#CCL Series: Fairwater FC
As part of our ongoing coverage of the Cardiff Combination Football League, we want to feature the clubs that make up the league, profiling their respective histories and plans for their future.
Our first of the series begins with Fairwater FC and we interviewed First Team Manager Casey Warren.
Fairwater FC were formed in 1993 under the guise of The Jug & Bottle and have also been known as both Fairwater Hotel and Fairwater Social. After a merger with former South Wales Alliance League side Fairwater FC, the club took the name on from the end of 2014/15. Fairwater currently consist of a First Team in the Premier Division and a Second Team in Division 2. Casey Warren and James Morgan manage each side respectively. Their recent history has seen them lift the 2015/16 Combination Cup.
Regarding the current season Warren says “The 2016/17 season has already been a more successful season in regards to our League and SWFA Intermediate Cup performances compared to last season. Despite a disappointing result against Cathays Conservatives AFC in our last league game, our points total has improved on last season already. We are definitely targeting Cup winners medals again this season and still being in both of the league cup competitions we will fight for them both!” As well as the league performances, Fairwater also improved in the SWFA Intermediate Cup and they reached a further round on last season, showing year on year improvements.
Warren then discusses the second-string stating that “Our Second Team are a squad of young players looking to progress in the future to the First Team are holding their own in what is most of the players first season in senior football. We are happy with the progress of the players within the squad and can see them being implemented into the First Team in the future the strengthen us as a whole.”
In terms of the future, Fairwater have big plans ahead. Warren explains that the club’s main target is to compete for promotion in the near future and they have have a plan to build further: “Next season becoming league winners is the big goal and following that we have a five year plan to not just get promotion from the Premier Division into the South Wales Alliance but to further progress from the bottom division of that league also.” He continues to say “We are one of the only teams in the Combination to have the facilities ready for all that the SWFA require to progress, we even have permission to build a 100 seated stand! We are a very ambitious club that want to bring back amateur football to the area and is a great platform for players that want to achieve their goals in progressing.”
Warren also details the youth system they have in place saying: “Currently we have a mini’s section including teams for under 7, 8, 9 and 11’s and started an under 12’s team this season. From next season we are in a position to further fill some age groups and run from under 7’s to under 13’s. In the not too distant future we aim to have every minis and juniors sections covering Fairwater. The club are held in high regard in the area and have a lot of support from parents, supporters and volunteers alike for the future of the club.”
