Cefn Albion’s new interim manager is an all-time club great

Cefn Albion’s new interim manager is a very familiar face at the club.

Sean Jones, previously first-team boss between 2019-22, is back at the helm for the time being at least after the club parted company with Neil Ashton following last weekend’s disappointing 4-1 defeat at Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant.

Cefn are currently fifth in Tier 3 Ardal North East and the club is hopeful the return of Jones can spark a title challenge.

Albion narrowly missed out on promotion to the Tier 2 Cymru North last season when they lost 4-2 to Bangor 1876 in the Ardal Northern play-off final.

More commonly known as ‘Micro’, Sean Jones was officially announced as Cefn Albion first team manager in August 2019 after a successful stint as assistant to Stephen Davies.

Jones had been at the football club since it was formed in 2014 so his appointment was a very popular one.

Across the three seasons that Jones took charge of his home village club, his management team consisted of Ian Andrews, Richard Williams-Cooke, Stephen Lloyd Jones and Paul Conlan.

In 2019-20, the penultimate Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) Premier League season, Micro’s Cefn Albion finished runners up on points per game after the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc and curtailed the league.

In what turned out to be the club’s last-ever WNL Premier fixture, Jones watched on as Alex Williams scored the only goal at Halkyn Road as Albion defeated the league leaders Holywell Town.

The win meant the end of Holywell’s long winning streak and there was real momentum with the Cefners, but the season being cruelly cut short scuppered their hopes of a title push.

Albion played 26 times in the league in 2019-20, winning 20, drawing 3 and losing just 3.

Unfortunately, the 2020/2021 season was ravaged by COVID-19 and no competitive games were played.

After all restrictions were lifted and grassroots football was finally given the green light to resume, Jones led the Albion into uncharted territory as they competed in the inaugural Ardal North East League competition in 2021-22.

Following a long season, the team eventually finished a respectable third. From the 30 games played, they won 22, drew 4 and lost 4.

That campaign also saw Albion reach the FAW Trophy quarter-finals and second round proper of the Welsh Cup.

In summer 2022, Jones stepped down as Cefn chief due to commitments as a shift worker and his new young family. He felt he could not commit to the levels he thought were required to do things right.

Having taken charge of a combined 56 league matches across 3 seasons, Micro’s Cefn Albion won a total of 42 games (7 lost, 7 drawn) giving him a 72.41% win ratio. He managed the team through 70 competitive fixtures across all competitions.

Ian Andrews and Richard Williams-Cooke were Cefn’s managerial team for 2022-23 and Ashton took over in June 2023.

Five months on, Sean “Micro” Jones is back steering the ship.