All hail the North East Wales/Wrexham Area Club of the Year 2022

N EAST WALES/WREXHAM AREA CLUB OF 2022 – FC QUEEN’S PARK
It was a year largely of cup adventures and a few notable giant-killings for the Grassroots North Wales Wrexham Area Club of 2022 – FC Queen’s Park.

Formed in 2013 as a separate entity to the former Queens Park side which operated in previous years but folded in 2008, the current team won league titles at tiers 5, 4 and 3 before spending a season in the second-tier Cymru Alliance in 2017-18.

Since Welsh football was restructured in 2020-21, the Park have campaigned in the tier 4 North East Wales League Premier Division.

The year 2022 saw the Wrexham outfit:

Reach three cup finals
Lift the Horace Wynne Cup
Pull off four cup victories over teams from higher leagues
See a promising reserve side blossom and sit top of the North East Wales Reserve Division
The Park began 2022 in fantastic style, going 15 matches unbeaten (as they were three undefeated at the end of 2021, that made it 18 without loss in all).

Dave Evans’ side upset tier 3 Saltney Town 2-1 in the NEWFA Challenge Cup in their first game of the year.

They progressed all the way to April 26 without a defeat until it took the might of tier 2 Buckley Town to knock them out of the NEWFA Challenge Cup 2-1.

Disappointment followed in the finals of the Mike Beech Memorial Trophy and NEWFA Premier Cup, as they lost to Connah’s Quay Town (0-1) and Cefn Mawr Rangers (on penalties).

Thankfully the 2021-22 season did not end without reward, as the Park edged past Mold Alex Reserves in the Horace Wynne Cup Final, 5-4 on spot-kicks after a 1-1 draw.

FC Queen’s Park ended the campaign third in the NEWFL Premier Division.

The current 2022-23 season saw the Park make another stunning start, winning nine matches in a row.

This included amazing wins in the Welsh Cup, 2-0 versus tier 3 Rhos Aelwyd, and the FAW Amateur Trophy, 1-0 against Penycae, also of tier 3 Ardal North East.

The Park did not lose until October, when they went down 3-2 at tier 3 Llanfair United in the Trophy after leading 2-0, then were eliminated from the Welsh Cup via a 3-0 loss to Cymru Premier side Airbus in a tie where the underdogs gave a great account of themselves.

After a couple of November blips, the Wrexham outfit ended the year on a high with another giant-killing, beating tier 3 Llangollen Town 3-0 in the NEWFA Challenge Cup.

Great news also followed in December, with the return to the club of goal-getting legends Mikey Latham and Richie Jones.

A fine year for a club all pulling in the same direction.

As manager Dave Evans said after the Park won Grassroots North Wales Club of the Month in September: “This couldn’t happen without the backroom staff, Malcolm Wareham’s reserves team set up and dedication of all the players from both squads pushing each other.”

Some of the Park’s finest players to feature in 2022 included:
Goal-getter Liam Davies, Josh Edwards, Adam Roberts, Callum Roberts, Andrew Hughes, Charlie Rowley, Curtis Neary, Jack Hanley, Tony Jones, Jon Roberts, Dylan Jones, Luke Hughes, Chad Humphreys, Callum Williams, Jake Harper, Ramone Nelson, Daniel Parry, Levi Parry, Sean Price, Leroy Ngema-Stamp, Liam Lawrence, Thomas Hutchings, Ryan Griffiths, Barry Torrence, Jake Jones, Ryan Lancelotte, Malcolm Wareham, Joey Jones, Nathan Brookfield, Dan McGinnis, Niall Martin.

FC QUEEN’S PARK RESULTS IN 2022
Jan 8: Saltney Town (h – NEWFA Challenge Cup) W 2-1
Jan 15: Coedpoeth United (h – North East Wales Premier Division) W 2-1
Jan 29: Mynydd Isa Spartans (a – NEWPD) D 1-1
Feb 5: Penyffordd Lions (a – Mike Beech Memorial Trophy) W 3-2
Feb 12: Buckley Town Reserves (h – NEWFA Horace Wynne Cup) W 3-0
Feb 19: Flint Mountain (h – NEWPD) W 1-0
Feb 26: Llangollen Town (a – NEWPD) D 2-2
Mar 5: Hawarden Rangers (h – NEWPD) W 3-2
Mar 12: Chirk Town (a – Mike Beech Memorial) W 3-1
Mar 19: Overton Recreational (h – NEWPD) W 7-0
Mar 22: Ruthin Town Reserves (h – Horace Wynne Cup) W 1-1 (4-1 on pens)
Mar 26: Greenfield (a – NEWPD) D 1-1
Apr 2: Overton Recreational (a – NEWPD) D 1-1
Apr 16: Flint Mountain (a – Mike Beech Memorial) W 3-1
Apr 23: Gresford Athletic Reserves (a – Horace Wynne Cup) W 2-0
P 15 W 11 D 4 L 0 (18 in total)
Apr 26: Buckley Town (h – NEWFA Challenge Cup) L 1-2
Apr 30: Connah’s Quay Town (a – Mike Beech Memorial Final) L 0-1
May 9: Llangollen Town (a – NEWFA Horace Wynne Cup) W 1-0
May 14: Cefn Mawr Rangers (N – NEWFL Premier Division Cup Final) L 1-1 (lost 2-4 on pens)
May 17: Lex XI (a – NEWPD) L 1-5
May 20: New Brighton Villa (h – NEWPD) W 2-1
May 27: Mold Alex Reserves (N – Horace Wynne Cup Final) W 1-1 (won 5-4 on pens)
May 30: Cefn Mawr Rangers (h – NEWPD) W 6-2
2022-23
July 30: Sychdyn (a – Welsh Cup) W 7-0
Aug 6: Castell Alun Colts (a – NEWPD) W 2-1
Aug 13: Mynydd Isa Spartans (h – NEWPD) W 5-1
Aug 20: Rhos Aelwyd (a – Welsh Cup) W 2-0
Aug 24: Lex XI (h – NEWFA Challenge Cup) W 5-0
Aug 27: Connah’s Quay Town (a – NEWPD) W 1-0
Sep 3: Penycae (h – FAW Amateur Trophy) W 1-0
Sep 17: Talysarn Celts (a – Welsh Cup) W 1-0
Sep 24: New Brighton Villa (h – NEWFL Premier Cup) W 3-2
Oct 1: Llanfair United (h – FAW Trophy) L 2-3
Oct 8: Airbus UK Broughton (h – Welsh Cup) L 0-3
Oct 15: Greenfield Reserves (a – Mike Beech Memorial Trophy) D 1-1
Oct 22: Sychdyn (h – Mike Beech Memorial) W 5-1
Oct 29: Caerwys Reserves (h – Mike Beech Memorial) W 6-1
Nov 5: Greenfield (a – NEWPD) D 1-1
Nov 12: Penyffordd Lions (h – Premier Cup) L 5-6
Nov 26: New Brighton Villa (h – NEWPD) L 0-2
Nov 30: Llangollen Town (h – NEWFA Challenge Cup) W 3-0

OVERALL 2022 RECORD (LEAGUE AND CUP)
PLAYED 41 WON 27 DRAWN 6 LOST 8