Trebor Mahtal had spent the last decade winning national titles and competing with Europe’s football elite. However, he was getting bored of strolling to title wins and on the hunt for a new challenge that tested his coaching abilities.
The nations remaining on Mahtal’s European list were Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Gibraltar, Hungary, Israel, Latvia, Northern Ireland, Poland, Turkey and Wales. There weren’t many jobs available in the summer of 2053, but Mahtal applied for vacancies at Besaksehir, who weren’t in a great place financially, and a very different challenge at Colwyn Bay before a big opportunity arrived as Galatasaray’s boss was poached by Al-Nassr.
However, Mahtal was after a challenge and that was definitely what was on offer in Wales. So, rather than return to Turkey for a third time, his 20th managerial role saw him take on a very different challenge by moving to Wales on 13 July 5053.
Who Are Colwyn Bay?
Colwyn Bay is a semi-professional club based in Old Colwyn, in north Wales. The club was founded in 1881, which makes it 172 years old in-game, but has never won a major trophy, having finished runner-up in the JD Welsh Cup in 2032 and 2051. Colwyn Bay actually played in the English league system in following a dispute with the Welsh FA in the 1990s, playing in the English North West Counties Premier Division then winning the English Northern Premier League First Division in 1992. It eventually rejoined the Welsh system in 2019, winning the second-tier Cymru North in 2023.
During this save, the club has largely been a mid-table JD Cymru Premier side with one season in tier two and a high of 5th in the top tier back in 2049. But Mahtal’s reasoning behind heading to Wales was a real shift in the league during this save. TNS are very much the dominant side in real life but have slipped to the third club in Wales behind Haverfordwest and Penybont, who’ve won the last six titles. TNS won the first three titles, Cardiff Met Uni (who got relegated last season) won four in six years and TNS have only won one title in the last 21 years.
Obviously, this was a huge step down in quality but Mahtal really felt he needed a very different challenge. His aim was to improve Colwyn Bay, attempt to challenge the league’s bigger sides and then, potentially, jump ship when one of the bigger jobs becomes available. In the league, only Aberystwyth, Ammanford, Penybont and TNS are professional but Colwyn Bay have the third-best finances with £590k in the bank. They play at the 1,800-capacity Llanelian Road and have pretty average facilities of 8 junior coaching, 6 training and youth facilities and 5 youth recruitment.
Starting Mahtal’s New Challenge
Mahtal’s first action at Colwyn Bay was to cash in a 5% sell-on clause on a player that Burnley poached from the club’s academy. That netted them £317k, compared to the club’s all-time record sale of just £47k back in 2038, and took the club’s balance to £908k.
Colwyn Bay’s two best were goalkeeper Lea King and striker Mathias Lassen. Other key players were wingers Lewis Ryan and Conor Roche, who’s just signed from TNS, midfielders Terry Darlington, Tom Walker and Craig Davies, centre back Ryan Murray and right back Lee Jackson. The club didn’t have any left backs, so Mahtal added Bob Healy on a free from Llanelli and retrained him to play on the left. And, given the strength in wide areas, Mahtal opted for a 4-3-3 approach.
The bookies have Colwyn Bay to finish 5th in the JD Cymru Premier at 16/1 for the title. Penybont are 7/4 favourites followed by TNS (4/1), Haverfordwest (9/2) and Aberystwyth (5/1). Pre-season went well as Colwyn Bay beat Scottish Premiership Dunfermline 2-0 and won every game bar a 1-1 with Swansea.
Mahtal’s time in Wales began with one of the toughest possible tests at TNS, who Colwyn Bay have only beaten seven times in 87 meetings and have lost the last seven. Mahtal’s presence didn’t seem to be making any difference as TNS scored just before half time then some dubious refereeing saw Healy harshly sent off on debut and TNS given a penalty. But King saved the spot kick and O’Connor scored from a corner, only for TNS to add two late goals.
Colwyn Bay improved for Mahtal’s first home game as Walker’s brace led a 2-0 win over Carmarthen after bossing the game with 18 shots to 2. They were equally dominant at Ammanford as Roche scored twice in a 3-1 victory then thrashed Swansea Uni 4-1 led by another Walker double. Their improvement was proven as they got a 2-2 at Haverfordwest, who only equalised in injury time, before taking on perennial champions Ponybont. A more conservative approach saw them get a flyer as Lassen and Davies scored in the first 11 minutes. King made a good save at the end of the half and it got even better after the break as Healy curled home his first goal for the club. However, he forgot to defend as they somehow threw it away in the last 20 minutes to draw 3-3.
Mahtal’s anger at that collapse got the desired response as they went to Porthmadog and thrashed them 5-0 with Walker and Lassen braces and then beat Llanelli 4-1. Those wins gave them the confidence to go to last season’s runners-up Aberystwyth and claim an impressive 2-0 victory through Healy and Lassen then defeat TNS 1-0 at home through Walker’s late penalty. That form continued and a Lassen hat trick inspired a 4-2 win over Ammanford, which sent his team top of the league for the first time.
They stayed top through the halfway mark of 16 games, in which they were only 2 points off last season’s total of 41. A surprise 2-0 win over Penybont took them past that points tally and the unbelievable form continued as they defeated Llanelli 3-0 and Aberystwyth 3-1 to head into the league split with a massively unexpected 7-point lead over TNS.
