A WARM WELCOME to you all to our last League game of the season. On a number of occasions in the past I may have referred to the previous season being a long one and welcome relief to see it at last completed. Not on this occasion, however. I may be biased but to me the season has been enthralling with tremendous interest and anticipation being shown in practically every League game this season with certainly more ups than downs. A possible fourth place position may have been beyond the dreams of many of us last August, so full marks to our managerial team and players for providing us all, who have the Club at heart, with such entertainment.

Our Manager is indeed a shrewd man, with a superb foil in the form of our Assistant Manager, Ray, and no doubt the players have responded well to this managerial team this season. I recall just before the Barry Town game, indicating to Tomi that, after a series of matches against teams in the middle and lower reaches of the table, our honeymoon was over and that the demanding schedule for the following four or five weeks would really sort out the men from the boys. Tomi, with a wry smile and a twinkle in his eye, did not comment either way but the fact that we had a 100% win record in our next four games against Barry, Bangor, Llanelli and Cwmbran speaks volumes for the way that Tomi has moulded together a squad bursting with team spirit.

A big thank you to all you supporters who have come in greater numbers to Richmond Park this season. You will note from Vince James’s contribution in this programme that our attendances have increased by 34%, by far the greatest increase in the League and there is no doubt that a winning team in Carmarthen will indeed attract support. Our travelling support has also been a boon for our Club and no doubt Haverfordwest, Llanelli and Aberystwyth must have been very appreciative at their home local derbys against us with attendances of 979, 1037 and 1072 respectively and who knows, next season, we may well attract a 1000+ gate here at Richmond.

It is very appropriate therefore that our Chairman, Jeff Thomas, has a contribution in today’s programme. I feel I must compliment Jeff, on behalf of us all, for the way he has steered a tight ship, expertly managed. This is a very important facet these days in view of the problems that have confronted some LoW clubs this season - well documented in the press over the last few months.

I don’t think we can categorise today’s encounter as an end of season stroll. One point would secure us a fourth position whilst one point for Newtown would secure them an eighth position with a possible FAW Premier place next season. And these two facts highlight the importance of this year’s Welsh Cup Final where the significance of the result is not only confined to the two participating clubs, Cwmbran and Bangor City. Assuming that Cwmbran achieve third place, which is highly likely, and win the Welsh Cup, then we would secure the Intertoto Cup place being the fourth placed club, whilst Newtown would gain entry into the Premier Cup as the eighth placed team. So a lot could depend on the Welsh Cup Final at Wrexham on 7 May.

And finally, it is nice to see the managerial team of the Wales Semi-Professional X1 which will play England at Stebonheath Park, Llanelli, on Tuesday, 16 May at 7.30pm, in opposition to each other here today. In his wisdom Tomi has selected Newtown’s manager, Brian Coyne, as his assistant - and who would disagree with that choice?

ENJOY TODAY’S GAME - and remember the West Wales Senior Cup Final here on 4 May!

Back to Secretary's Notes

A WARM WELCOME to you all to this afternoon’s game. It is always a pleasure to extend a welcome to today’s visitors Conwy United who have an extremely friendly band of workers behind them. I remember just last year following our victory over the North Walians in the Welsh Cup Semi-Final at Newtown there was not a word of complaint from a very disappointed Conwy Committee but instead best wishes for ourselves for the remainder of the competition.

You may have notice from the Press reports this week that the Welsh Intertoto Cup representatives for next season will face a Moldovian side. Well, at this stage, I am not going to make any comment about the situation as with four league games to go we are nowhere near qualifying for the competition as yet, even though we currently hold fourth place. Anything can happen between now and the end of April.

Suffice it to say that we have already achieved our manager’s pre-season aim of qualifying for next season’s FAW Premier Cup and full marks to Tomi, Ray and the players for reaching this landmark. No doubt many of you may be aware of the ins and outs of the competition but for those of you who may not be so familiar with this Cup I would like to give you some details of the competition.

