Newport City boss Sam Houldsworth talks Cymru Premier ambitions, ‘Barry rejects’ desire to prove people wrong and positive impact of Newport County link

It has been a strong start to life in the Cymru South for newly promoted Newport City currently sitting sixth in a hotly contested table that sees them only three points off top spot.

Despite it being their first year in the second tier their positive start hasn’t come as a shock to many, with them being tipped by a number of competing sides to do well. Manager Sam Houldsworth however felt it was a shock to see his club labelled as potential contenders.

“That’s typical Welsh league, because we’ve signed players with a reputation and a name, I think that’s what it was. We had a lot of players come in from Llanelli over that period of time and obviously they’re successful and then we had players who turned down big teams and big offers to come to us.

I think that kind of spread through and managers from other clubs have seen that players were choosing us over them or other local teams. But everyone has kind of said the same thing that by signing these big characters, big names, it could kind of implode and it could be hard to manage the ego’s we were signing.

It’s not a bad place to be sitting in the league when we haven’t really been performing overly well, we’ve definitely not being doing very well in terms of scoring goals.

Going into the season I didn’t really know what to expect in terms of the level, so I can’t really complain if you had offered this at the start of the season, I would have bit your hand off.

Overall happy in where were sitting and just being in and around it, because this league is a crazy one so far, you would have thought given the losses we’ve had there would be someone running away with it but it shows the level were at that everyone is beating everyone which makes for an exciting league so far, I’m happy overall though.”

They aren’t the only newly promoted side who have flourished in the division, with Trethomas Bluebirds currently sitting top of the league on 21 points after 11 games.

“Last year Trethomas were the flyaway team and the best team in our league, but we had that 26-game unbeaten run and I think that lead to some eyes being on us and what we were doing especially with the cup final.

It was a strange one to hear it and hear how well be up there challenging and almost some people implying us in that favourites category which I thought was wild to be honest with you. But at the moment we’re up there and in and around it so we’ve got to hope that continues.”

The club from the outside looking in appears to be one that is well run and aiming for a professional standard, a sentiment that manager Houldsworth agrees with.

“We’re trying to do things right and I know we rub some people up the wrong way with what we’re doing but were trying to be as professional as we can.

We’ve just applied for tier one, were not expecting to go up by any means this year we just want to be in and around it, we’ve got loads going on in the background with regards to making sure we hit tier one criteria.

The clubs’ ambitions overall are to be playing Welsh Prem, and with the new league structure for the 2026/27 that the FAW have put in place we’d be stupid not to target that and see if we can get ourselves in the mix and get ourselves included in it. 

When it’s one team going up it makes it so difficult in this division, by looking at that and seeing the potential of a couple more going up it’s given us the impetus to then go and push on.

Our ambition next is to get all the top players from the region, Newport, Gwent, anywhere local to be wanting to play for Newport City and if we can get that from an early age that’s how I see the club going forward and being sustainable in the future.”

Newport City players labelled ‘Barry rejects’ as they look to prove people wrong

It was a busy summer for Newport City with many new faces joining the club. The City boss believes their clever recruitment has lead to their positive start.

“The recruitment was good, but it was helped that these players were friends or played with each other before, we get called Barry rejects or Llanelli rejects but the good thing about is we’ve got a core of players who all know how each other play.

I’m glad I signed a lot of players, it’s been difficult to manage that and keep player happy but I’m glad I did because we’ve been able to put out a quality side each week at the moment, getting that many people to gel is the hardest part.”

One signing who has impressed is former Barry Town United captain Luke Cooper. Described as a punt of a signing by his new manager, he has been one of their standout performers as he aims to prove people wrong.

“Really pleased obviously it’s been great to get these players in that have got this experience. Someone like Luke Cooper who dropped down to Goytre (AFC) and had a bit of a bad season or two really, so it was a bit of a punt.

I’ve always known how good he has been but also, it’s a bit of a punt because everyone saw him on the decline, he’s been outstanding for us this season probably one of our best performers.

I’m not surprised but I’m surprised with how determined he’s been, I think it’s driven by the fact he wants to prove a lot of people wrong.

Newport City enjoying instant impact of link with League Two neighbours

Newport City announced a link with neighbours Newport County in July that allowed season ticket holders of the League Two club to obtain free entry in to fixtures for the Cymru South side.

The link has been hugely beneficial for City who have seen bigger gate numbers and are now hoping to continue growing the link to reap further benefits on the field.

“The instant impact which we were hoping for was a few more numbers in to watch the games. 

We’re getting in some County season ticket holders coming in and they’re enjoying it and were not even firing at the moment as well some of the games have been appalling to watch quality wise, the Ponty game was borderline embarrassing.

That first link has been excellent for us and one we really appreciate but also, we’ve created another link now where we’re talking about their scholars coming in on loan. We’re trying to see how that works with the international clearance going forward, but for the years ahead now we’ve got that link we’re building to allow a pathway to get into more local talent.

Not just Newport County, but Louis Phillips who was released by Cardiff City there’s talks about us being a home for players who might not have made it to use as a stepping stone to get back into the professional game.”

(Featured image: Lewis Mitchell/FAW)