Who are the current longest serving managers in North Wales senior football?

This week Emlyn Robert Jones stepped down as manager of Llysfaen 10 years after forming the club for the 2013/14 season.

Emlyn was one of the longest-serving managers in North Wales football. How many others have been in the hot seat for as long, or longer?

Colin Caton (Bala Town 2003-04 – )

Now in his 21st season in charge of Bala Town, no-one in North Wales football comes anywhere near Colin Caton’s longevity in management with the same club.

Since taking over the Lakesiders in 2003-04, when they were a Tier 3 Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) Premier Division club, Colin has turned the team into a major force in Welsh domestic football.

Bala won the Wrexham Area Premier Division title, Cymru Alliance championship and both the North East Wales Challenge Cup and Cymru Alliance League Cup three times before earning promotion to the top flight Welsh Premier in 2009-10.

Now in their 15th consecutive season in the Cymru Premier, they have finished runners-up three times and qualified for eight European campaigns.

Since the Welsh Premier became a 12-team league in 2010-11, Bala have finished in the coveted top six 10 times out of 13 and for nine seasons in a row.

They won the Welsh Cup for the first time in 2016-17 and the Welsh League Cup (Nathaniel MG Cup) in 2022-23, and have also competed in the Scottish Challenge (Irn-Bru) Cup.

All this has been achieved under Caton, who recently completed 800 games in charge of Bala, the special occasion bringing a 1-0 home win over Connah’s Quay Nomads.

His record as Bala chief in all competitions is….

Played 810
Won 435
Drawn 135
Lost 240

Still going strong, many decades from now Colin will probably go down as Bala’s greatest manager of all-time and the job is more than likely his for as long as he wants it. Long may he reign!

Euron Davies (CPD Y Felinheli 2011-12 – )

Currently in his 13th season in charge at Cae Seilo, Euron has a huge game coming up this weekend.

CPD Y Felinheli will host Cymru Premier club Newtown in the second round of the 2023-24 JD Welsh Cup.

It is a just reward for Euron to be involved in such a prestigious game after so many good years in charge of the all-reds.

When Davies took over at Cae Seilo in 2011-12, it signalled a major rise in the club’s fortunes.

Felin won back-to-back NWCFA Junior Cups in 2012-13 and 2013-14, completing a treble in the latter season by being crowned Caernarfon and District League champions and Llun Mewn Ffram Cup winners.

The club returned to the Gwynedd League and landed the double of league championship and League Cup in 2015-16.

Felinheli went up to Welsh Alliance Division Two and won that title in 2019-20.

They have been in the Tier 3 Ardal North West since 2021-22, so Euron has taken the club up three levels of the pyramid in his 12 years at the helm.

Gwyndaf Pritchard (CPD Llannefydd 2012 – )

Since CPD Llannefydd was formed in 1998, Gwyndaf Pritchard has filled just about every role at the club, including player, secretary, treasurer and now manager – a position he has held since 2012.

Gwyndaf has taken the village team to its highest-ever level this season – the Tier 3 Ardal North West League, where they are starting to perform really well.

Last season, the Denbigh/St Asaph area club, finished runners-up in the Tier 4 North Wales Coast East Premier Division to clinch promotion.

Llan won their first trophy under Gwyndaf in 2012-13, beating Bro Cernyw 3-1 in the Vale of Clwyd and Conwy League Auxiliary Cup final.

The season after, they were crowned Premier Division champions and retained the Auxiliary Cup.

In 2015/16, the club lifted the Premier Cup, .but the 2016/17 campaign was best of all, Llannefydd scooping the treble of Premier Division title, Premier Cup and Auxiliary Cup.

Llan elevated to the former Welsh Alliance League Division Two in 2017-18 and performed very consistently at that level before the pyramid restructure placed them in the North Wales Coast East Premier in 2021-22

Alongside the successes on the field have been major facility improvements at Cae Llannefydd, all of this making Gwyndaf Pritchard a very proud man.

Scott Beck (Greenfield 2012-13 – )

Initially a player-manager at Greenfield, Scott has gone on to operate as a joint-boss with Tony Hogan and current touchline partner Paul Evans.

Before joining forces with Hogan in 2015-16, Scott had Neil Howarth as his assistant.

Greenfield is very much a community club, so having an experienced local football man like Scott Beck, also a former player for the team, at the forefront of things is essential.

