Strength, Passion and History – Huw Griffiths on Cefn Druids' unprecedented success.
What a season Cefn Druids have had. The Rock has played host to some superb scenes in its time but The Ancients’ exploits this year will go down in the club’s long and storied history, as they secured a record eighth-placed Dafabet Welsh Premier League finish. The man responsible for leading the club to that superb feat, Huw Griffiths, has been speaking to WPL Correspondent Jamie Thomas recently. Read on to find out more!
A delighted man for many reasons at the moment, Griffiths recently won The Dafabet WPL Manager of the Month for April, which is no less than the 40-year-old deserves after his side’s Phase Two surge up the table. After comfortably finishing clear of the relegation places, the manager admitted that the season has been full of lessons and highlights.
‘I think it’s just been one big journey. There’s loads of highlights in terms of successful games and things like that but to pick anything out, I’m not sure. The biggest highlight probably was at the point where we knew that we were safe, I think that was the biggest highlight, but the most pleasing thing was what we did after that difficult spell over Christmas – since then we’ve lost one of 12 games and by everyone showing loyalty to each other, we built something special and hopefully we can carry that into next year.’
‘Everybody in the land had us as favourites to go down, whether that be pundits or bookmakers, whoever. They all thought we were destined for the drop and I remember reading comments in August from most sources writing us off really, and at their peril. Not only have we survived, but we’ve done so comfortably, and I think our unity helps that.
‘Our motto is strength, passion and history, and we try and remind our players that this is the oldest club in Wales – other clubs may have a more successful history, but nobody has a longer history, and we make everyone aware of that. We’ve made huge strides by living to those words, and long live the Druids from there really.’
The team spirit at The Rock is obvious to anyone who visits the ground and watches the senior team training before a match. The players clearly enjoy each other’s company and have a lot of fun during their pre-match rondos, whereas the coaching and analysis staff also share a strong bond, and it’s that unity which has stood The Ancients in good stead this season according to Griffiths.
‘We haven’t got the resources of lots of the teams in The Dafabet Welsh Premier League, so it is important that we recruit well and don’t just sign players for the sake of bringing them in. We need to know these players are going to fit into the group dynamic so we try to do a little bit of homework on the type of players that we’re bringing in and we try and bring them down to earth.
‘This job though is made very easy for me because I have such a great team of staff to work with – I can’t thank them enough, each and every one of them has been exceptional – and I work with players who want to learn and develop, which has been a key factor behind creating this team spirit and recent spell of success we’ve had. It hasn’t all been plain sailing, we had a bit of a tough time at Christmas, but we’ve come through it and we’ve got stronger.
‘We didn’t sign many players in the January like other clubs did, we just signed one or two – bringing Ashley Ruane back was important – and stayed loyal to the boys, and I think that continuity also helped us in the latter stages of the season.’
Another factor in the club’s success this season is undoubtedly the manager’s man-management skills. When attending a Druids game, you can regularly hear Griffiths bellowing strong support and concise, constructive criticism to his players from the first minute to the last and it is easy to forget how experienced the relatively young manager is.
‘Man management has been a huge part of what we’ve done this year. People have got to remember that I’ve been coaching and managing since I was 17 years old. At Wrexham I worked at various age groups, from the Under-8s all the way up to the reserve team players, and then obviously I’ve played and managed at other clubs in the Welsh system since then.
‘I’ve worked with lots of good managers, I’ve done it for a long time now, I’ve had lots of experience working at this and have a degree in coaching as well as The UEFA Pro License. I think having an understanding of what players have been through is so important, I’ve possibly been daft as a player at times and I retired early as a player too so I’ve definitely got a more holistic approach to dealing with players and seeing some of the issues they have to go through.’
With Rhyl FC and Airbus UK Broughton being relegated, The Dafabet WPL is certainly losing two clubs with a lot of history, but Barry Town United an Prestatyn will be stepping up to take their places, and Griffiths is expecting an even tougher year next time out.
‘They’re two very, very good outfits. You know, Prestatyn are the last Welsh Premier League side other than TNS to win one of the domestic trophies, so that tells you all you need to know. Neil has great experience, they cruised through The Huws Gray Alliance and he knows everything about his league.
‘It’s great to see Barry Town United back, Gavin Chesterfield is a brilliant coach with so much experience. Their supporters will bring a lot to the game too, but it is going to be so difficult next year, for everyone from top to bottom. We need one or two players from the current squad to resign, and we’ve got prospective players phoning us now, which is a nice compliment that Welsh Premier League players are phoning us and asking if they can be a part of what we’re doing – it shows how well we’ve done, and long may it continue!’
Soccer »Wales » Premier League » 2016/2017
Premier League
| StandingsWALES: Premier League - Relegation Group | |||||
| Round 32 | |||||
| 22.04. 13:15 | Druids | Airbus | 3 : 1 | ||
| 22.04. 13:15 | Newtown | Aberystwyth | 6 : 1 | ||
| 22.04. 13:15 | Rhyl | Llandudno | 1 : 1 | ||
| StandingsWALES: Premier League - Championship Group | |||||
| Round 32 | |||||
| 22.04. 13:15 | Bala | TNS | 4 : 6 | ||
| 22.04. 13:15 | Bangor City | Carmarthen Town | 0 : 2 | ||
| 22.04. 13:15 | Cardiff Metropolitan | Connahs Q. | 0 : 0 | ||
| StandingsWALES: Premier League - Relegation Group | |||||
| Round 31 | |||||
| 14.04. 15:45 | Aberystwyth | Rhyl | 4 : 0 | ||
| 14.04. 10:30 | Airbus | Newtown | 0 : 7 | ||
| 14.04. 10:30 | Druids | Llandudno | 3 : 2 | ||
| StandingsWALES: Premier League - Championship Group | |||||
| Round 31 | |||||
| 14.04. 10:30 | Bangor City | TNS | 3 : 0 | ||
| 14.04. 10:30 | Carmarthen Town | Cardiff Metropolitan | 0 : 4 | ||
| 14.04. 10:30 | Connahs Q. | Bala | 2 : 0 | ||
| Show more matches |
| DrawWALES: Premier League - Europa League - Play Offs | |||||
| Semi-finals | |||||
| 06.05. 10:30 | Bangor City | Newtown | |||
| 07.05. 10:15 | Carmarthen Town | Cardiff Metropolitan | |||
- Semi-finals
- Final
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