FC Nomads withdraw first team from Welsh National League

One of North Wales’ most progressive football clubs of recent years have withdrawn their first team from the pyramid.

FC Nomads will not compete in the Welsh National League Premier Division in 2019-20.

The club insists it is not folding, with plans to keep its veterans and youth teams operating.

Founded in 2009 after, during the previous season, stories started to circulate that Connah’s Quay may lose its team for the first time since 1890, possibly merging with local rivals Flint Town United, a group of long-time supporters and local soccer experts set out to preserve football in the Quay.

Connah’s Quay Nomads carried on going solo, but FC Nomads set off on their own journey – and what a ride it has been.

FC Nomads joined the now defunct Clwyd League and were crowned 2009/10 Division Two champions with a perfect record of 20 straight wins.

Division One also proved no hurdle for the newcomers as they swept to the title undefeated, recording 23 victories and a draw.

The new Clwyd East League was formed for the 2011/12 campaign and Nomads made it three straight league championships.

In three seasons, the club had risen from tier seven of the Welsh football pyramid to level four.

Next came the challenge of Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) Division One and Nomads this time finished runners-up, missing out on a fourth straight title after trailing champions Borras Park Albion by a mere two points.

The 2013-14 term saw Nomads back to their unstoppable selves as they not only topped Division One, but also registered stunning stats of 20 wins out of 20 with 140 goals amassed and only 11 conceded. That made it two ‘perfect seasons’ out of five in which the invincibles had won every single league match.

The Deesiders now took another step up to tier three and the WNL Premier Division. They were brought back down to earth with a fifth-place finish, but the silverware kept on coming as they lifted the 2014/15 Premier Division Cup.

The 2015-16 campaign brought yet another league title for the Nomads – their fifth in just seven seasons – as they came top of the pile in the Premier Division.

This should have led to elevation to the tier-two Huws Gray Alliance, but despite a determined fight by the club against facilities issues blocking their rise, they were denied promotion and runners-up Ruthin Town went up in their place.

No doubt jolted by this enforced lack of progress, Nomads finished sixth, 11th and fifth in the past three Premier campaigns.

Those earlier achievements, though, five league titles in seven seasons, two of them campaigns producing 100% records and another unbeaten one, on top of the host of cups in the cabinet, makes the FC Nomads story quite remarkable.

Let’s hope it continues somewhere down the road…..

FC Nomads league record 2009/10 to 2018/19

2009/10 – CLWYD LEAGUE DIVISION TWO CHAMPIONS: P 20 W 20 D 0 L 0 GF 100 GA 15
2010/11 – CLWYD LEAGUE DIVISION ONE CHAMPIONS: P 24 W 23 D 1 L 0 GF 104 GA 25
2011/12 – CLWYD EAST LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: P 18 W 13 D 3 L 2 GF 66 GA 26
2012/13 – WELSH NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE RUNNERS-UP: P 24 W 20 D 2 L 2 GF 122 GA 29
2013/14 – WELSH NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE CHAMPIONS: P 20 W 20 D 0 L 0 GF 140 GA 11
2014/15 – WELSH NATIONAL LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION – FIFTH: P 30 W 18 D 6 L 6 GF 79 GA 42
2015/16 – WELSH NATIONAL LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION CHAMPIONS: P 26 W 18 D 4 L 4 GF 95 GA 33
2016/17 – WELSH NATIONAL LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION – SIXTH: P 26 W 14 D 3 L 9 GF 63 GA 51
2017/18 – WELSH NATIONAL LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION – 11TH: P 28 W 11 D 2 L 15 GF 44 GA 61
2018/19 – WELSH NATIONAL LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION – 5TH: P 28 W 15 D 5 L 8 GF 58 GA 43

LEAGUE TITLES

Clwyd League Division Two champions 2009/10
Clwyd League Division One champions 2010/11
Clwyd East League champions 2011/12
Welsh National League Division One champions 2013/14
Welsh National League Premier Division champions 2015/16