Under Scott’s guidance, Greenfield were crowned Tier 4 Welsh Alliance League Division Two champions in 2015-16 (with Hogan), then landed the North East Wales League Premier Division title in 2021-22.

The latter success was achieved with Paul Evans alongside.

Unfortunately, criteria issues denied them promotion to Tier 3 and last season in the NEW Premier was not as successful as the previous one.

However, this season is shaping much better, and it is hoped more silverware might come along as reward for Scott’s tremendous loyalty to the club – now spanning 12 seasons in a managerial role.

Johnny Haseldin (Holywell Town 2011-12 to 2017-18; 2018-19 to present)

Although this feature is about managers who have been in place permanently for 10 years or more, we cannot leave Johnny Haseldin out.

Johnny’s managerial reign at Holywell Town amounts to 13 seasons, apart from a spell in 2018-19, where he had stepped down at the end of the previous campaign, but returned to take charge by the end of September 2018.

Most of us already know Johnny’s achievements, which include being the only manager in history to lead a Tier 3 team to a Welsh Cup semi-final, which he did with the Wellmen in 2013/14.

Town have also netted more than 1,000 goals under Johnny’s management.

Here is a rundown of his managerial feats as Holywell boss since 2011-12

NEWFA Challenge Cup winners 2022-23
Cymru North runners-up 2022-23
Welsh National League Premier Division champions 2019-20
Welsh Alliance Division One champions 2014-15
FAW Trophy winners 2014-15
Mawddach Cup winners 2014-15
Cookson Cup winners 2013-14
Cookson Cup runners-up 2012-13; 2014-15
Welsh Alliance Division One runners-up 2013-14
NEWFA Challenge Cup runners-up 2015-16; 2017-18
Welsh Cup semi-finalists 2013-14

John Hargreaves (Prestatyn Sports 2013-14 – 2022-23)

Although Sports’ first team is currently disbanded, they are still operating as a club and again we must mention the part John Hargreaves played in nine seasons with the senior side.

When Sports were formed in 2013-14, John was at the helm with Mark Hughes initially, and the pair took the club from tier 6 to tier 3 in their first five seasons.

In 2014-15, Hargreaves and Hughes inspired the Prestatyn side to a quadruple which will never be achieved again.

Sports won the Vale of Clwyd and Conwy League Premier Division by a 13-point margin, winning 19 out of 20 games and 10 from 10 away, whipped Waunfawr 5-1 in the final of the NWCFA Intermediate Cup, routed Rhyl Rovers 9-2 in the Premier Cup Final and edged past Llandudno Albion 2-1 in the President’s Cup Final.

The club went on to lift the Welsh Alliance Division Two title in 2017-18 and impressed in Division One before joining the North Wales Coast East Premier in 2021-22.

Along the way, Sion Williams became joint-manager with John Hargreaves. Others assisted at various points, including a first-class committee.

With a great new set-up at The Meadows and a thriving youth section, it is hoped Prestatyn Sports can re-form its senior side in the not-too-distant future.

The loyal and determined John Hargreaves is likely to be not far away when that happens.

Emlyn Robert Jones (Llysfaen FC 2013-2023)

A true Grassroots man, Emlyn worked endlessly over the years to ensure Llysfaen continued to compete in local football before announcing his decision to step down this week.

Llysfaen joined the Vale of Clwyd and Conwy League in 2013-14 and remained a Division One club before joining the new North Wales Coast East League in 2020.

The league’s first season was void due to Covid, but ‘Faen have been part of Division One for the past two campaigns, finishing fifth in 2021-22 and 10th last season.

Emlyn’s greatest season as Llysfaen manager was 2019-20. In a season cut short in March 2020 due to Covid, the team was cruelly pipped to the Vale of Clwyd and Conwy League Division One title on the average points-per-game method.

They went undefeated in Division One and progressed unbeaten in 18 matches in all competitions before losing what turned out to be their final game against Bangor 1876 in the NWCFA Junior Cup.

Llysfaen were the last team in senior North Wales football to lose an undefeated record in 2019-20.

Things have been tough at times since then, with last season quite a struggle, but some good summer signings have given the club a new lease of life.

They knocked Premier Division Llansannan out of the Welsh Cup at the start of 2023-24, coming back from two-down to win 3-2.

Emlyn’s final game in charge was a 2-1 league win over Henllan last weekend.