Ray Woods, Nathan Craig and Darren Thomas….the three best players I have seen represent Caernarfon Town in my 38-year journalism career.
Friday night marked a very special occasion in a Town shirt for Darren – his 400th appearance for the club.
The ‘Cofi Messi’ has also netted 147 goals for the Canaries, with whom he has won many honours.
Born on January 20, 1987, the attacking midfielder with a penchant for scoring spectacular goals is also a Wales C international.
Darren began his senior career at Bontnewydd where he won the Caernarfon and District League in 2004/05.
He moved to The Oval the following season but, having made just one League of Wales appearance he joined Llangefni Town, where he stayed for four successful years.
During his time at Cae Bob Parry, Darren was an influential part of the side that twice won the Cymru Alliance League.
Llangefni Town spent just one season in the Welsh Premier – 2007-08 – but Darren scored 13 goals in 30 appearances, including two hat-tricks and was named as the League’s Player of the Month for March 2008.
Darren signed for Porthmadog in 2011 before returning to The Oval in 2013.
In his first season back at Caernarfon Town, they won the treble of Welsh Alliance League title, Cookson Cup and FAW Trophy under Lee Dixon and Darren played a huge part, hitting 19 league goals and netting twice in the Trophy final.
One of his finest career moments came in 2014-15 when he scored a phenomenal goal against TNS in the Welsh Cup.
A stunning individual effort saw Darren break from his own half, leaving a trail of defenders in his wake before lashing home a magnificent shot from outside the box.
The goal later won Sgorio’s Goal of the Decade award. He also landed the 2019-20 Sgorio Goal of the Season accolade for his run and thunderous finish against Ammanford in the Welsh Cup.
Although he left for a taste of the Welsh Premier League with Aberystwyth for a short period in 2015, he returned after three months and since then he has become a talismanic figure for the Cofis, where he is now in his 10th consecutive season.
2004-05: Caernarfon & District League title winner (Bontnewydd)
2006-07: Cymru Alliance League title winner (Llangefni Town)
2009-10: Cymru Alliance League title winner (Llangefni Town)
Caernarfon Town honours
2012-13: Welsh Alliance League title winner; FAW Trophy winner; Cookson Cup winner.
2013-14: Cymru Alliance League Cup winner
2015-16: Cymru Alliance League title winner; Cymru Alliance League Cup winner
2016-17: Cymru Alliance League Cup winner
2017-18: Cymru Alliance League title winner.
2013-14: Players Player of the Season, Supporter’s Player of the Season (shared with Grahame Austin), Caernarfon Town Top Scorer.
2016-17: Caernarfon Town Player of the Season
2017-18: Caernarfon Town Player of the Season, Huws Gray Team of the Season.
2018-19: Caernarfon Town Player of the Season.
2010-19: Sgorio Goal of the Decade winner. (versus TNS 2014/15 Welsh Cup)
2019-20: Sgorio Goal of the Season (versus Ammanford Welsh Cup)
2021-22: Cymru Premier play-off final winner
2023-24: Cymru Premier play-off final winner
2024-25: Captained Caernarfon Town in their first-ever European tie.
March 21, 2025: Made 400th appearances for Caernarfon Town
“First of all, I want to congratulate Darren for reaching this special milestone of playing four hundred competitive matches for the club. This is a club record, by a long way, and it’s a tribute to his talents, commitment and efforts that he has achieved something that no one else has done.
In all my time of following the club I can safely say that Darren is the best player I have seen wearing our colours.
I remember his debut for us as a substitute at the Oval all those years ago and it was such a shame that he found his opportunities to play so limited at that time. He was young, of course, but very talented and he proved that at Llangefni and Porthmadog before returning to us.
What he has achieved since coming back has been pretty unbelievable really and I don’t think it’s been a coincidence that our success and climb back to the top tier began in earnest with his return.
Darren will be the first to say that it’s a team game and we’ve been lucky to have had many excellent players at the club during this time, but he has been our talisman.
He has given us so many great memories with his goals and performances and his commitment to the club has been there for everyone to see.
I would also say that he epitomises what we have been trying to do as a club for the past fifteen years. It has always been our aim during this time to give the best local talent to play for the club and I am sure that seeing Darren and other local players in the team has highlighted this and given youngsters growing up in the area something to aspire to.
It was a special feeling to see a man born and bred in Caernarfon leading us out in those four matches in European competition last summer and I am sure everyone would agree that it was a proud moment for us all as supporters to see Darren do it.
Of course, Darren is still as fit as ever, and I am sure he has plenty of time to add many more matches to his total!
The club will be looking to mark this achievement before the end of the season so please look out for announcements but for now I want to thank Darren for everything he has done for the club and congratulate him for reaching this special milestone.”
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