting, which ended in defeat. However, they bounced back in the second game to claim a vital three points.
“It was quite frustrating that first game against them. We have an identity in the way we play, and we stuck to it, knowing it might not get us the result that we wanted. We didn’t have a lot of pace at the back, and Connah’s Quay capitalised on that.
“In the second game, we completely changed how we played, and we dominated the game. I don’t think our keeper made a save all game. That was a realisation to us that, we could actually get into the Adran Premier here.”
What many fans didn’t have down was that Felinheli would also be pushing for the title.
The penultimate game of the season saw Dudno travel to Felin, and despite being down late in the game, two quick fire goals within the last ten minutes sealed a dramatic win for the Seasiders, and more importantly, wrapped up the title.
“I’m used to comebacks this season with the men’s team!” Hadaway laughs. “But that Felinheli game just shows the togetherness that we’ve got as a group. Our additions are fairly new, but they’ve settled in straight away, but full credit to Felinheli. I said to Aaron Jones-Evans, their manager, that they’ve been absolutely brilliant for the league.
“On the day itself, I thought we thoroughly deserved the win. A lot of people would have seen us two down at half-time and maybe written us off, but I always believed we’d get something out of the game because of the players we’ve got.”
This will be the first time many fans will get the chance to watch Llandudno play, and Hadaway has highlighted names that we should look out for, with Genero Adran North top scorer Stevie Donougher at the top of that list.
“Stevie has been brilliant. Every team needs a goal scorer, and she was my first target when I took over the role. What I like about her is that she’s very different to the generic women’s player. She’s aggressive, she likes a battle, and when we are sitting deep and playing on the counter, she can get hold of the ball. She’s clinical in front of goal and she’s massively improved this season with everything else around her game.
“We’ve got a lot of good young players in our squad. Ella Jones and Erin Doran are two very promising young players. Then we’ve got experienced players like Stacey Tradewell, Sofie Owen, Jasmin Dutton, who have been amazing stalwarts for this club. For me, the player to watch is Ffion Owen. She’s ran the midfield and most of our games this season, and she’s local to Llandudno as well.”
The only thing standing in the way of Hadaway, his players and the glitz and glamour of the Genero Adran Premier are Briton Ferry.
Ferry won all twelve of their league games this season and were also beaten finalists in last season’s playoff. Hadaway is aware that the task facing them is difficult, but with some of the games they’ve played this season, believes his side can just play their own game and see where it takes them.
“It’s a showcase game for us to show people how good we actually are. Briton Ferry, in my opinion, probably deserve to go up more than we do, because they’re more set up as a club. But we’ll give it a right good go and we’re not scared of anybody. We went to Wrexham and lost in the last minute of stoppage time this season; we’ve played Swansea City too. We’ll have a plan for them and hopefully we can get the result that we want. It’s about making and creating memories as a group and finish off what we want to do.”
From trying to trim down the age of the squad to battling two teams for the title, it’s been a great season for all of those involved with Llandudno, and now, they want to finish their journey on the highest of highs.
“For the girls at the club, it would be a massive milestone to get promoted. Since we were last in there, the Adran Premier has really improved and professionalised, but we feel as a club we’re ready to go and do it. I’d be so proud of what we’ve done as a group. The girls have been incredible, my staff have been amazing, and it will top off a great season that the whole football club have had, but we’ve got to finish it off.”
The Genero Adran Leagues promotion play-off takes place between Briton Ferry Llansawel and Llandudno at Latham Park in Newtown on Sunday 21 April (KO 16:30).
Tickets for the final will be cash only on the gate, costing £3 for adults and £1 for concessions. The game will be available to watch live for free on RedWall+.
