Albion Extend Stay at The Rock for 2018/19
Posted by administrator on 04 May 2018
We are delighted and extremely excited to announce that following successful talks between the committee of Cefn Albion and Cefn Druids AFC Board of Directors an agreement has been made to further extend Albions stay at the Rock Stadium. The agreement will mean that Cefn Albion will continue to use the impressive facility for all 2018/19 Welsh National League Premier Division (WNLPD) and cup competition fixtures.
From week to week, the The Rock (stadium), home of Cefn Druids AFC hosts fixtures in the Welsh Premier League, wales’ top footballing tier. Since its grand opening in 2010 we have witnessed the state of the art facility become the stage for countless domestic cup finals and even hosting welsh women and youth international fixtures. In addition, since the arrival of the 100m x 64m FIFA 1Star artificial 3G pitch, which was officially opened with a friendly fixture against National league outfit Wrexham AFC, it has become the central hub for many local football clubs and schools within the community and across Wrexham in North Wales.
In June 2017, following successful talks between representatives from both clubs, it was announced that we would form an official working partnership with our Cefn based neighbours with the main focus of growing stronger links between two local football clubs and also between the people within the community of Cefn Mawr. For an ambitious football club like us, this was fantastic and very welcoming news, not only had we formed an important working relationship with a well-established welsh premier league football club, it was also agreed that in addition to winter training we would initially play nine of our home WNLPD fixtures at the Rock.
In terms of our current level, the facilities that the complex has to offer are without doubt the best around so the players are fortunate to receive such a fantastic opportunity to play their week in week out. However, we appreciate the time, effort and commitment that every player shows towards our football club, which is why we along with the Druids worked hard to make things happen. This will also benefit management who have better working surroundings and our supporters who can be sheltered from the weather, grab a bite to eat and get drinks etc whilst attending home games. Since the initial partnership was agreed, we feel that both clubs have benefited in some way and more importantly there has been various local charities and establishments around the village that have also benefited as together we have raised money that has kindly been donated to help causes. Due to the early success of the partnership, the agreement was further extended mid way through the season which meant that we would complete the remaining fixtures of 2017/18 season there which was brilliant news because performances on the field have been going from strength to strength and the surroundings at ‘The Rock’ is really beginning to feel like home for the Albion.
Cefn Albion is a voluntary Football Club that currently has two adult football teams, a first and a reserve team that compete in the Welsh National League Premier Division and the Reserve and Colts Division respectively. Our ethos and something that we work extremely hard to develop is giving local lads from within the community of Cefn Mawr an opportunity to represent the village at a decent level, especially the youngsters making the transition from youth football. At present, both of our squads mainly consist of players who live within the village or in villages within very close proximity. This is something that we are extremely proud of because a) we are hitting our goals by giving local talent their opportunity and b) it brings a special togetherness within the club that will be hard to replicate anywhere else. This does not mean that we do not encourage players from outside the area to come and get involved with the project, there are current players who don’t hail from the village but they have been welcomed into the Cefn family and been made to feel very much part of what we are trying to do here. We make all players very welcome!
Since the football club formed in the summer of June 2013, we have achieved a lot of success in a very short space of time and this has been down to hard work both on and off the football pitch. We hope that hard work off the pitch, such as securing Albion’s fixtures at the Rock and pumping every penny we raise back into the club will encourage more players to come and get involved with what we are trying to achieve at Cefn Albion football club. The club continues to work hard to ensure that we keep moving in the right direction.
Finally, another big thank you to our chairman Haydn Evans and Cefn Druids Chairman John Hughes and their respective backroom teams for encouraging the agreement to go ahead and for all their hard work to ensure that it was completed. Without doubt, the decision has brought two local football clubs and a community much closer together.
