North Wales football January 2023 signings – set three
Grassroots North Wales presents the third in a series of articles featuring North Wales football signings made in the 2023 January window.
Rhys Alun Williams (Porthmadog to Caernarfon Town)
Local talent Rhys Alun is relishing the opportunity to shine at the top level of Welsh football.
The 25-year-old has joined Caernarfon Town’s fight to remain in the Cymru Premier League for another season.
Rhys has spent the last three seasons at Porthmadog, where he was top-scorer last term with 23 goals, which included a hat-trick against Caersws in the Ardal Northern Play-Off Final. The 5-0 win secured the Traeth club promotion to the Cymru North.
He was leading marksman again this season on seven goals before deciding to leave Port to sign for Caernarfon in the January window
Williams has also played in the past for Nantlle Vale.
Rhys can operate in a wide attacking role or as a central striker with a keen eye for goal. A skilful touch player who possesses excellent close control, he is an exciting and often spectacular performer.
Having been a regular visitor to The Oval in recent years as a spectator, Rhys is excited at the prospect of putting on the yellow shirt.
He said: “I’m over the moon to be here. I’ve been a regular here for a number of years and the first match I came to watch was the Welsh Cup tie (against TNS) when the wall behind the goal came down.
“I was 16 at the time and when you’re that age all you want to do is hope that you can play in the same team as Darren Thomas and here I am! I can’t wait to play in front of the supporters.”
Canaries manager Huw Griffiths is thrilled to have another local talent to work with.
“Rhys is an exciting local signing for us and I am delighted to have him joining the squad. I’m looking forward to working with him.”
Max Mclaughlin (Llanfair United to Chirk AAA)
The 26-year-old Mclaughlin marked his debut for Chirk on Saturday in style with a fantastic long range free kick goal.
Unfortunately, it was not quite the perfect day for the new signing as the Colliers lost the game 2-1.
Nonetheless, the Cymru North side will be very much hoping that goal is a sign of things to come from a player who lands at Holyhead Road from tier 3 Llanfair United.
Striker Max comes to Chirk with good credentials having scored 19 goals in 27 appearances for Llanfair in Ardal North East last season. He also provided 11 assists.
Injury has restricted his outings this season with only 4 first team league appearances clocked up, but 3 goals scored.
Those three came in the shape of a hat-trick against Welshpool Town. He also grabbed a treble for Llanfair in a 5-0 Welsh Cup win at Llanrhaeadr and hit three in a 6-3 victory for the Reserves against Caersws.
The striker joined Llanfair at the start of 2021-22 having impressed as a goalscorer for Kerry in 2019-20.
Harvey Bennett (Rhuddlan Town to Denbigh Town)
Sixteen-year-old Harvey had quite a memorable first weekend as a Denbigh Town player!
On Friday, January 6, he came on as a first team substitute, along with elder brother Luca, in the second half of Town’s 2-0 victory over Llandudno Albion in the Ardal North West League. Both lads impressed.
The following day Harvey debuted for Denbigh Town Reserves in an FAW Reserve League North West clash at Nantlle Vale.
And what an impact he made, scoring in the second, 40th and 55th minutes to complete a hat-trick in a 3-2 success.
Harvey began this, his first season as a senior, at Rhuddlan Town, where he made 11 appearances and scored twice.
Cai Powell-Roberts (Llangefni Town to Caernarfon Town)
Caernarfon Town manager Huw Griffiths’ first signing of the January transfer window was Cai Powell Roberts from Llangefni Town.
The 23-year-old is a versatile player who can play in defence and in a more forward position on the right of midfield.
Cai has also played for Holyhead Hotspur and was a member of the Cymru Premier North representative side last year.
Huw is pleased to have added a highly-rated local talent to his squad:
“I’m delighted to have Cai sign for us from Llangefni. It’s great to have more quality local talent committing to Caernarfon Town. Cai will certainly provide us with more playing options and I look forward to working with him.”
Cai himself is looking forward to taking his opportunity in the Cymru Premier League:
“I’ve been to see the team a few times since they returned to the Cymru Premier League and I’m really happy to get this chance to play for Caernarfon. I really can’t wait to play at The Oval in front of the Cofi Army and I’ll give 100% for the shirt!”
In recent seasons, Cai was at Llangefni in 2019/20, appearing in 21 Cymru North matches and 24 in all competitions.
In 2020/21, he played one game only for new side Holyhead Hotspur, a 1-0 victory over Llandudno in the Nathaniel MG Cup, after which the rest of the campaign was abandoned due to Covid.
He remained at Hotspur last season, scoring in a 2-1 league win at Holywell Town. The super-fit prospect featured in 28 Cymru North matches for the Holy Islanders.
This season brought a return to Llangefni Town, who had been relegated to the tier 3 Ardal North West. Cai played 15 games across all competitions for Cefni before deciding to switch to Caernarfon and try his luck at tier 1 Cymru Premier level.
