Goal machine Ella on recovery road after knee operation

When Llandudno became the first-ever Genero Adran North League champions in March this year, a special star was missing from the cluster.

Seventeen-year-old Ella Jones had scored a sensational 22 goals in 10 matches in her debut season before a bad knee injury in November 2021 against Airbus ended her campaign prematurely.

Ella was initially ruled out for the rest of the season and had to watch on with a mixture of joy and anguish as her team-mates lifted the tier 2 league title and won the North Wales Coast Challenge Cup.

So bad was the injury, Ella will also miss all of the current 2022-23 campaign.

It is likely to be the best part of two years on the sidelines before she plays again.

However, last week she finally had the operation needed on her knee, so the recovery period is now underway.

“I had the operation on December 1st,” said Ella. “It all went well and now I’m starting my rehabilitation. The expected recovery time is about 8/9 months.”

Ella had to leave the field in agony in the 69th minute of a 4-2 league victory over Airbus at the OPS Wind Arena on November 28, 2021.

She did make a brief comeback in a cup win over Welshpool in February 2022, but was taken off after 30 minutes.

Recalling her painful experience, Ella added: “It happened when playing Airbus last season. I went to take the ball past the defender and when doing so my foot got stuck in the ground.

“I twisted to get my body around the player and that twisting movement caused a tear to my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament).

“It was frustrating not being able to play, but to watch my team-mates go on to win the double was still a happy moment.

“I’m hoping to get back to it next season.”

Ella says what she has seen of Llandudno this season has convinced her they are more than capable of winning more trophies.

“I’ve been to watch them a couple of times this season. They are still playing to their high standards, which was reflected in their 2-1 (Adran Trophy) victory over Swansea.

“After what will be such a long spell out of playing I just want to get back out on the pitch and enjoy playing football again.”

A fast, attacking player with an eye for goal, Ella was already well known in North Wales football circles before joining Llandudno’s senior squad at the start of 2021-22.

In 2018-19, she scored a hat-trick in the FAW Under-16 Girls Welsh Cup Final for Penrhyn Bay in a 3-2 win over Villa Dino Christchurch at Aberystwyth.

Everyone at Grassroots North Wales wishes this tremendous talent well in her recovery process.