Gap Connah's Quay F.C.

gap Connah's Quay Nomads

Full name	gap Connah's Quay Nomads Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Nomads
Founded	1946 (as Connah's Quay Juniors)
Ground	Deeside Stadium Kelsterton Road Connah's Quay (Capacity: 1,500 (500 seated)[1])
Chairman	David Jones
Manager	Mark McGregor
League	Cymru Alliance
2010-11	Cymru Alliance, Champions (1st of 16)
Home colours Away colours

Gap Connah's Quay F.C. is a football team, playing in the Cymru Alliance.

gap Connah's Quay, formerly known as Connah's Quay Nomads FC, was the subject of a takeover from Welsh independent recruitment firm 'gap personnel' in June 2008.

The club was founded in 1946 as Connah's Quay Juniors and adopted the Connah's Quay Nomads FC name in 1951, and have their home ground at Deeside Stadium, Kelsterton Road, Connah's Quay, Flintshire (which accommodates 1,500 spectators (500 seated)), but for the 2006-07 season temporarily played their home games in Flint due to drainage problems with the Deeside Stadium pitch.

The team's first choice strip is white shirts with black shoulders, with black shorts and socks , and their second choice strip is red shirts, red shorts and red socks.

History

The first Connah’s Quay club was founded in 1890, playing in the Golftyn area of the town close to the present stadium. The club reached the Welsh Cup finals of 1908 and 1911, losing respectively to Chester and Wrexham, but was disbanded soon afterwards. A new club, Connah’s Quay & Shotton, was formed in 1920, renting land at the rear of the Halfway House hotel from the Northgate Brewery, and becoming members of the Welsh National League (North), as a fully professional outfit, in 1922.

In 1928, the club moved to Dee Park, Shotton and won both the Welsh National League (North) championship and the prestigious Welsh Cup in 1929. In the final they defeated First Division Cardiff City 3-0 at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground. Cardiff’s team, incidentally, contained several players who had beaten Arsenal in the 1927 FA Cup final. Six months later Connah’s Quay & Shotton folded with debts totalling more than £1,000, leaving Connah’s Quay Albion to carry the town’s soccer banner through the second war.

Formed in July 1946 as Connah’s Quay Juniors, the present-day club was the brainchild of the Everton and Wales centre-half Tommy (T.G.) Jones, a native of the town. Attracted by the reputation of the famous international, the Deeside youngsters flocked to join the new team which quickly became a major force in North Wales youth soccer, winning the Welsh Youth Cup in 1948.

By natural progression a senior team was formed and joined the Flintshire League in 1948. Success soon followed and Connah’s Quay Juniors reached the final of the Welsh Amateur Cup in 1950/51. Prior to the 1952/53 season, the club’s suffix was changed to Nomads and the team ventured into the Welsh League (North). Though unsuccessful in their challenge for the league title, Connah’s Quay once again contested the final of the Welsh Amateur Cup, this time winning the trophy against Caersws Amateurs. The club also reached the semi-final of the Welsh Senior Cup before going down to Football League side Chester at Wrexham’s Racecourse ground. Despite winning the North Wales Amateur Cup three times in the 1950s, Nomads moved into local football for seven years prior to rejoining the Welsh League in 1966, twice finishing as runners-up at the start of the 1970s.

In 1974, however, the club joined the newly-formed Clwyd League and spent more than a dozen seasons at this level, winning the championship twice. Without doubt, Nomads’ most successful season was 1980/81 when they won seven trophies including the Welsh Intermediate Cup, beating Newport YMCA in the final, and the Clwyd League without losing a game. Following three successful seasons in the Welsh Alliance, Connah’s Quay became founder members of the Cymru Alliance in 1990 and the League of Wales two seasons later.

Finishing 8th in the new national competition in 1992/93 was a fine achievement after a poor start as was Nomads’ appearance in the semi-final of the Welsh Cup despite the disappointment of a 2-1 aggregate defeat against Clwyd rivals Rhyl. Neville Powell joined the club as player/manager in the summer of 1993 though he suffered a bad injury very early in his career at Connah's Quay the would end his playing career. Nevertheless he steadily built his team into one capable of challenging for a European place. Within twelve months of Powell’s arrival, Nomads won the North Wales Coast F.A. Cup and, in 1995/96, won the League of Wales League Cup, beating Ebbw Vale in the final at Caersws.