Firstly, the top seven in the LoW Table at the end of the season plus the Welsh Cup Winners qualify, unless the Cup Winners are in the top seven and then the eighth placed team also qualifies. In addition to these eight clubs, invitations are also extended to the three Nationwide Clubs, Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham and Merthyr of the Dr Marten’s League - making twelve in all who will be divided into three groups of four. There will be three seeded teams, each allocated to the three groups, comprising this year’s finalists (probably Wrexham and Cardiff City, going on last week’s first leg results) , and the best semi-finalists (again highly likely to be Barry Town). Swansea City who did not qualify for the semi-finals will not be seeded, so, we could, for example, end up in a group involving both Cardiff City and Swansea City. The group matches are played on a home/away points basis and the top two from each group, plus the two best third placed teams, qualify for the quarter finals.

On the financial side, qualifying teams receive £20,000 which have to be used to meet the competition’s requirements, such as the erection of a TV Gantry and Studio as well as providing a minimum of 500 seats. These facilities must be in place by 1 June for qualification.

In the group matches, clubs will be eligible to receive £500 for each point gained. So, for a group match win, £1500 could be earned per match. Group winners will receive prize money of £15,000 each and other quarter final qualifiers will receive £7,500. The eventual winners will receive £100,00, runners-up £40,000 and the two losing semi-finalists £20,000 each. As far as televised matches are concerned, a match televised live will attract a sum of £11,000 for the host club and £4,000 for the opponents. This competition, now in its third year, has captured the public’s imagination, as TV viewing figures indicate, and it has been a great boost for the game in Wales. No doubt, all eyes in Carmarthen will be focused on the draw which will take place on TV sometime during the early part of June when all entrants meeting the criteria will be known.

ENJOY YOURSELVES TODAY and we’ll see you at the Newtown game on the 29th!

Back to Secretary's Notes

A GOOD EVENING to you all and a welcome to Richmond Park. In my view, this is our real local derby as opposed to our matches against Aberystwyth and Haverfordwest and it is indeed unfortunate that the number of encounters between Llanelli and ourselves since our admission to the Welsh Football League in 1953 can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Indeed, if my memory serves me right, we’ve only played once at Richmond Park in the last 40 years and that was in a Welsh Cup match in the late 80’s - a small statistic that was overlooked in Llanelli’s Programme against us last October in the very excellent article, I must admit, which outlined the history of our Club.

It was with great interest that I heard the comments of Dai Davies, that worthy TV football pundit and, of course, ex Welsh International goalkeeper, speaking on Gôl the other Sunday on how important substitute players are in the make-up of a squad. He may well have been referring to the astute substitutions made by Tomi Morgan and Ray Davies during our match with Barry which considerably contributed to our famous victory against last season’s League Champions some ten days ago. There was no doubt that the managerial team were very wary of some tired legs and I must admit that the substitutions worked out perfectly. One substitution occurred in the 83rd minute and our equalising goal came a minute later and another substitution came in the 86th minute and the winning goal in the 89th, and the three man move for that goal involved the three substitutes who had come on the field. There is no reflection here on the players who were substituted because they had already played a tremendous part in this memorable victory but doesn’t it illustrate the importance of all 14 members of the squad in a match situation.

I’m sure that you must be appreciating the content of our Programme these days with an additional four pages at, may I say, without any price increase at still 80p. I must pay tribute here to the staff of the LoW Newsletter who produce a first class weekly round-up of our national league and which is used to great effect by our editorial staff, but may I say, not slavishly but in the light of the appropriateness of the topics to the needs of our Club. Another important aspect, of course, is the contribution of guest writers and this week is no exception with again three excellent contributions.

FIRSTLY, Lawrence Hourahane of BBC Wales whom I have introduced before in my Notes, so it is suffice to say that his interesting articles are always well received here. Likewise, old favourite Terry Evans, a Priory Street boy whom I have again referred to previously and who has donned both the shirts of Carmarthen and Llanelli, and finally, Bob Morgan, who is writing for the first time and, as many of you may well know, is more associated with the oval ball than the round one. Bob is a long standing Press Officer with the Carmarthen Athletic Rugby Football Club and his journalistic talents feature regularly in the Carmarthen Journal and other Welsh newspapers. Bob, as well as being a former Coach and Captain of the Athletic, played for Llanelli and I had the pleasure of seeing the Llanelli v Australia match in 1966 in which he played, when the Scarlets beat the Wallabies at Stradey Park............ Enjoy tonight’s game and we’ll see you again on Friday night..

Back to Secretary's Notes