Is this the greatest North Wales Women’s Football League team of all-time?
Was the Caernarfon Town team of 2016-17 the greatest ever to win the North Wales Women’s League?
It is hard to argue otherwise.
The Canaries won 18 of their 20 matches, the latter defeat coming when the title was in the bag, and they amassed a phenomenal 120 goals – an average of precisely six per game.
Several of the squad were of Welsh Premier standard, some had already impressed at that level. and others went on to do so.
Top-scorer was Catrin Thomas, previously used as a left-back at Llandudno, but as a forward with the Cofis she banged in 38 goals in about half that many matches, notching seven in one game, six in another and a couple of fours.
Not far behind was the remarkable attacking midfielder, captain Ffion Owen, who ended up on 33 goals.
Anna Jones, later to stand out for Llandudno in the WPWL, netted 16 times, while young defender Heledd Evans added a very useful 12.
Goalkeeper Klaudia Wojtyczka also had a good season.
Caernarfon reeled off 10 straight league wins, hitting double figures three times, scoring 75 and conceding just four before suffering a surprise loss to Airbus.
Town piled up eight more victories to seal the title and were 2-0 up in their final league game at home to Llanfair United before rain forced an abandonment.
The Canaries still received the championship trophy on the night, but in the rearranged game 20 days later, a relaxed Cofis went down 4-0 to Llanfair.
Although Keith Fearns and Tania Jones’s side endured an early Welsh Cup exit at Welsh Premier Rhyl, they were unstoppable in the Betty Pickering Cup.
Wins against Airbus (5-0), Prestatyn (13-0) and a revenge semi-final success over Llanfair (2-1) set up a meeting with Pwllheli in the final.
And Town completed the double with a 5-1 victory, with untried newcomers Alishia Donohue and Efa Williams scoring two and one apiece respectively.
Captain Owen also slammed in a trademark 25-yarder for her 33rd goal of the campaign, with Ceri Slaney also on target.
Best team ever to win the North Wales Women’s League? Has to be surely.
Caernarfon Town results 2016/17
League
Aug 21: Caernarfon Town 3 (Anna Jones, Katie Davies pen, Ceri Slaney) Denbigh Town 0
Aug 28: Bangor 0 Caernarfon Town 13 (Catrin Thomas 6, Anna Jones 2, Elena Julio 2, Ffion Owen 2, Danielle Barnfield)
Sep 4: Caernarfon Town 1 (Katie Davies) Airbus 0
Sep 11: Amlwch 0 Caernarfon Town 8 (Catrin Thomas 3, Ffion Owen 2, Katie Davies, Sioned Bohana, 1 own goal)
Sep 25: Caernarfon Town 8 (Catrin Thomas 3, Ffion Owen 2, Katie Davies, Danielle Barnfield, Anna Jones) Pwllheli 2
Oct 2: Prestatyn 0 Caernarfon Town 16 (Catrin Thomas 4, Heledd Evans 3, Danielle Barnfield 2, Ffion Owen 2, Katie Davies 2, Sioned Bohana, Kim Parry, 1 own goal)
Oct 9: Llanfair United 0 Caernarfon Town 1 (Catrin Thomas)
Oct 16: Kinmel Bay 0 Caernarfon Town 6 (Katie Davies 2, 1 pen, Catrin Thomas, Heledd Evans, Ffion Owen 2)
Nov 6: Denbigh Town 0 Caernarfon Town 4 (Anna Jones, Ffion Owen, Sioned Bohana, Heledd Evans)
Nov 13: Caernarfon Town 15 (Catrin Thomas 4, Ffion Owen 4, Heledd Evans 3, Danielle Barnfield 2, Anna Jones, Nel Huws) Bangor 2
Nov 20: Airbus 1 Caernarfon Town 0
Nov 27: Caernarfon Town 3 (Catrin Thomas 2, Ffion Owen) Amlwch 2
Dec 11: Pwllheli 0 Caernarfon Town 5 (Sioned Bohana 3, Ffion Owen 2)
Dec 18: Caernarfon Town 12 (Catrin Thomas 7, Ffion Owen, Sioned Bohana, Natasha Jones, Danielle Barnfield, Elena Julio) Prestatyn 0
Jan 22: gap Northop Hall 2 Caernarfon Town 8 (Anna Jones 3, Catrin Thomas 2, Ceri Slaney 2, Elena Julio)
Feb 5: Caernarfon Town 6 (Anna Jones, Danielle Barnfield, Catrin Thomas, Elena Julio, Sioned Bohana, Ffion Owen) Kinmel Bay 0
Feb 12: Caernarfon Town 4 (Anna Jones 2, Ffion Owen, Catrin Thomas) gap Northop Hall 0.
Mar 12: Bethel 0 Caernarfon Town 4 (Ffion Owen 2, Ceri Slaney, Elena Julio)
Mar 19: Caernarfon Town 3 (Catrin Thomas 2, Steph Davies) Bethel 0
Mar 30: Caernarfon Town v Llanfair United – abandoned 38 mins with Caernarfon 2-0 up
Apr 19: Caernarfon Town 0 Llanfair United 4
League record
Played 20
Won 18
Drawn 0
Lost 2
Goals For 120
Goals Against 13
Points 54
Position: Champions
Goalscorers
37 – Catrin Thomas
23 – Ffion Owen
12 – Anna Jones
8 – Danielle Barnfield
8 – Heledd Evans
8 – Katie Davies
8 – Sioned Bohana
6 – Elena Julio
4 – Ceri Slaney
2 – own goals
1 – Kim Parry-Barnes
1 – Nel Huws
1 – Natasha Jones
1 – Steph Davies.
Cups
Welsh Cup
Oct 23: Rhyl 3 Caernarfon Town 2 (Catrin Thomas, Ffion Owen).
Betty Pickering Cup
Apr 9: Caernarfon Town 5 (Ffion Owen 3, Heledd Evans, Ceri Slaney) Airbus 0
Apr 23: Prestatyn 0 Caernarfon Town 13 (Ffion Owen 4, Anna Jones 4, Heledd Evans 4, Danielle Barnfield)
April 30 – Semi-final: Llanfair United 1 Caernarfon Town 2 (Ffion Owen, Ceri Slaney)
May 14 – Final: Caernarfon Town 5 (Alishia Donohue 2, Efa Williams, Ffion Owen, Ceri Slaney) Pwllheli 1.
Goalscorers (27)
10 – Ffion Owen
5 – Heledd Evans
4 – Anna Jones
3 – Ceri Slaney
2 – Alishia Donohue
1 – Catrin Thomas, Danielle Barnfield, Efa Williams
Record in all competitions
Played 25
Won 22
Lost 3
Goals For 147
Goals Against 18
Goals in all competitions (147)
38 – Catrin Thomas
33 – Ffion Owen
16 – Anna Jones
13 – Heledd Evans
9 – Danielle Barnfield
8 – Katie Davies
8 – Sioned Bohana
7 – Ceri Slaney
6 – Elena Julio
2 – Alishia Donohue
2 – own goals
1 – Kim Parry-Barnes
1 – Nel Huws
1 – Natasha Jones
1 – Steph Davies
1 – Efa Williams