James Roberts (Llandudno to Kinmel Bay)
Kinmel Bay new signing James Roberts is a very promising young keeper who has been playing for Llandudno U-23’s and also found himself as Sean Eardley’s number 2 in the Tier 2 Cymru North this season.
Bay joint-manager Leon Field said: “James possesses a lot of qualities that will see him one day playing at the top of the game
“He’s a great shot-stopper, he’s commanding and he’s good with his hands and feet.
“James is a massive coup for the club and shows the vision we have towards developing young players.”
Elliott Turner (Rhuddlan Town to Kinmel Bay)
This great 17-year-old prospect played academy football for Connah’s Quay Nomads before turning out for Prestatyn Town last season in Tier 2 at left-back, as well as the club’s Cymru Premier Development team.
He made 10 appearances in the Cymru North for the Seasiders and played in 15 games for the Development side.
Elliott moved to tier 4 North Wales Coast East Premier Division side Rhuddlan Town this season, where he made 14 appearances in all competitions.
Kinmel Bay joint-manager Leon Field said: “This is really where we saw the potential of the young man growing
“So to land Elliott is a great thing for Kinmel Bay and being so young he hopefully has a long future ahead of him with our club.”
Matthew Worrall (Llay Welfare to Denbigh Town)
Front man Worrall’s latest spell at Llay Welfare lasted a year before he decided to switch to fellow tier 3 Ardal North West club Denbigh in the 2023 January window.
Worrall has spent most of his career at Llay, alongside two seasons with Queen’s Park and stints at Gresford Athletic, Denbigh Town and Rhyl.
In recent times, he began 2019-20 at Gresford in the tier 2 Cymru North, but soon returned to Llay, netting 10 goals in 20 games for the Wrexham club.
With 2020-21 cancelled due to the pandemic, Matty rejoined Gresford at the start of 2021-22, scoring four goals in 17 appearances, but was back at Llay again by January 2022.
Matt Busby (Airbus UK Broughton to Gresford Athletic)
Gresford Athletic were more than happy with the debut performance of goalkeeper Matt Busby, who they recently signed from Airbus UK Broughton.
Matt was impressive in the Colliers’ 3-1 victory at Conwy Borough in Cymru North on Saturday.
The young goalkeeper began his career at 14-time JD Cymru Premier champions The New Saints, playing for their academy, whilst also representing North Shropshire College and St Martins between 2020 and 2021.
In July 2021, the 20-year-old made the move to Brymbo, cementing himself as their number one choice between the sticks, making 22 appearances for the club.
A number of clubs contested for Matt’s signature during the 2021/22 January transfer window, but it was Airbus who snapped him up to be part of their JD Cymru North title-winning squad.
He has since made 16 appearances for the Airbus Development team, keeping four clean sheets, and has been included in eight JD Cymru Premier squads during the 2022/23 season, before now signing for Gresford.
Athletic first team manager Eddie Maurice-Jones said: “Matt is an up-and-coming goalkeeper with lots of potential, having gained valuable experience with Airbus UK Broughton in the Cymru Premier. He will be a real asset to the squad.”
Caio Hywel (to Bangor 1876)
Defender Caio Hywel will be familiar to many in the area as a player who came through the youth system at Bangor City alongside several other members of current Bangor 1876 squad, such as Gethin Thomas and Harry Galeotti.
The 26-year-old Hywel has played in both of the top-two tiers of Welsh football, and was most recently with Holyhead Hotspur.
He has also worn the colours of Llanberis.
Bangor 1876 manager Michael Johnston sees Caio as a key addition: “He is a leader and an excellent defender who can play anywhere across the back four. He is another local lad who has jumped at the chance of playing for 1876.
“Caio is a player we tried to recruit earlier in the season but were unable to add to our squad at that time due to transfer regulations concerning registration periods. He’s had a while out due to his studies but is fully committed to the cause and ready to go when called upon.”
Kieran Edwards (Llangefni Town to Llandudno)
Llandudno FC are delighted to announce the signing of 21-year-old Kieran Edwards from Llangefni Town.
Defender Kieran returns to Maesdu Park, where he had a short spell in the 2019/20 season before Covid hit.
The player said: “I had a really good season at Llangefni last year but was ready for a new challenge.
“I’m really happy to be joining Llandudno and can’t wait to get going and continue my development in a great environment.”
Llandudno manager Sean Eardley commented: “Kieran has done really well over the past couple of weeks and is eager to get going.
“He has good physical attributes for a defender and provides good cover having played at this level before.”
Kieran made 21 Cymru North appearances for Llangefni in a difficult 2021/22 season which saw the Anglesey club relegated from tier 2. The defender had played six times for the islanders this term before deciding on a return to Llandudno.
Kieran has also had brief past spells with Conwy Borough and Llandudno Junction.