Football: Llandudno Ladies FC are back…..in the Welsh Cup

When Llandudno Ladies resigned from the Welsh Premier League at the start of December their season appeared to be over…..not so.

On Sunday, February 9, Tudno will return to action to play their Welsh Cup quarter-final clash with Abergavenny at Maesdu Park.

Under FAW rules, Llandudno are still permitted to compete in the next round of the competition, despite the fact they are currently not involved in league football. The draw for the quarters was made on November 19.

Manager Sarah Colville explained despite the fact the club temporarily disbanded in December, most of its players have not joined clubs elsewhere.

Departees include Sioned Bohana (to Mountain Rangers), Shona Roberts (Connah’s Quay Nomads) and goalkeeper Rebecca Elliott (Caernarfon Town). Mari Gibbard, who is away all season studying in America, has also left Llandudno and re-signed for former club Bethel, although she has played just one game for them and does not return to the UK until July.

Therefore the majority of the squad which started the season with Tudno are still eligible to play for them. On top of this, Colville is also recruiting ex-players who used to represent the club.

The manager is confident Llandudno will assemble a team capable of giving Welsh Premier Abergavenny a big test in next month’s quarter-final (which will kick off at 2 pm).

To reach the last eight, Tudno have knocked out Corwen and Llanfair United.

After resigning from the Welsh Premier on December 4, the club asked to belatedly join the North Wales Women’s League, confident they could cope with a fixtures backlog, but their request was declined.

The NWWFL told Llandudno their plea to become members, three months into the 2019-20 campaign, had come simply too late.

It seemed an unreasonable decision, especially as Llandudno had a ready-made all-weather pitch available which could have helped the league out with its fixtures backlog.

Tudno had considered applying to play in the North Wales League at the start of the season, but decided to soldier on in the WPWL until November.

The Seasiders stepped down from the national league after the strain of making several trips to South Wales every season finally took its toll.

Llandudno’s departure means there are no North Wales representatives left in the national league. Northop Hall, Caernarfon Town, Wrexham and Rhyl have all pulled out in recent years.

Tudno now hope to salvage something from the worst season in their history in the Welsh Cup.

And the club also plans to apply to enter the North Wales League next season.

2019-20 Welsh Cup quarter-final draw (matches to be played Sunday, February 9)

Cardiff City FC Women v Cardiff Met Uni
Connah’s Quay Nomads v Port Talbot
Llandudno v Abergavenny
Swansea City v Bethel