Before joining Penybont, a chain of career setbacks saw Daniel Jefferies fall out of love with football.
Released after five years at Swansea City’s academy, Jefferies was starved of first-team minutes at Colchester United, before a managerial sacking staggered his growth at Dundee.
Fast forward to now and the enjoyment of the game has returned for the Welsh defender, as he looks to push his local club Penybont into Europe.
“It’s definitely made me fall back in love with football,” he revealed.
“It’s been a frustrating time growing up through the academy. There’s been a lot of disappointment.
“Coming down to Penybont and playing regularly sparked that bit more energy in me.
“I felt a bit better in myself because I came back from Scotland frustrated with football and thinking if it was really for me. That completely changed when I came to Penybont because I started enjoying it again.
“You look forward to training, you look forward to going to games. I’m massively grateful for the minutes I’ve got playing for Penybont and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”
Jefferies started out at Swansea City’s academy, where he joined first as an U13’s player.
Part of a star-studded youth side with the Swans, the Welsh defender holds his time at the club in high regard.
“I loved it at Swansea. The time I had there was just amazing. Everything is done so professionally.
“You’re in every day, they track your food. You have all the proper training, the gym. The facilities are top level, so it’s great to be in an environment where everything is professional.
“They moved me to a house down there with Liam Cullen. I moved school and they put me through everything.
“It made me grow up really fast. I loved the football that they played down there.
“The squad was filled with talent. Players like Ben Cabango, Joe Rodon, Brandon Cooper, boys that have gone on and done well.
“It’s good to see the squad that I was playing in making it into first-teams and doing well for themselves.”
With Jefferies making progress as an 18-year-old Welsh youth international, a huge setback was just around the corner.
At the end of the 2016/17 season, Jefferies suffered the disappointment of being released by Swansea.
“It was the club that made the decision,” he revealed.
“The academy manager said they didn’t really see a pathway into the first-team at the time.
“They said they believed I could make it as a footballer but it just wasn’t right at the time.
“It was disappointing because Swansea were my first proper club and it felt like home.
“It was hard, but at the same time, I had to focus on what was next and how I was going to make it elsewhere.”
Having departed the Swans, the defender joined Colchester United, firstly representing their U23’s squad in Development League Two.
Despite knocking on the door with the U’s, further disappointment followed for Jefferies, who couldn’t make his way into the first-team.
“There is an element of frustration,” he expressed.
“It was hard because I was learning to play football in a different way.
“Swansea very much got the ball on the ground and played out from the back, but at Colchester, they were more direct and I had to grow up more as a footballer.
“I trained with the first-team there and was on the bench a few times, but I could never really get that break into league appearances.”
Jefferies departed Colchester in January 2018, making the move up north to sign for Dundee.
After experiencing his first taste of men’s football in Scotland, it looked as though the defender was on the path to finding a regular home.
However, a managerial sacking during his loan spell at Patrick Thistle caused more disappointment for Jefferies.
“It was quite scary at first moving up to Scotland, but I loved every second of it. I found it a massive turn in my career.
“I think I adapted quite quickly to the step up to men’s football, but it’s a huge step from academy football to men’s football and you have to grow up very quickly. We had a good squad that helped me a lot.
“Neil McCann was the manager and he wanted me to go out on loan, get a few games under my belt, come back and potentially be a starter.
“But when I went to Partick Thistle, he got sacked, so it was very frustrating. Things like that happen in football, but it was another setback for me.”
Having suffered the disappointment of his Swansea departure, failing to make a league appearance for Colchester and the frustration of uncertainty in Scotland, Jefferies revealed that he fell out of love with football.
A route back into the game came in the form of his local club Penybont and the defender has not looked back since signing in 2019.
Securing safety in his first season, the former Wales youth international was a huge part of the side that finished fourth in the Cymru Premier last season, eventually losing in the European play-off semi-final to Newtown.
Jefferies expressed his gratitude to Penybont for rekindling his love of the game and insisted he has loved his time at the SDM Glass Stadium.
“Rhys Griffiths knew a lot about me and knew I was from the area, so he messaged to come down to train and see what I thought.
“I just wanted to be playing regularly. It’s been a massive learning curve for me. People can get fooled by the Cymru Premier, it’s a very good standard.
“I just feel like I’ve improved more in these last two years than I ever really have as a player.
“We came into pre-season still talking about last-season’s play-offs. We were all devastated.
“But we also look at it as finishing fourth was a massive achievement considering we were fighting at the bottom of the league the year before. It was such a huge achievement.
Griffiths’ side narrowly missed out on qualification for the Europa Conference League at the end of last season.
However, Jefferies insisted the disappointment has fuelled a desire to go on step further, a step that would mean so much to the club.
“Penybont is probably one of the closest groups I’ve had in my career. This Penybont group is different. Everybody is there for each other. Nobody is really out of the group, it’s so close-knit.
“It would mean so much to us to get into Europe. You see the fans coming regularly. We were quite unlucky last season without them because the fans are like our twelfth player, they’re brilliant.
“It would be so nice to see how happy we could make everyone if we could get into Europe.
“They come to the games and support us so well. For all the boys, it would mean so much.”
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