Conwy Borough Swifts are embarking on a new and exciting era, and joint-managers Simon Allen and Steve Montgomery are hoping their young side can cause a JD Welsh Cup upset when they host CPD Dinas Bangor City 1876 at Y Morfa Stadium on Saturday (2pm).
“This is what you do it for, for games like this,” explained Montgomery to FAW.cymru this week. “It creates a bit of excitement around the area and that’s exactly what we need to get all the local people coming back to support the team. I’m sure this will help massively as it’s a great draw for us.”
Montgomery was the manager of Llandudno Swifts last season before a summer merger with Conwy Borough marked the start of a new beginning for a name steeped in Welsh football history. Conwy United were founder members of what was then the League of Wales in 1992 and qualified for European competition four years later.
Financial problems resulted in the club dropping down the pyramid during the subsequent decades, and while they head into this season in Tier 4, confidence in their long-term ambition to return to the domestic top-flight has been fuelled by the merger with their neighbours and how it’s reigniting local interest.
JD Welsh Cup
Feel-good factor
“It’s been absolutely brilliant,” said Allen to FAW.cymru. “There’s such a real feel-good factor around the club now. Everyone’s on board, pulling in the right direction and it’s nice to see the clubhouse busy again. We’ve been selling tickets via our online platform ahead of the Bangor game and we’re working really hard to make the club the best we possibly can.”
A goal from James Frost was enough to earn Conwy Borough Swifts a 1-0 victory over Rhydymwyn in the first qualifying round in July, and the side have enjoyed a solid start to the season in the Premier Division of the North Wales Coast East Football League with seven points from the opening four games.
“We had the luxury of a quite an extended preseason just to allow all the coaching staff and players to get to know each other,” Allen added. “The game against Rhydymwyn was really important for us. We had been practising a lot in preseason and through our training sessions on retaining possession when we’re leading. We managed to keep it tight at the back and won the game, deservedly so I think.”
Meanwhile, CPD Dinas Bangor City 1876 play one division above Conwy Borough Swifts in the Lock Stock Ardal North West following a dramatic relegation from the JD Cymru North last season. They are undefeated in the new campaign so far and progressed through the opening qualifying round of the JD Welsh Cup with a 3-1 win over Mochdre Sports.
Cup underdogs
“Bangor were marked as one of the teams that we wanted to face and being able to welcome them and their brilliant fan base will be a wonderful day,” said Allen.
“We’re all really excited to host them and do the best that we can. We appreciate we’re the underdogs, but everyone loves a cup upset. If we can stay competitive in the game and work hard, hopefully we’ll get a bit of luck on our side too. The stadium was built to host games like this so it will be a good day out for us all and a great experience for the players as well.”
Simon Allen and Steve Montgomery are excited to lead the club into this new era (Photo – Conwy Borough Swifts FC)
Although Allen and Montgomery had not worked together before, it was Allen’s proposal to the Conwy Borough hierarchy to approach Llandudno Swifts regarding a potential merger last season that connected the pair over a few coffees.
“It was an offer we couldn’t refuse really,” explained Montgomery. “We were playing on a school pitch, so we didn’t have any infrastructure at all, but we had some good players.
“To have our own home now is a massive bonus and it’s accelerating our plans by years and years. I didn’t know Simon, but the first time I met him we got on straight away. He’s a great lad. He’s a bit younger than me but he’s got a great attitude and knowledge of football. He knows his stuff and I’ve got a bit of experience, so I think we gel really well together, and we’re learning off each other all the time.
“I think a healthy club needs to build not just the team but off the field as well, so they both rise together and not become disjointed with a good team without a very good club. I’ve seen it all before. That’s the aim for us now, to bring both sides of the club up and gradually get it back to where it was. The aims are limitless really with these young lads.”
Youth development
Development of young players is a key message from both managers and appears to be one of the cornerstones of the merger. Former Bow Street manager Nathan Bridges has been brought in to run the Development Squad which all ties in with the wider ambition.
“I took the role based on it being a project as opposed to anything else,” explained Allen about his appointment in November last year. “Bringing Nathan in to do the development side of things means there’s a pathway going through the age groups to the first team.
“When the conversations first happened, I was part of the coaching staff at Colwyn Bay Reserves. I came out with a plan of how I could see the next couple of seasons and now I love the club and all the volunteers here. I think the players are brilliant and the ones that have stuck by the club I have such respect for. I’m just immensely proud to represent Conwy and grateful for them to have given me a chance.”
The JD Welsh Cup tie against Bangor 1876 this weekend is the immediate focus for everyone at Conwy Borough Swifts, and the scale of occasion will show just how much potential this long-term project has.
“It’s not just a short-term thing; it’s about getting Conwy back to where it used to be,” Montgomery added. “It’s still a great club that’s just fallen on hard times, and we hope to breathe a bit of life back into it.”
