Hometown hero Kayne McLaggon speaks of emulating childhood heroes

Barry Town United forward Kayne McLaggon says it’s full circle for himself after going from a supporter to a footballer of his hometown club.

The 28-year-old is gearing up for Barry’s UEFA Europa League qualifier with Cliftonville, which takes place next Thursday.

Hometown lad McLaggon is now hoping to follow in the footsteps of childhood heroes like Garry Lloyd and Mark Ovendale, both who are in the Barry Hall of Fame.

McLaggon on the prospect of playing in European said: “It’ll be huge. I’ve never played before, if I could choose a team to do it with, it’d be my hometown club. It’ll be massive.

“I remember peering through the fence rather than buying a ticket and watching my heroes as they were as a kid. 

“Watching the likes of Aberdeen and Porto. I was there watching these games and to be a part of it possibly, maybe not a prestigious game as such just yet, but maybe if we get through this round we could draw a glamour tie like they had.

“To be part of that would something special. It’s almost full circle for me, after watching my heroes as a kid to maybe being one of those heroes as an adult, it’s huge.”

The former Saints forward is a born and bred Barry lad and grew up supporting the club from a young age.

McLaggon was born into an era of success at Jenner Park. Despite growing up to be a forward, the Wales C international was starstruck when he met former Bournemouth goalkeeper Mark Ovendale, during a European game.

“I remember having a picture on the pitch in one of the European games with Mark Ovendale,” recalled McLaggon.

“Even though he was a goalkeeper and I was a forward player who liked scoring goals, I thought wow these guys are professional footballers. 

“I thought these guys were the pinnacle of the sport because I didn’t really know much else. You only see them on TV but when you actually see a real life footballer you almost think it’s massive.

“They were my heroes growing up, maybe there are kids like that thinking that now but probably not so much as we’re not as successful as they were.

“They were winning Welsh Premier League after Welsh Premier League, if it inspires maybe some of the youth in Barry to maybe play football and stay out of trouble then we’ve done our job.”

Barry is a club steeped in history on the European stage. The Glamorgan club have previously claimed results against giants like FC Porto. 

Domestically they were untouchable, hey won seven top flight tables and regularly featured in Europe. It wasn’t until they went from winning the Premier League winners to being relegated in the space of two years in 2004. 

But now, as a newly named club after Barry Town’s resignation in 2013, McLaggon says the new club are hoping to create their own story.

“We’ve got to create our own history, it’s our story this one. The clubs had its success, they’ve had major success in Europe and the Welsh Premier League.

“This is a new club now, this is Barry Town United rather than Barry Town, we’ve got to create our own history. This is a new challenge for us. We’ve got to go and do it ourselves. We’ve got history to look back on but this is Barry Town’s future, we’ve got to create it. 

“What an opportunity we’ve got against Cliftonville who are another part team who we see as similar to us. We’ve got to prove the Welsh Premier League is an equal or better League than the Northern Irish League.

“That’s our challenge and that’s what we’re going to. Hopefully, we’ll put Barry Town United back on the map in regards to European football.”

McLaggon was talking ahead of Barry Town United’s Europa League fixture with Cliftonville, which will take place at Leckwith Stadium on Thursday evening.