Prestatyn Town celebrates return of true club legend

Veteran defender David Hayes is back with the club where he could easily be described as the ‘Legend of Legends’.

The 42-year-old has re-signed for Cymru North outfit Prestatyn Town for the 2024-25 season.

One of the greatest players ever to pull on a Prestatyn shirt, Hayes was last with the club during their Cymru North title-winning campaign of 2019-20.

Before that he carved out a reputation as a true Seasiders great, being a central figure in Town’s successes in the Welsh Premier, Welsh Cup and Europe during the most productive period in the club’s history.

A jubilant Prestatyn made the following statement on social media on Friday: “Prestatyn Town FC are ecstatic to confirm the signing of 𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙙 𝙃𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙨!

“This man needs no introduction – Leader, Legend.

“Dave re-joins Town after a spell at St Asaph and is more than capable of marshalling our back-line for 24/25. Welcome back to Town, Dave.”

Hayes is Prestatyn’s all-time highest appearance maker in the WPL with 212 starts and six as substitute, netting 12 goals. He played for the Seasiders in every one of their eight seasons in the top-flight.

A lionheart defender, excellent on the ball, a fierce competitor, awesome in the air and always a threat in the opposition box – he is the ultimate all-rounder.

After spells with Rhyl FC and Prestatyn Nova early in his career, the David Hayes story truly began back in 2005/06 when aged 24 he skippered Prestatyn Town to a ground-breaking Welsh Alliance title triumph in a season which saw the Seasiders emerge undefeated throughout the entire league campaign.

After a highly-promising debut season in the Cymru Alliance, Town were crowned champions in 2007/08 to clinch a dream promotion to the top-flight Welsh Premier League.

Prestatyn stayed in the WPL for eight seasons in total, twice in that time clinching a top-six spot.

In 2012/13, Hayes led the first-ever Town side to lift the Welsh Cup in the club’s 103-year history, beating Bangor City 3-1 in the final at Wrexham.

Summer 2013 saw Hayes at the forefront as captain again as the Seasiders played in Europe for the first time and claimed a famous Europa League victory on penalties over Liepajas Metalurgs of Latvia before going out to Croatia’s HNK Rijeka in the next round.

An unforgettable few weeks was completed by Prestatyn lifting the NWCFA Challenge Cup for the first time.

In an amazing game against Rhyl which ended 5-5 after extra time, Hayes scoring with a stunning 30-yarder, Town won on penalties. And fittingly it was Hayes who put away the winning kick.

That brought an end to the magic carpet ride for a little while, with Prestatyn being relegated back to the Huws Gray Alliance at the end of 2014/15.

Hayes helped Town win the HGA again in 2016/17, but at the end of 2017-18, after the club was relegated from the WPL for a second time, he announced his retirement.

However, the lure to help the Seasiders reach the top again with a young squad proved too great and he reversed his decision a few months later, playing for the club once more in the Cymru Alliance in 2018/19 and their championship-winning 2019-20 campaign, where they won the league but were unable to go up to the Welsh Premier due to a criteria issue.

After the 2020-21 season was wiped out by Covid, Hayes joined Holywell Town in 2021-22, staying with the Wellmen until November 2022, when St Asaph City became his latest club.

It turned into a dream move for the defender with Saints landing the treble of Tier 4 North Wales Coast East Premier Division title, NWCFA Intermediate Cup and Cookson Cup.

Last season saw Hayes make 33 appearances on Asaph’s return to the Tier 3 Ardal North West, where they finished a very encouraging sixth in the table.

Now after more than 50 games in a Saints shirt and eight goals, Hayes returns to the club where he first truly made his name.