Celebrating Prestatyn Sports’ finest-ever season – one of the greatest by any North Wales club

One of the saddest football stories this summer so far is the demise of Prestatyn Sports’ senior football team.

Due to lack of players and loss of key personnel to run the side, Sports have resigned from the North Wales Coast East League.

It is a huge pity as during their 10 seasons of existence, the club had risen from tier 6 to tier 3 and won seven trophies.

Despite the current gloom, however, Sports will continue operating their thriving junior section and hopes are high that the senior team will return in the future.

Meanwhile, let’s look back on Sports’ greatest season, when they won FIVE trophies as a club in 2014-15.

2014-15: A season Prestatyn Sports will never forget

To win FIVE trophies in just your second season of existence is quite a feat.

That is what Prestatyn Sports achieved back in 2014/15.

When Sports defeated Llandudno Albion 2-1 in the Vale of Clwyd and Conwy League Presidents Cup Final, it completed a tremendous first team quadruple for the fledgling club.

The Prestatyn side won the Premier Division title by a very comfortable 13-point margin, hammered Waunfawr 5-1 in the final of the NWCFA Intermediate Cup and battered Rhyl Rovers 9-2 in the Premier Cup Final. In the latter showpiece, Darren Cassidy scored five goals – an unusual occurrence in a final.

To make it an even better season, Prestatyn Sports Reserves finished top of Division One. A first team and reserves winning league titles in the same campaign – doesn’t happen that often.

Goals flowed throughout the 2014-15 season for Mark Hughes and John Hargreaves’ first team – 178 in 36 matches in all competitions making it an average of almost five per game.

After losing their fourth match of the campaign, 3-2 at home to Conwy Legion United, Sports then embarked on a remarkable run of 29 straight victories before exiting the Clwyd Cup at the semi-final stage to eventual competition winners Aston Park Rangers.

Formed in 2013/14, Prestatyn Sports were second best in their debut season to Division One champions Legion, but gained revenge the following term, winning three out of four tussles with the Conwy outfit and finishing 13 points ahead of them in the Premier.

Sports had built a strong squad comprising players with Welsh Premier, Huws Gray Alliance and Welsh Alliance experience.

They possessed several players who could score goals, although the main two net-finders in 2014/15 were Darren Cassidy with 51 and Craig Griffiths on 45.

Prestatyn Sports honours 2014-15 season

• Won Vale of Clwyd and Conwy Premier Division by 13 points
• v Waunfawr (NWCFA Intermediate Cup Final) 5-1 (Darren Cassidy 2, Craig Griffiths 2, Shane Middleman)
• v Rhyl Rovers (Premier Cup Final) 9-2 (Cassidy 5, James Harper, Russ Jones, Mike Jones, Griffiths)
• v Llandudno Albion (Presidents Cup Final) 2-1 (Griffiths, Harper)
• Reserves won Vale of Clwyd and Conwy Division One title

The following seasons…

Promoted to Welsh Alliance Division Two for 2015/16, Sports finished a more than respectable sixth in their debut campaign at tier-four and reached the Take Stock Van Hire Cup Final.

The following campaign, the Prestatyn side went one better and won the 2016/17 Take Stock Van Hire Challenge Cup, also claiming third spot in Division Two.

The 2017-18 was an amazing one, as Sports won the Division Two title by eight points.

The team’s league record was remarkable: Played 28 Won 24 Drawn 3 Lost 1 Goals For 117 Goals Against 30.

Sports had perfect home stats of 14 straight wins and their only defeat came at Felinheli in the third to last game. They had gone 25 league outings unbeaten.

One of the key players was 35-goal hero Ian Griffiths, former Welsh Premier League striker with Prestatyn Town.

What Sports achieved was all the more amazing because of what they had to endure over the previous 12 months due to red tape.

In summer 2017, the club was expelled from the Welsh Alliance League on ground criteria issues.

However, well-known North Wales football figure Chris O’Neal took up their case and Sports were reinstated on appeal.

More problems emerged in October 2017, when the club had to withdraw from the Welsh Cup after their ground was deemed unsuitable by the FAW to stage a tie against Caersws.

Far from feeling sorry for themselves, Sports got weaving on making improvements at their Gronant base, the stirring work of a dedicated band of volunteers eventually paying deserved rewards.

After landing the 2017/18 Division Two title, the icing on the cake was delivered when the club met the ground criteria required to secure promotion to Welsh Alliance Division One.

They went on to finish seventh in their debut 2018/19 season, but ended up bottom in 2019-20.

Securing their own home at The Meadows in 2020, in their first two seasons in the North Wales Coast East Premier they finished third and fifth.

They bow out for now with their heads held high and hopefully will return in the not too distant future.

