FORMER Abergavenny Thursdays player Jeff Haydn has returned to his old stamping ground at Pen-y-Pound as manager of the first team.
The 49-year-old is no stranger to the green of the Thursdays. The midfielder played for the club for ten seasons during their glory days and has an impressive pedigree.
He was an U15 schoolboy with Arsenal before going to Bristol Rovers where he played until the age of 18. From there he went to Ebbw Vale, but not before picking up two Welsh U18 Caps in 1978 and 1979, and he then found his way to the perfect pitch of Pen-y-Pound.
All in all Jeff estimates he has played in about 500 Welsh League games, but his new post at the helm of the Thursdays will be his first managerial role and one he is definitely looking forward to.
"The Thursdays are a great club, with great facilities and a great history. Our players at the moment are dedicated and keen, but the problem is there just isn't enough of them. There are so many clubs in the area, that players aren't exactly fighting for a position in the Thursdays starting line-up.
"We're keen to keep everyone in our current squad, but I'm definitely on the scout for new blood. I can't name names but at the moment I have five or six players who will hopefully sign-up for next season.
"The ethos behind the Thursdays is to keep it local, and ideally we'd like to having nothing but local players turning up to play for us, but if we have to look further afield for the benefit of the club then we'll do just that."
Having been stranded in the wasteland of Gwent County Division Three for longer than they care to remember, promotion has become a bit of a 'holy grail' for the Thursdays as Haydn explained, "A lot of talk about the Thursdays in the past has focused on promotion as being the be all and end all. I'm not going to say anything on the subject. My role is to build a strong squad and let the football do the talking.
"We suffered last season because we didn't have a regular goalkeeper and various other players were taking it in turns to fill his shoes. That sort of thing doesn't bode well for any club, and we'll definitely looking to remedy come the start of next season when we'll be looking to field a side to be reckoned with."
Abergavenny Thursdays pre-season training commences at Pen-y-Pound, Wednesday, June 30 from 6.15pm. Anyone interested in playing for the Thursdays should contact Jeff Haydn on 07983889326.
On a final note, everyone at the club would like to thank outgoing manager Phil Hemmings for all his hard work during his time at the helm for the previous two seasons.