Llandudno’s Stacey Tradewell is the complete all-round midfielder

Renowned for her accurate passing, long range shooting and strong tackling, Stacey Tradewell has been a respected central midfielder for many years on the North Wales football scene.

Born on February 22, 1989, in Solihull hospital, West Midlands, Llandudno-based Stacey turns 32 today.

She began playing football at around the age of five then later represented her girls’ school team.

Stacey moved to North Wales at the age of 11 and soon joined Conwy Borough Girls Under-12’s, a talented team with a great track record.

Her first coach was Neil Todd, who she cites as a significant influence in her development, as well as Karl Rigby and later Mark Jones at Llandudno, who she says taught her a lot about her own individual strengths and weaknesses.

During her time as a student at Llandrillo College, Stacey played for Welsh Colleges in 2008, taking on English Colleges at Telford.

The current Welsh captain Sophie Ingle, who has won more than 100 full caps and represents Chelsea, was also in the squad.

Stacey’s main strengths include her ball distribution. She possesses a great passing range, a good engine and is firm in the tackle.

In her early senior career, Stacey played for the very strong Colwyn Bay side which dominated the North Wales League.

When the Bay disbanded, Stacey was among a number of players who moved to Llandudno Junction.

The team firstly played in the Welsh Premier League North Conference, before later becoming members of the fully-national WPWL in 2012-13.

In 2013, they adopted the name of MBi Llandudno Ladies due to sponsorship. This was dropped in 2016 and the team name reverted to Llandudno Ladies.

Stacey remained part of the Llandudno set-up throughout the eight seasons they competed in the WPWL.

Last season, Tudno resigned from the WPWL and are now part of the North Wales Women’s League Premier Division, whose 2020-21 campaign was cancelled due to coronavirus.

Throughout Llandudno’s national league existence, Stacey was a steady performer and a regular goal scorer. She scored in what was probably the team’s best WPWL result – a 3-1 victory at PILCS in 2014-15.

In 2015-16 she played her part in Llandudno’s run to their first-ever Welsh Cup final, where they lost 5-2 to Cardiff City FC Women. Stacey scored the opening goal in a 4-0 semi-final triumph over Denbigh Town.

Top player, entertaining person, one of the best. Happy birthday Stacey.