Caernarfon Town have made a brilliant start to 2023-24 – but have a way to go to match the class of 1996-97

Words: Alex Philp and Dave Jones

Caernarfon Town have made a brilliant start to the 2023-24 Cymru Premier League campaign.

But the current Canaries still have some way to go to match the club’s best-ever beginning to a national league season.

Underrated by some in pre-season, Town have defied the odds to go undefeated in their first four matches, taking 8 points out of 12, but it could so easily be maximum reward with draws against Haverfordwest County and Bala Town nearly ending up in wins.

Richard Davies’ side have also won 4-0 at newly-promoted Colwyn Bay and beaten a Newtown outfit they had lost to in all eight previous Cymru Premier meetings.

It’s a great start for the Cofis, who are second in the table, but they know it is only the beginning of a long and testing season.

Back in 1996-97, Caernarfon Town went 12 matches undefeated from the start of the campaign.

Manager John Aspinall had assembled a strong squad at The Oval during the summer, which included former Liverpool, Halifax and Crewe striker Terry McPhillips partnering prolific Eifion Williams up front.

After an impressive pre-season, Caernarfon’s opening League of Wales match delivered a 2-1 win over Porthmadog at The Oval, Eifion Williams scoring after just 40 seconds before McPhillips also found the net.

Two 1-1 away draws followed, at Newtown and Cemaes Bay respectively, with McPhillips and Chris Waring scoring.

Next came the derby at Farrar Road, where 820 watched Caernarfon defeat Bangor City 2-0, Phil Farrelly and Eifion Williams on the mark.

Town went unbeaten through September, drawing 1-1 against Cemaes Bay at The Oval, the goal supplied by Eifion Williams, who also bagged the winner in a 1-0 verdict over Ebbw Vale.

A 2-1 victory against Carmarthen Town made it seven unbeaten, 15 points, and a share of fourth place in the table.

October began with a terrific 3-0 result against Flint Town United, McPhillips with a hat-trick.

The Canaries then triumphed 3-1 at Llansantffraid, McPhillips, Williams and Waring with the goals.

As October came to an end, the yellow and greens extended their unbeaten streak to 10 games with a 1-1 split at Welshpool, Williams the away scorer.

League of Wales leaders Conwy United were the next opposition at The Oval where a fair 3-3 result was the outcome.

Caernarfon went top of the league on October 26, with a thrilling 5-4 success at Aberystwyth Town.

Trailing 4-3 at half time and down to 10 men in the second period, two Eifion Williams strikes gave him a hat-trick and sealed an epic away win. McPhillips had earlier netted twice for the Canaries.

It was a case of unlucky 13 for the Cofis when they went down 3-2 at home to inaugural League of Wales winners Cwmbran Town.

A magnificent run, nonetheless, for Caernarfon, who unfortunately for them lost McPhillips to neighbours Bangor City in the December. MvPhillips had netted 15 times in 24 appearances before his departure.

Caernarfon went on to finish fourth that season, still their joint best-ever top flight position, with Eifion Williams scoring a remarkable 42 goals in 47 outings across all competitions.

John Aspinall was dismissed in January 1997 and Steve Joel took over as manager.

Facts and photos from the book C’Mon The Town – twelve memorable seasons by Alex Philp