Welsh Cup Runs
Colwyn Bay’s surprise league form coincided with a cheeky cup run as they defeated lower league sides and then beat Penybont 3-2 to play TNS in the Nathaniel MG Cup Final at Newport Stadium. Ryan crashed a shot against the post after 10 minutes, but a brilliant Davies pass put Roche in for the opener 10 minutes before half time. TNS took control after the break and deservedly levelled then swiftly took the lead. But O’Connor levelled from a corner before Ryan won a penalty that Walker coolly converted to win Colwyn Bay’s first-ever major trophy!
Colwyn Bay also progressed nicely in the JD Welsh Cup, beating Seven Sisters, Ammanford and Pontypridd United to reach the semis. They faced second-tier Llandudno while Aberystwyth took on second-tier Bangor 1876 and the two top-tier sides both won 4-1. The final was a dreadful game in which both sides scored their only shots on target and Aberystwyth won it 4-2 on penalties.
Chasing A Fairytale Welsh Title
A few days after the cup final success, Colwyn Back began the Cymru Premier Championship Conference phase (which is a pretty confusing name) with another win over TNS. Lassen and midfielder Zac Barrow strikes earned a 2-0 victory that took their side 10 points clear, but their long run of good form ended with a 2-1 defeat at Haverfordwest. A big game followed as they hosted holders Penybont, who obviously scored their first shot from a corner. But a stern halftime teamtalk did the job as Walker sent Lassen through to nutmeg the keeper and they should have won it as Ryan and his replacement Darcy Tresson both missed sitters. Roche and Walker then edged a 2-1 win at Aberystwyth, while TNS drew 2-2 at Aberystwyth and 1-1 at Haverfordwest.
The win at Aberystwyth saw Mahtal lead Colwyn Bay to the best finish in club history, guaranteeing at least 4th place. TNS’ dropped points meant they took a 9-point lead into the final five games.
Game 1 – Ammanford (6th, away): The title run-in began at Ammanford, who’d lost 9-0 at Penybont the previous week. TNS lost 1-0 at home to Penybont the day before, meaning a win for Colwyn Bay could all but wrap up the title. And they delivered as Healy’s header was turned in by Murray then Healy laid the ball off to Walker to hit an absolute thunderbolt from fully 35 yards. So Colwyn Bay opened up a 12-point lead with four games remaining!
Game 2 – TNS (home): That meant Colwyn Bay only needed one point to secure their maiden Welsh title and they could do it at home to 22-time champions TNS. Only 1,190 people turned up – which seems unrealistically low – and were treated to a dire first half. But Ryan hit the bar just after the break and a few minutes later, Roche drove away from a TNS corner and picked out Walker, who found Lassen unmarked to tap home from close range. The ref awarded a nonsense penalty to get TNS level before their striker scored a 25-yard free kick and they added a late third as Mahtal pushed for an equaliser.
Game 3 – Haverfordwest (5th, home): 1,102 fans were delirious as O’Connor headed home the opener from a far post corner after 9 minutes. Ryan missed a sitter before Haverfordwest’s striker headed wide from six yards, but they again fell apart in the second half and conceded two late goals to lose 2-1. And suddenly, TNS were just six points back with a better goal difference.
Game 4 – Ponybont (3rd, away): The toughest test followed as Colwyn Bay aimed to avoid the looming bottlejob. They didn’t start well as Penybont hit the bat after 11 minutes and scored from a corner 12 minutes later. The referee then awarded a nothing penalty just after the break and the game was over as their striker went on to bag a hat trick. TNS had gone into the break at 0-0 at home to Aberystwyth but went on to win 2-1 to take it to a nervy final day with Colwyn Bay suddenly in horrible form.
Game 5 – Aberystwyth (5th, home): Colwyn Bay still only needed a point on the final day at home to Aberystwyth – which the cup finalists played the week before the rest of the league. Mahtal took a risk by throwing Davies, who’d missed three months with a hip injury, back into the starting 11 early. And that decision paid off as Davies latched onto Ryan’s low cross to turn home from six yards just before half time. But they again threw the lead away seconds after the break, as the underperforming King let in the opponents’ first shot on target from 25 yards. Healy crashed a header off the bar and Lassen somehow missed from six yards. But they continued to push and eventually got their reward as Davies played Roche in to cross for Lassen to restore the lead and bag his 100th career league goal 11 minutes from time. Mahtal took no risks, throwing another centre back on for Davies and they held on for a 2-1 victory.
Semi-professional Colwyn Bay were Champions of Wales!!
TNS won a week later, so Colwyn Bay secured the title by three points on 73 points, which was 16 fewer than Ponybont won it with last season. They finished with 23 wins, 4 draws and 5 defeats, scoring 68 – 27 fewer than Penybont’s 95! – and conceded 31. Lassen’s 22 goals was only bettered by Abersythwyth’s Sam Jones’ 23 and King got a league-high 14 clean sheets.
Celebrating Unexpected Welsh Success
Mahtal couldn’t quite believe the success he’d managed to bring to northern Wales. He wasn’t expecting to compete, yet his Colwyn Bay side took advantage of their rivals’ dropoffs to claim their maiden title, win Wales’ second cup and come runners-up in the main cup. And Mahtal felt this cemented his reputation as a “special one.”
Lassen led the way with 30 goals in 42 games followed by Walker (18), Davies (15), Roche (12) and O’Connor with 11 from centre back. Roche topped the assists with an impressive 19 followed by Ryan (14), Walker (13), Davies (8) and Lassen (7).
Mahtal knew he’d achieved all he could at Colwyn Bay, especially as their goalkeeper wanted to leave and they were losing money at a worrying rate. So he wasted no time in resigning and going in search of yet another challenge.
Where would the next challenge take Mahtal on his EuroTrip adventure? Join us on Wednesday to find out!
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