Presentation Evening a big success!

Former Welsh International, Terry Boyle, kicked off proceedings at the Wales Veterans' Football Association Presentation Evening 2023/24 with a captivating reflection of his professional career in the company of S4C’s Marc Jones.

The first award of the evening was introduced this season to recognise the invaluable contribution of our officials. Long-standing supporter of the WVFA, Graham Evans, became the inaugural winner of the Referee of the year award.

The work of Jon Ross (WorkwearSupermarket.com) was then recognised when he was awarded honorary Vice-President status by WVFA Chairman, Alun Huish. Apart from his generous sponsorship and sterling committee work, he is also behind the recent resurgence of Newport Vets, part of the successful o65 and o70s Representative management team and most recently the driving force behind our hosting of the o70/75s World Cup tournament in Cardiff this August...a worthy recipient of the award which was last seen in a Cardiff Taxi!

The Team Awards followed, beginning with the... WorkwearSupermarket.com LEAGUE WINNERS
o40s EAST - Barry Town (Secretary & Manager: John Gee)
o40s WEST - Penydarren (Secretary & Manager: Steve Lane)
o45s - Llanelli Town (Secretary: Neil Bryant, Manager: Kev Bartley)
o50s - Llanelli Town (Secretary: Neil Bryant, Manager: John Taylor)
o55s - Merthyr Tydfil (Secretary: Dennis Murphy, Manager: Andrew York)
o60s - Swansea (Secretary: Andy Jones, Manager: Gary Lloyd)
o65s - Barry Town (Secretary & Manager: Alun Huish)

Next up were the WorkwearSupermarket.com CUP WINNERS
o40s CUP - Penydarren (Secretary/Manager: Steve Lane)
o40s SHIELD - Porth Harlequins (Secretary / Manager: Kristian Taylor)
o45s Cup - Llanelli Town (Secretary: Neil Bryant, Manager: Kev Bartley)
o50s Cup - - Llanelli Town (Secretary: Neil Bryant, Manager: John Taylor)
o55s Cup - Swansea (Secretary: Andy Jones, Manager: Keith Williams)
o60s Cup - Swansea (Secretary: Andy Jones, Manager: Gary Lloyd)
o65s Cup - Barry Town (Secretary/Manager: Alun Huish)

This Top Goalscorer Award this season went to Neil Williams from Llanelli Town with an incredible 43 goals in the o50s League and cup competitions!
Top scorers in the other ‘Age-Group categories were...
o40s - Stephen Davies (Briton Ferry Llansawel)/Kevin Bartley (Llanelli Town) - 26 each
o45s - Kevin Bartley also top in this age group with 27 goals.
o55s - Newport’s Mike Fredriksen with 19
o60s - Pepe Mele (Pontyclun) and Paul Otway (Swansea) tied on 14 goals each and finally in the o65s Barry Town’s Mike Bobbett scored 7

The evening culminated with the much-awaited presentation of WVFA Representative Caps by special guest of honour, Terry Boyle.

The following players were awarded RED Caps for representing the Wales Veterans' Football Association in a 'Test' match....
Billy Arnold - Merthyr Tydfil
Leigh Jermin - Briton Ferry
Alun Williams - Llanelli Town
David Davey - Barry Town
Phil Wells - Penybont
Paul Sims - Barry Town
Paul Murphy - Barry Town
Andrew York - Merthyr Tydfil
Stephen Davies - Britton Ferry Llansawel
Adam Corfield - Newport
Chris Thomas - Llanelli Town
Steve Evans - Llanelli Town
Ian Davies - Barry Town
Neil Bryant - Llanelli Town
James Price - Britton Ferry
Simon Rocke - Llanelli Town
Neale Richards - Llanelli Town
Mike Walsh - Britton Ferry Llansawel
Paul Richards - Barry Town
Henry ‘Jai’ Kowalski - Swansea
David Griffiths - Newport
Gary Vaughan - Newport
Peter Francombe - Barry Town
Carl McClarnan - Llanelli Town
Elvis Ballysingh - Pontyclun
Leighton Gates - Pontyclun
Tim Bowker - Barry Town
Barry Marshall - Barry Town
Del Gough - Merthyr Tydfil
Ross Hutchins - Pontyclun 40s/Barry Town 45s
Steve Blackford - Llanelli Town
Anthony Ferguson - Barry Town
Clive Evans - Merthyr Tydfil
Colin Bagley - Merthyr Tydfil

The following players were awarded GREEN Caps for representing Wales Veterans' Football in 'Test' matches for 10 years or more...
Geoff Miller - Newport
Bob Nelson - Penybont
Chris Cleaver - Merthyr Tydfil
Darren Thompson - The Continental
Gavin Price - Barry Town
Paul Diaper - Newport

We’d like to thank Noel Mooney and the FAW for their generous support, Dani Thomas and her colleagues at Cardiff RFC for their hospitality and finally the WVFA committee for hosting a terrific evening.....once again!