FAW National League Awards: Hear from the winners

At Saturday night’s FAW National League Awards, it was Jordan Williams who was crowned the JD Cymru Premier Player of the Season.

Jordan Williams’ contributions helped guide The New Saints to a fifth consecutive JD Cymru Premier title. It was a hat-trick of awards on the night for the forward after picking up Sgorio’s goal of the season and the golden boot. Reflecting on the most prolific goalscoring season of his career, he thanked the fans for their recognition and praised manager Craig Harrison for the faith shown in him throughout another successful campaign for the Saints.

“I’m absolutely over the moon.” Williams said. “With a little change of position from the gaffer, he’s trusted me, and it’s given me a lot of joy being the focal point to the team and scoring goals. I’ve really enjoyed it.” 

“We’ve won the league every year since I’ve been here but that’s the main goal. To go and win that league every year, go to the champions league and hopefully qualify for the group stage in Europe”.

In the JD Cymru North, Holywell’s number nine Jamie Breese took home the Player of the Season award in addition to the golden boot he’d secured. A staggering 24 goals in 28 games for the striker in addition to providing 14 assists in the process, Breese has helped the Wellmen to a third-place finish and promotion to the top flight. After two and a half years at Holywell, he thanked everyone at the club for his success before he takes on his next challenge after announcing he would be leaving the club in the summer.

“Speechless, to be honest. I didn’t really expect to win that one. I’ve got to thank everyone at the club for this, especially my teammates, because I’m not going to win this by myself.”

When asked about achieving promotion to the JD Cymru Premier, he added: “It’s a massive achievement. I said when I signed that I wanted to take this club back to where they belong, and I’ve done that.”

“Last year I missed out on the Golden Boot by a goal or two, so I was determined to get it this year. Luckily, I’ve done it and achieved promotion as well, so it’s been a great season all round.”

To the JD Cymru South it was Cambrian United’s Liam Eason who won the prize.

Coming across from Llanelli last season, Eason wasted no time in making an impact yet again, securing promotion in back-to-back seasons. After his 19 league goals and 14 assists, he capped off another fine season securing the Player of the Season award just like he did last year. It’s safe to say he deserved his holiday break!

It’s been an unforgettable first season in management for John Disney, and the cherry on the top was taking home the JD Cymru Premier Manager of the Season award. After retiring from playing last season, he made the jump to management and secured a second place finish for Connah’s Quay Nomads, revitalising the team after what was a disappointing campaign last year.

“It’s definitely a Club of the Season award. I’ve been very fortunate to work with a fantastic football club and some fantastic footballers as well. It’s been a lot of hard work and dedication, but not just from myself, from all of the staff and the whole team alongside me. Hopefully, it’s just the start of good things to come.”

When asked how they could top this season, he said: “I’ll try my best. I think that’s all we can do. We’re going to look different next year from a squad perspective. Our training is going to change, our schedule is going to change, our periodisation is going to change. We’ve got to try and be a little bit different and try and kick the league forward, and if we can be the first ones to do that then fantastic. Pressure builds once you’ve been successful, but I’m looking forward to it.”

With the European adventure ahead, he added: “As a player I played in it 19 or 20 times, so to lead a team out as a manager is definitely going to be different, but I’m really excited. The main remit is that we’re not going just to enjoy it, we’re going to try and win a round for sure, because I think the league deserves that and we definitely deserve that as a club.

“As a football club, we’re going to have a lot more young players and a lot more players people might not be used to, not household names within the Welsh system, but from a recruitment perspective it makes life a little bit easier when you’re in European qualification and trying to kick on as you move forward. I’m really looking forward to it and can’t wait.”

Llandudno enjoyed a season to remember as they lifted the JD Cymru North title, with manager Jordan Hadaway awarded Manager of the Season. With 26 wins from 30 league matches and the joint-best defensive record in the division, the Seasiders’ hard work throughout the campaign was clear to see, and Hadaway was delighted to see the efforts of everyone at the club rewarded.

“It’s a testament to everybody at the club, whether it’s a player, staff member, director or fan. The award is for everybody at the club. I’m privileged to have it, as there are a lot of good experienced managers in the league, and to come out on top with all of them is something that I’ll keep close with me for many years to come.”

“It was difficult three years ago. We didn’t have anything. Our facilities were condemned and we had to build from scratch. I think, as a young manager, that helped me because everything that’s at the club now is everything that I’ve built from the foundations up. I didn’t expect to win the league. We wanted to challenge and try and get promotion, but we were thoroughly deserved winners over the course of the season.”

When asked about top-flight football next season, the 24-year-old added: “We won’t hide from anything. We’ve played Nomads and TNS this season, two of the best teams in the Welsh system, and competed against both of them comfortably, so we won’t change what we’ve done. We’ll stick to what we know and hopefully it’ll work in our favour over the course of the season.”

In the JD Cymru South, it was Trefelin manager Andy Hill who was crowned Manager of the Season. In just his second full season in charge, Hill led Tref to the league title and promotion to the Cymru Premier. His side won 20 of their final 21 league matches, and he paid tribute to everyone involved at the club for their role in the success.

“This isn’t for me, this isn’t an individual award, this is a team award. Out there we have three unbelievable coaches with me, we have an unbelievable committee, we have two amazing chairmen — even the cleaners, the bar staff, the secretary, everybody contributes to this award. My name is on that award but it’s definitely a club effort.”

“It’s a hard league to win, but when we went into Trefelin we had full intentions to win the league. The club didn’t believe us. They had a secondary plan and obviously we did it in two years. That just goes to show how good the club has been to turn around a Tier 2 licence into a Tier 1 in two years to get us into the Cymru Premier, so that’s a testament to the club.”

When asked about the challenge of top-flight football next season, he added: “Really excited. The 16-team format definitely helps. I think it helps to attract better audiences and I think it will be more sustainable for clubs to go into that league and try to keep themselves there. It’s really exciting and we’re all looking forward to it.”

To the Young Player of the Season awards now, and in the JD Cymru Premier, it was Barry Town United’s Ieuan Owen who won the prize.

The teenager hit double figures for Barry Town United this season with 11 goals. Involved in every league match of the campaign, Owen also made headlines in the Nathaniel MG Cup Final by scoring both goals in the 2-0 victory over The New Saints.

It was another prolific forward who won the award in the JD Cymru North, with Holyhead Hotspur’s Connor Owen coming out on top.

An excellent season made Owen the stand-out player for Holyhead Hotspur as the 21-year-old scored 17 goals following his arrival last summer from Gwalchmai. Owen brought the campaign to a close with his second hat-trick of the season in the 5-1 win over Buckley Town.

Ammanford’s Dan John took home the Young Player of the Season award in the JD Cymru South. John was also nominated for the Player of the Season award, and with his tally of 18 goals this season, he was a pivotal player for Ammanford in a season that saw the club finally earn promotion to the JD Cymru Premier. The striker made a point of working harder this year and is overjoyed to see that his efforts have paid off this campaign.

“I’m over the moon, to be honest. I knew there were quite a few good players alongside me, so it’s brilliant to come out on top.”

“The secret is just working hard, showing up every week. I think I’ve worked hard on myself in the last off-season, and coming back this year I had one thing on my mind – to prove I can do it in senior football.”

When asked what we can expect from Dan in the future, he said: “Just to keep giving 100% and just keep pushing because I don’t want to put any limitations on myself but I want to keep pushing and see what I can achieve myself, that’ll be next season’s goal.”