The 1997/98 season the club finished seventh in the League of Wales, thus gaining entry into the FAW Premier Cup, and also reached the final of the Welsh Cup for the first time as Connah's Quay Nomads. In the final, played at Wrexham A.F.C's Racecourse Ground, Bangor City scored a last-minute equaliser and won the cup in a penalty shoot-out when the teams finished level after extra time. The club’s home had remained at the Halfway Ground since its formation in 1946, but in July 1998 Nomads moved into the newly-constructed athletics stadium at nearby Deeside College in Kelsterton after playing the previous season's home matches twenty five miles from Connah's Quay at Rhyl F.C.'s Belle Vue Stadium. The Halfway Ground has since been demolished and is now the site of a residential development.

Eighteen league victories during 2002/2003 saw Nomads reach fifth place in the table, just a point short of a qualifying position for the UEFA Cup. The following season failed to live up to expectations and they finished in 12th place – a feat repeated a year later despite a poor start to that season.

In 2006/2007, following protracted problems with drainage at the new ground that had caused numerous postponements and a consequent backlog of fixtures at the end of consecutive seasons, the club played at neighbouring Flint Town United's Cae Y Castell ground whilst extensive reconstruction of the Deeside Stadium drainage system was undertaken. Nomads enjoyed a successful season, eventually finishing in fifth place after a disappointing late run of defeats.

During the following close season manager Neville Powell left to become Bangor City manager, followed by other members of the coaching staff and several senior players. Powell had previously captained Bangor for a number of years before moving to Connah's Quay. Londoner Jim Hackett, formerly a youth coach at Chester City, was appointed manager and he was soon joined by Congleton Town manager Andy Lee as his assistant. Between them they assembled a fresh squad from scratch, including a number of players with previous associations with the two new men and only three players from the previous season, two of whom (Adam Dickinson and Christopher Williams) were under contract. The third, Gary Pinch, was made club captain. The changes were to continue the next close season though, when following the bereavement and retirement of several directors in a twelve month period, Nomads were taken over by gap Personnel in June 2008 and former Caernarfon Town boss Steve O’Shaughnessy was appointed manager.

After only one season, in which the club finished in ninth place, the club replaced O'Shaughnessy. First Hackett was re-appointed as an interim measure before moving to take up a coaching position in Hong Kong, whereupon Nomads appointed Chester born Mark McGregor player/manager at the start of season 2009/10. McGregor previously played in The Football League for Wrexham, where he began his career before transfers to Burnley, Blackpool and Port Vale, making more than 500 senior appearances in total.

Nomads narrowly missed out on the cut off for the Super 12 League, and began the 2010–11 league in the Cymru Alliance, which they subsequently won following a successful season including a Golden Boot award for striker Gary O'Toole, however the team was denied promotion to the Welsh Premier League, and will continue to play in the Cymru Alliance for the 2011/12 season.

Biggest victories and losses

• Biggest League of Wales win: 10-0 v Cemaes Bay in 1998.
• Biggest League of Wales defeat: 0-8 at Bangor City in 1995.

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Louis Mackin GK John Rushton DF Ben Alston DF Mark McGregor DF Andy Alston DF Ben Collins DF Ryan Jones DF Wyn Pierce DF Shaun Tinsley MF Jamie Petrie

No. Position Player MF Jordan Beck MF Stephen Belli MF Danny Forde MF Rob Jones MF Craig Jones MF Sam McNutt MF Alan Hooley MF Shaun Roscoe MF Jamie Wynne FW Gary O' Toole FW James Macintosh FW George Baxter FW Rhys Healey FW Aled Reece FW Iwan Williams

References

1. ^ http://www.the-nomads.co.uk/contact-us/index.php?id=20&Where-we-are

External links

• - Official Website