While most Haverfordwest County players will be stepping out at the Cardiff City Stadium for the first time on Thursday night for the second leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round against FK Shkëndija, Jazz Richards will be returning to familiar surroundings.
The 32-year-old spent four seasons at Cardiff City during his professional career, including one in the English Premier League, while four of his Cymru national team caps came in CF11.
“I’m looking forward to going back because it has been a while since I last played there,” Richards says. “I really enjoyed my time playing at the stadium for Cardiff City and I also feel that I played my best football for Wales there too.
“I can look back on some good memories but also hopefully create some new ones with Haverfordwest.”
It is almost two and a half years since Richards joined Haverfordwest, having exited Cardiff City the previous summer. The move came as a surprise to many as the full-back had been playing second tier English football less than 12 months previously, but it was exactly what he needed.
“I had fallen out of love with football a few years ago and my main reason for joining Haverfordwest was to enjoy playing again, which I absolutely have done,” Richards says.
“It has given me that drive and motivation back. We have got better season-by-season and are constantly striving for more.”
After playing his part in ninth and 10th place finishes in the JD Cymru Premier, Richards made 16 appearances last season as Haverfordwest placed seventh in the table to qualify for the European play-offs.
However, injury meant that he was forced to watch on from the sidelines as the Bluebirds battled for a place in the UEFA Europa Conference League. They were successful in their mission as they defeated Cardiff Met and then Newtown – both on penalties and away from home.
“I was desperate to be involved, so it was nerve-wracking to be in the stands,” Richards says, reflecting on the play-offs. “But I was confident that the boys had more than enough quality to win both games and they did fantastically.”
19 years after their only previous European appearance, Haverfordwest were drawn against four-time North Macedonian champions KF Shkëndija in the UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round.
A pre-season injury to club captain Dylan Rees has ruled him out of the tie, meaning Richards wore the armband for last week’s first leg away from home.
“I was so proud to lead the team out in the club’s first European game in a long time,” he says. “Dylan is a massive miss for us and he brings different qualities to the role of captain that I can bring, but I tried to help the boys with my experience. These occasions don’t come along very often in football, so I want to make sure that we enjoy it and give 100%.”
“It was a difficult game,” Richards says of the first leg. “The conditions were challenging and they are a really good team. I think most people expected us to lose by a few goals, but the fact that it was only 1-0 shows how well we did and it keeps us in the tie.”
Having reached the UEFA Europa Conference League third qualifying round last season, Shkëndija were the pre-tie favourites, but the Bluebirds held their own away from home and now hope to mount a comeback on Thursday night.
“They are patient on the ball and they have great movement off the ball,” Richards says. “You can see that they are full-time and train daily because they are all on the same wavelength. But we will take what we learnt from last week into the second leg and hopefully that can help us out.
“I think people have given us a chance after seeing our performance last week. We know the areas in which we can be a bit more positive and we certainly have the belief that we can achieve something which the club has not done before.”
