Michael Wilde has a special relationship with the JD Welsh Cup. The striker first lifted the famous trophy as a 21-year-old with The New Saints in 2005 and would win it a total of four times across two spells with the Oswestry side.
Upon moving to Connah’s Quay Nomads in 2016, he helped the club win the competition for the first time in their history – scoring twice in a 4-1 win over Aberystwyth Town in the final.
He ended his second stint at the Nomads last season, at the age of 40, with another famous victory, this time beating TNS in the final at Rodney Parade to lift the cup for the sixth occasion.
“It’s a massive competition with great history,” Wilde told Faw.cymru this week. “At TNS the aim is always to win trophies so it was always special to score in Welsh Cup games, then winning it the first time with Connah’s Quay was nice as it was the club’s first major trophy in a long time.
“To then bow out at Connah’s Quay by winning it last season felt really sweet. I had told the club in February that I would be leaving so I had targeted the final as my last game.
“To do it by beating a team like TNS was incredible and it felt like a fitting reward for a fantastic squad. Nobody probably gave us a chance on the day apart from ourselves and we felt in the dressing room beforehand that something special would happen.”
A new challenge awaited Wilde in the summer after he departed the Nomads, as he was appointed as manager of Colwyn Bay – who had just been relegated from the JD Cymru Premier.
“It’s been refreshing,” Wilde says of his first few months in management. “It’s totally different from playing. Instead of just keeping yourself fit, sticking to your own objectives, you now have the responsibility of a squad of players, the supporters and the board. It took a little while to get used to but I’m enjoying the challenge. I wanted a learning curve and this has definitely given me that.”
But are the boots hung up for good? Wilde, along with assistant manager Danny Harrison, is registered as a player for Colwyn Bay and has been in six matchday squads so far but not yet made an appearance.
“I’d never say never,” Wilde smiles. “You never know when I might be needed if there’s an injury crisis for example. I just want to help the club in the best way I can and right now that is firmly on the sidelines.”
Simply put, there has not been a need for Wilde to take to the field so far this season. Colwyn Bay lost their opening league game of the season against Bangor 1876 and were beaten by Aberystwyth Town in Round Two of the Nathaniel MG Cup, but since then they have gone on an 18-match unbeaten run in all competitions – winning the last 15. It is a streak that sees them sit second in the JD Cymru North table, four points behind leaders Airbus UK Broughton.
“It’s just been a case of consistency in training and getting our principles over to the players,” Wilde says. “It took a while for us to find the right rhythm in that regard, but once we did, everything fell into place. All of the clubs I’ve been at where we’ve had success, if you get the basics right and have the right people then the rest usually follows.
“We know there’s going to be ups and downs as that’s football, but right now we’re just trying to look after ourselves. We’re enjoying our good form at the moment and don’t want it to come to an end, but we know it’s going to be a tough task on Sunday.”
Sunday sees the Seagulls travel to Wilde’s former club TNS, nine-time winners of the JD Welsh Cup, in Round Four of the competition. Bay have beaten Flint Mountain and Buckley Town on penalties in the cup so far this term, with Wilde now relishing the challenge of facing the dominant force in Welsh football.
“First and foremost, we’re really excited about it. If there was one team that I wanted to draw, it was TNS just because of my own competitive nature. It will be good to go back to a club where I had a lot of success as a player and somewhere that really gave me a platform. Nobody in the squad is backing down from the challenge and we have no fear in going to Park Hall.”
It is undoubtedly Wilde’s biggest test as a manager so far, but with his side having not lost a game since August, they head into the tie with plenty of positivity.
“Everyone knows that to go to there and get a result is going to be hard. They could probably pick two squads that could win the Welsh Cup! They’ve got so much quality and experience.
“But we’re optimistic. They obviously had a tough test on Thursday night against Panathinaikos. We’ve got a gameplan, we’re going to work and hopefully we get a little bit of luck. It’s going to be very, very hard but we’re embracing it.”
