Two Cymru Premier legends land the Colwyn Bay job
He is one of the greatest players to grace the Cymru Premier League – now he has the opportunity to get there as a manager.
Colwyn Bay have announced The New Saints and Connah’s Quay Nomads legend Mike Wilde is their new boss.
Bay were relegated from the top flight this season and will operate in the Tier 2 Cymru North in 2024-25.
Wilde is the man tasked with getting the Seagulls back among the elite.
With a distinguished playing career in the Cymru Premier with TNS, Flint Town United and Nomads, Wilde is Wales’ national league’s third highest top scorer of all time with 235 goals. He has won nine Cymru Premier titles, the Welsh Cup six times and the League Cup on five occasions.
He will be assisted by former Nomads team-mate Danny Harrison.
The new Bay management team said in a statement on the club website: “We are delighted to be offered this opportunity as we both feel this is perfect timing to progress onto the next stage of our footballing journey.
“This is an exciting project and the hard work starts now to assemble a squad that the club and fans can really get behind.”
Mike originally joined TNS in 2002 from Poulton Victoria before moving to Fleetwood Town in 2009 before spells with Halifax Town and Chester.
The 40-year-old returned to TNS in the summer of 2012, where he remained until 2016 when he switched to Connah’s Quay Nomads.
He spent the 2021/22 season with Flint Town United before returning to Nomads, with his last appearance for the club coming in their Welsh Cup final win over TNS earlier this month.
Mike was named the Cymru Premier Player of the Season in 2012/13 and 2020/21.
Danny came through the youth ranks at Tranmere Rovers and made 125 Football League appearances for the Prenton Park club.
He spent five seasons with Rotherham United making a further 185 EFL appearances until returning to Tranmere in 2012, where he spent a season.
Two seasons followed with Chester in the National League before moving to Connah’s Quay Nomads in 2014.
Danny’s seven seasons with Nomads saw him win back-to-back Cymru Premier titles, the Welsh Cup in 2018 and the Nathaniel MG Cup in 2020 as well as an Irn-Bru Cup runners-up medal.
He left Nomads in 2021 and has spent the last three seasons with Flint Town United, where most recently he has been assistant manager.
Like Mike, Danny has extensive experience of playing in European club competitions.