A celebration of Llandudno Ladies FC’s finest achievements

Llandudno Ladies never set the world on fire in the Welsh Premier Women’s League but they always held their own.

They can take pride in the fact they are the only North Wales club which competed in the national league in every season since it went fully national in 2012-13 before their sad resignation today.

Llandudno produced many good performances in the league over the years, but perhaps their finest result was a 3-1 win at PILCS on February 1, 2015.

Goals from Stephanie Walsh, Stacey Tradewell and Sofie Owen secured three massive points for the Seasiders against a team which finished third in the WPWL that term.

In their eight seasons in the league, Tudno never managed a win over the ‘big three’ – Cardiff Met, Cardiff City FC Women or Swansea City – so this very rare away victory for a North Wales team against a South Wales giant in PILCS definitely ranks as very special.

I remember interviewing manager Sarah Colville after the game and she said at the time she hoped it was a ground-breaking result for the north. She labelled it the best outcome since she had managed the team.

The Llandudno side that day was: Jessica Hughes, Jordanne Greenough, Claire Colville (c), Jemila Bukari, Stephanie Walsh, Sara Williams, Katie Bowe, Stacey Tradewell, Kelsey Davies (Rebecca Jarvis-Evans), Sofie Owen, Rosie Hughes. Unused sub: Samantha Jarvis-Evans.

The best season for Llandudno was surely 2015-16 when they finished sixth in the WPWL, scoring their most goals in a campaign by some distance.

They also reached the Welsh Cup final for the one and only time.

Despite losing 5-2 to Cardiff City FC Women, Tudno put up a great show and took an early lead with a wonder goal from Katie Bowe. She went on to become the first woman nominated for Sgorio’s Goal of the Month award for that cracking effort.

Another highlight for the team was Ghanian defender Jemila Bukari being nominated for Welsh Premier Women’s League Player of the Season in 2014-15.

And players such as young striker Fflur Williams have represented the team internationally.

It is not known who is Llandudno’s all-time record goalscorer in the WPWL as statistics have not always been kept, but it is probably between Rosie Hughes and Katie Bowe, who netted 21 in total during that 2015/16 season.

Hopefully Llandudno will be back sooner rather than later. Clubs have bounced back from worse positions than this.

In the meantime, what Tudno have done for women’s football in North Wales should never be under-estimated.

Their hopefully temporary loss to North Wales football and the WPWL is a very sad event, but it does not have to be the end of the world.

In the meantime thanks for the amazing memories Sarah, Mark, Geoff and the girls.

LLANDUDNO’S ALL-TIME WELSH PREMIER WOMEN’S LEAGUE RECORD

2012/13 (11 teams): Played 20 Won 4 Drawn 1 Lost 15 GF 23 GA 80 Points 13 Position 9th
2013/14 (11 teams): P 20 W 3 D 5 L 12 GF 30 GA 60 Points 14 Position 9th
2014/15 (11 teams): P 20 W 8 D 1 L 11 GF 31 GA 45 Points 25 Position 8th
2015/16 (11 teams): P 20 W 7 D 2 L 11 GF 53 GA 70 Points 23 Position 6th
2016/17 (10 teams): P 18 W 6 D 4 L 8 GF 36 GA 48 Points 22 Position 6th
2017/18 (10 teams): P 18 W 6 D 1 L 11 GF 29 GA 43 Points 19 Position 7th
2018/19 (9 teams): P 16 W 4 D 2 L 10 GF 28 GA 54 Points 14 Position 6th
2019-20 (9 teams): P 6 W 1 D 1 L 4 GF 3 GA 39 Points 4 Position 6th (resigned)

Played: 138
Won: 39
Drawn: 17
Lost: 82
Goals Scored: 233
Goals Conceded: 439
Points: 134