Huw Griffiths: Cleaning toilets of Oval to Conference League ambitions
When the Cymru Premier season was starting, Huw Griffiths wasn’t thinking of Europe, instead, he was part of a team of volunteers that gave The Oval a facelift.
Griffiths joined the passionate supporters of the football club he is a custodian of as they painted the fence, moved bricks and even cleaned the toilets at the ground.
Fast forward to the end of the season and the Canaries stand on the verge of European football for the first time after reaching the Europa Conference League final.
The man tasked with taking them to Europe has done it before, he led the Cefn Druids to two European campaigns, but after leaving the team he supported growing up, Griffiths’ heart is now with his current employers.
“If I had to leave a club and go somewhere else, then this has probably been the perfect fit,” said the 2018 play-off winner.
“I’ve made no bones about it, there is a Welsh connection and a family feeling about it where it gives you that humbleness.
“It’s not until that you sign there that you understand that there is such a special feeling around the place.”
“I go back to the old adage of when we used to leave the door on the neighbors you should come in.
“Certainly for some of our local players, they are about a stones throw away from the ground which is fantastic.
“Part of our DNA is to try and get the best local rep players around. If we have to go further afield we do. We have tried to stick to that this year and now we have such a great opportunity.
“It won’t pass them by, they will be ready, they will understand what it is all about and I’m just looking forward to it.”
A contributing factor to the family feeling at the club is the passionate Cofi Army, who have continued to support the club despite their absence at games this season.
The fans have provided the club with some financial support such as providing ticket money, even though this season has been played behind closed doors.
Due to the nature of Welsh football, it is a difficult task for clubs to be the first point of call as a team to support, however Griffiths agreed that in Caernarfon, the number one team in the town is the one that resides from there.
That is evident through the messages of support that schools in the local area have sent the Cofi players and staff members as they live in the hope of seeing European football in the small Gwynedd town after being in the shadows of other North Walian clubs.
“They support Caernarfon and then Chelsea, Manchester City or United but Caernarfon are their first club.
“We look at the clubs up in the North that have qualified. You have Airbus, Druids, Llandudno, Rhyl and the Blue team I’m not allowed to mention anymore. They have all qualified whereas Caernarfon hasn’t when potentially they are the biggest club there.
“To have the opportunity to be the first people to do it, we’ve created history already. We’re not talking about what we have nearly achieved, for me, it’s about going that extra step and saying, I did this, and that’s what the message has been all this week.”
