Celebrating all of the North Wales goalden girls

No doubt whatsoever that there will be a new Goalden Girl this season in North Wales women’s football.

Jess Jones of Llangefni Town is the hot favourite to finish top of the goal scorers list at present, but in whose footsteps would she follow?

Grassroots North Wales has all the top scorers going back seven years – if anyone can help us list any from further back, please get in touch – dave@nwsport.co.uk

GOAL QUEENS OF NORTH WALES SENIOR FOOTBALL 2016-17 TO 2022-23

2016-17
Catrin Thomas (Caernarfon Town) 38

Before the 2016-17 season, Catrin had not really been known as a prolific goalscorer, but in this Caernarfon team she was unstoppable..

While she has enjoyed many good seasons on the football field, 2016-17 was probably Catrin’s best when she was part of hometown Caernarfon’s double-winning success.

Her 38 goals came in less than half that amount of games as the Canaries stormed to the North Wales Women’s League title and Betty Pickering Cup double.

Town won the championship by a 13-point margin, scoring 120 goals and conceding just 13.

Catrin scored seven goals in one game against Prestatyn – and on her birthday.

She is still turning on the magic for Pwllheli in the North Wales Women’s League West Division, scoring eight goals in this title-winning season.

2017-18
Laura Pennington (Northop Hall) 48

What a star Penno was in this season, scoring 48 goals for a tremendous Northop Hall side which won the North Wales Women’s League and NEWFA Cup double.

Laura netted 33 league and 15 in cups. She struck eight in one Welsh Cup tie against Amlwch Town and bagged eight hat-tricks over the campaign.

She also won the NWWFL title with Hall in 2015-16 and represented the club in the early days of the Welsh Women’s Premier League.

As a 17-year-old, she hit a hat-trick in Hall’s opening day 5-0 triumph in 2012-13 – the first season the league went fully national – at Caerphilly Castle.

Laura later moved to TNS, before that team parted company with the Oswestry-based club and affiliated to Wem Town for the 2020-21 campaign. That season Laura was part of the Wem side which lifted the Tom Garner Cup. Llandudno winger Kelsey Davies was also in the squad.

The Goalden Girl of 2017-18 is now Laura Williams, having married Hari in 2022. The couple have a baby son Theo.

2018-19
Katie Midwinter (Bethesda Athletic) 27

In 2018-19, Katie Midwinter led newly-formed Bethesda to the NWWFL Division Two title and finished as North Wales top-scorer with 27 goals in all competitions.

One game into the following season, the team resigned from the North Wales League and competed in recreational football for a time, but then disappeared completely.

Katie has spent most of her career with Bethel and its successor CPDM Y Felinheli and is best renowned for her stunning goals and great passing ability.

2019-20
Erin Maloney (Bethel) 21

This season saw Maloney top the chart with 21 goals and provide three assists in just 12 matches for Bethel, adding to the 20 scored and 9 assists supplied in 18 matches for the club the season before.

Previously, she had been a star player for Bethel’s youth teams including the outstanding under-16’s.

The speedy winger was also part of the Ynys Môn women’s team which achieved silver medals at the Inter-Games Football Tournament on home soil in the summer of 2019.

An outstanding athlete, she also hit all the right notes with Beaumaris Brass Band and is currently studying music at university in Cardiff.

2020-21
Season cancelled – Covid

2021-22
Rosie Hughes (Wrexham) 48

Rosie had always been a consistent goalscorer, but once she joined Wrexham her net-finding exploits rocketed.

In a Red Dragons side which finished runners-up in the inaugural Tier 2 Adran North in 2021-22, Rosie notched 36 league goals and 12 in cups.

Her tally of 48 featured nine hat-tricks, including a nine and an eight in a single game.

2022-23
Rosie Hughes (Wrexham) 42

For the second season in a row the Wrexham dazzler was crowned North Wales Goalden Girl.

She struck 42 goals in all competitions across 19 matches.

This added to the 48 times she netted in 21 games in 2021-22, making it 90 goals in 40 appearances since joining the Red Dragons in summer 2021.

Rosie was a key figure in the Wrexham side which won the Genero Adran North title with a perfect 12-0 record, as well as clinching promotion to the Tier 1 Adran Premier following a 1-0 play-off victory over Briton Ferry Llansawel.

Her 24 league goals made her the leading markswoman across the Adran Leagues.

This season Rosie was leading scorer at the end of the Adran Premier’s Phase 1 and has passed 100 competitive goals for Wrexham.