Connah’s Quay Nomads women’s team manager Jordan Parry talks about plans for 2024-25

The 2024-25 North Wales football season is not too far away and for Genero Adran North clubs, managers and coaches will be looking to strengthen their squads ahead of what promises to be an interesting Tier 2 campaign.

Connah’s Quay Nomads manager Jordan Parry has won three successive NEWFA Challenge Cups with his team, as well as achieving two second-place finishes in the Adran North.

Jordan spoke to Grassroots North Wales about how pre-season preparation is going for the Deesiders.

Please tell us about any new signings you have made so far

Club will confirm these in the next 2 weeks on social media

Skipper Kylie Jones’ retirement must be a blow. What has she brought to Connah’s Quay and how much will she be missed?

A huge blow for the football club let alone the team. She’s been such an inspiration to the project as a whole so to lose not only a player but person like Kylie, obviously leaves a hole.

All of this however wasn’t by surprise and communicated for weeks, so we were prepared to a degree of what might happen for Kylie this season.

I don’t think this is goodbye forever, Kylie will be taking a break and hopefully closer down the line she comes back into a coaching role as she knows she’s got so much more to give to the future generation of female footballers at Nomads.

Have the majority of last season’s squad re-signed?

All the players we have wanted to keep have all re-signed for the 2024/25 season.

Has Kirstie Kural (club record scorer with 66 goals in 48 appearances) committed to Nomads for this season?

Kirstie won’t be signing for the 2024/25 season and I wish her the best of luck with her Futsal.

This season will be your fourth attempt at winning the Adran North – having finished 3rd, 2nd and 2nd in your first three seasons. Do you believe you can go one better this season?

Truth be told this is the most calm I’ve been in all my time being the women’s manager, The positions we’ve finished in over the seasons is a testament to the ambition of all players that have played for the club and a huge over achievement only going into our 4th season starting from nothing.

We have only ever set out to compete and set a target of winning, This season, things have to change….

In regards to believing in finishing one step further, this will all be down to players’ commitment which I’d like to think transitioning to a younger squad, bringing in the new players this season, we may do, In regards to targets they will change for the 24/25 season though and I’m not looking past the first pre-season game

How is the under-19 squad looking this season? Traditionally this is a very strong area for the Nomads women.

The U19’s team rebuilds again, The team that won the league last season, a vast majority will step up into the women’s team as we transition into season 4 for a much younger women’s side.

We have some exceptionally talented young footballers that will be given the chance to play senior football, which I know they are more than capable of doing.

Going into next season we have currently 16 / 18 players who will be doing the full-time female football scholarship program at Coleg Cambria representing both college on Wednesdays and Nomads in the U19’s league on Fridays.

We are really looking forward to working with these players on a regular basis to develop them ready for September.

Who will be running Nomads women this season? Any changes to the management team?

I will still be the manager of the women’s team, alongside me assistant Ross Jones and Chris Redfern will remain, however we have new additions in Leighton Sumner, Mason Blackwell Jones and goalkeeper coach John Davies adding to the staff aiding the girls in coaching across 2 sessions a week, analysis and games on Sundays.

Important, also was delegating to the U19’s. Dan Roach will be next season’s manager and alongside him Andy Ellis will be his assistant, The 2 of them have been amazing additions. Overall we have a great group of coaches who deliver what we believe the highest standards weekly and all want the best for the girls giving them the best environment to develop in.

The league has improved since it first started. Every team is getting better, Every team wants to win and that’s what football’s always been about. I think more teams have clicked onto that now though.

All teams gave us hard games last season, We aren’t the same team next year. We are changing.

What are your overall ambitions for the season ahead?

Overall, our ambition will always be compete, but this year has to be different.

With the outside pressures of wearing the Nomads badge, Nomads Women will always get tarnished with a brush of what the men’s team have achieved in the history of the club.

We have, however, created history of our own but need to keep our feet on the ground this season and take things step by step. Huge learnings from last season and to hold myself accountable was not thinking too far ahead.

There’s no rocket science as to why we never got over the line last season and it was down to players’ commitment which internally we feel we have rectified with retain and release process and of course recruitment.

We have had to identify a certain type of person/player this season who fits into what we want to build long-term.

Our general ambition would be to have a top half finish, We are taking every game step by step, The most important thing for me next season is developing young players with a style of play that turn up week in week out to be the best version of themselves.