Looking back – Prestatyn Sports results and stats 2014/15 season

Sep 06 – Llansannan (a-lge) 4-0 (Craig Griffiths 2, Dion Waller, own goal)

Sep 13 – Machno United (h-lge) 8-0 (Gareth Walsh 4, Darren Cassidy, Cameron Campbell, Griffiths, Waller)

Sep 20 – Rhos United (a-lge) 9-0 (Griffiths 4, James Harper 2, Waller 2, Michael Jones)

Oct 04 – Conwy Legion United (h-lge) 2-3 (Griffiths, Cassidy)

Oct 11 – Holyhead Hotspur Res (a-NWCFA Intermediate Cup R1) 5-4 (Harper, M Jones, Cassidy, Griffiths, Waller)

Oct 18 – Conwy Legion United (h-NWCFA Intermediate Cup R2) 5-2 (Harper, Griffiths 2, Walsh, Matthew Bennett)

Oct 25 – Bro Cernyw (a-lge) 5-1 (Walsh, Griffiths 2, Waller, Tomos Court)

Nov 08 – Rhyl Town (h-lge) 2-0 (Griffiths, Cassidy)

Nov 15 – Machno United (a-NWCFA Intermediate Cup R3) 5-2 (Harper 2, Cassidy 2, 1 og)

Nov 22 – Llannefydd (a-lge) 6-1 (Cassidy 3, M Jones, Griffiths, Walsh)

Nov 29 – Rhyl Rovers (h-lge) 7-0 (Cassidy 3, Court 2, M Jones, Walsh)

Dec 06 – Old Colwyn (h-lge) 11-1 (Cassidy 4, M Jones 2, Griffiths 2, Waller 2, Harper)

Jan 17 – Llansannan (h-lge) 10-2 (Griffiths 5, Cassidy 3, Harper, Steve Roberts)

Jan 24 – Rhyl Athletic (a-lge) 5-2 (M Jones 2, Cassidy 2, Griffiths)

Jan 31 – Bro Cernyw (a-Premier Cup R1) 7-0 (Cassidy 4, Griffiths 2, Waller)

Feb 07 – Llannefydd (h-lge) 4-1 (Court, Griffiths, Walsh, Simon Fawcett)

Feb 14 – Machno United (a-lge) 6-1 (Cassidy 4, Harper 2)

Feb 21 – Conwy Legion United (a-Presidents Cup R2) 5-1 (Walsh 3, Griffiths, Bennett)

Feb 28 – Rhyl Rovers (a-lge) 4-1 (Court 2, Shane Middleman, Cassidy)

Mar 07 – Rhyl Athletic (h-lge) 5-1 (Bennett 2, Cassidy, Griffiths, Court)

Mar 14 – Rhos United (h-lge) 3-1 (Harper, Cassidy, Ryan Brady)

Mar 21 – Machno United (a-Presidents Cup R3) 5-0 (Griffiths, Walsh, Cassidy, Sam Warhurst, Harper)

Mar 28 – Rhyl Town (a-lge) 3-0 (Griffiths, Walsh, Ian Dunn)

Apr 04 – Llansannan (h-Premier Cup R2) 3-1 (M Jones, Cassidy, Griffiths)

Apr 11 – Bro Cernyw (h-lge) 6-1 (Cassidy 3, Harper 2, Campbell)

Apr 17 – Rhyl Athletic (NWCFA Intermediate Cup SF) 2-1 (Cassidy, Griffiths)

Apr 25 – Old Colwyn (a-lge) 3-2 (Harper, Griffiths 2)

Apr 28 – Conwy Legion United (a-lge) 4-2 (Griffiths 2, Cassidy 2)

May 01 – Waunfawr (NWCFA Intermediate Cup Final) 5-1 (Cassidy 2, Griffiths 2, Middleman)

May 04 – Rhyl Town (a-Premier Cup semi-final) 4-1 (Griffiths, M Jones, Cassidy 2)

May 09 – Llanfairfechan Town (a-Presidents Cup semi-final) 5-1 (Griffiths 3, M Jones, Cassidy)

May 12 – Acton (a-Clwyd Cup QF first leg) 5-1 (Dunn 2, M Jones, Harper, Cy Williams)

May 16 – Acton (h-Clwyd Cup QF second leg) 3-1 (Cassidy, Dunn, Chris Lowe)

May 19 – Aston Park Rangers (Clwyd Cup SF) 1-4 (Griffiths)

May 21 – Rhyl Rovers (Premier Cup Final) 9-2 (Cassidy 5, Harper, Russ Jones, M Jones, Griffiths)

May 23 – Llandudno Albion (Presidents Cup Final) 2-1 (Griffiths, Harper)

TOTAL MATCH RECORD

Played 36 Won 34 Lost 2 Goals For 178 Goals Against 45

LEAGUE: P 20 W 19 L 1 GF 107 GA 20

NWCFA INTERMEDIATE CUP: P 5 W 5 GF 22 GA 10

PREMIER CUP: P 4 W 4 GF 23 GA 5

PRESIDENTS CUP: P 4 W 4 GF 17 GA 3

CLWYD CUP: P 3 W 2 L 1 GF 9 GA 6

GOALSCORERS

Darren Cassidy 51

Craig Griffiths 45

James Harper 18

Gareth Walsh 14

Michael Jones 13

Dion Waller 9

Tomos Court 7

Matty Bennett 4

Ian Dunn 4

Cameron Campbell 2

Shane Middleman 2

Own goals 2

1 – Steve Roberts, Sam Warhurst, Simon Fawcett, Ryan Brady, Cy Williams, Chris Lowe, Russ Jones.