The Print Place Stadium
Dolfechlas Road
Rhydymwyn
Mold
Flintshire
CH7 5HL
Ground Number: 1559
Monday 15th June 2026
Ysceifiog 0-3 Caerwys
Llandyrnog & District Summer League
YSCEIFIOG FC & THE LLANDRYNOG SUMMER LEAGUE
Ysceifiog joined the league in 1976, also taking players from the adjacent village of Lixwm. The parish of Nannerch was added in 2010 to give it a wider area to draw players from. Having one of the smaller catchment areas, they took until 2008 to win the league, but they also won two Knockout Shields around this time. They have had some notable players in their ranks, such as Tony Evans (Welsh schoolboy cap) and the Fenton Twins, who went on to play in the Football League. Nick Fenton was the most famous of these, and after captaining Wales U15, he made 15 appearances for Manchester City and was part of the team that came back from the dead in the Division 2 playoffs in 1999. He also played for Notts County, Bournemouth, Doncaster Rovers, Grimsby Town, Morecambe and Alfreton Town. The club had a hiatus from the league in 2014, due to a lack of available players, but soon rejoined.
The club plays at Rhydymwyn, a village in the Alyn valley about a few miles upstream from Mold. Rhydymwyn FC was founded in 1911 and played in the local Halkyn and Clwyd Leagues. They remained in those leagues until they moved up to the Welsh Alliance League in 1990. In 1994, they won the Welsh Alliance League and gained promotion to the Cymru Alliance. However, they were unable to afford the costs of playing at the higher level and took voluntary relegation. A single season back in the Cymru Alliance came in 2010; this time, results on the field meant a short stay at the higher level. The club was Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) runner-up in 2012, and they spent three years at the Cymru Alliance before taking a season out of football. They rejoined the Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) Division 1 in 2016, winning promotion to the Premier in 2019. Football stopped in Wales for 18 months due to the pandemic. When football returned in 2021, Rhydymwyn were placed in the Ardal North West. They spent one full season here before resigning from the league in September 2022. The following season, they reformed and joined the North East Wales Football League in the Tier 5 Championship Division. They've subsequently been promoted to tier 4 in the North East Wales Division 1.
MY VISIT
The second of three days of the year that I need to see a game on was the 15th of June. With it falling on a Monday, this would normally be tricky. However, the Llandyrnog & District Summer League came up trumps. It was a long, long way, being based in the Wrexham area, but there were some lovely scenic grounds. After careful consideration, I opted for Ysceifiog v Caerwys as it was being played at a ground used in the North Wales Coast League, namely Rhydymwyn FC. The league website was absolutely superb, and their Twitter was not half bad either. I was disappointed that the league did not answer my email enquiry about a handbook. I would have been happy with a PDF copy, but if it were print-only, they would only have had to spend a few seconds replying. I didn't hold it against them, though. The only spanner in the works could be the weather, madness for June, but we'd had a fair bit of rain lately. Happily, though, it was nice and dry in the few days before the game, according to the forecast. That said, Ysceifog's game on Thursday was switched to the away ground, but the communication was clear, giving me faith in the league and the club.
Further research was conducted on Thursday evening with a Google My Maps created to the best of my knowledge. The league website was more old-fashioned, giving concise instructions for directions, rather than actual Google Maps addresses. Either way, I worked out that Cefn (or Cefnmeiriadog to use their full name) v Llanrhaeadr at the Llannefydd Football Pitch was the best backup and another decent ground. From our game at Shrewton, I drove Colin & I home, dropping him back at the bus stop. I had a couple of bottles of cider whilst typing my blog before I went out for a walk. This was a pleasant way to listen to the first part of the Switzerland v Qatar game. I came home, had a pizza and a cider before going to bed during the second half of the game. I got up for work whilst watching the end of the game between Scotland and Haiti with the Tartan Army scraping through 1-0. After driving to work, I listened to the Australia v Turkey game, the first match I'd stayed awake for the entirety of. Earphones were banned, so I got around it by using a Bluetooth Music Hat, one of my favourite Ali Express purchases. It was a real grueller of a Sunday, the place was packed, and I was glad to get out at 1. Welcome news came that afternoon as Colin agreed to come, halving the travel costs.
There was a glorious moment in the World Cup on Sunday evening as Curaçao equalised against Germany. Sadly, they ended up losing 7-1, putting them on par with Brazil, I guess. I was asleep by 9 and up before 4, in time to watch the second half of Sweden's 5-1 win over Tunisia. It was a calmer day at work, but I was still asked to stay on for an hour due to the volume of orders. I let Colin know, and he was fine with it. I also saw confirmation of tonight's fixture and backup game. Before I left work, my manager spoke to me about starting an hour early in the future. I said that was OK if I could have Friday & Saturday off. If I pull it off, it'll be the first time in 27 years that I've had a regular two-day weekend. Colin was there waiting for me. Not the sharpest tool in the box, he had come in full England attire. We had a good journey up, despite the M6 being knackered. The diversion took us past a petrol station where the petrol was 145.9, 10p a litre cheaper than the one I'd planned in Chester. Colin slept for the second half of the journey and was in a stoned state due to his epilepsy drugs when we arrived. He was even unable to use the Wetherspoons app, so I had to order for him. The Central Hotel in Shotton was a decent Spoons, we had three plates - wings, strips and halloumi fries between us, just £10 on Monday. I also had a lime cordial to keep costs down. Food service was excellent, drinks less so. I'd finished my dinner by the time my drink came. It was a 15-minute drive to the next Wetherspoons, The Gold Cape in Mold. I was planning on half a Black Dragon to toast the end of the season. They didn't have it, so a 40p glass of Blackcurrant cordial had to do. One nice aspect of both towns was free parking after 3 pm. The drinks service was nice and quick at the second Spoons.
We called in at Lidl for drinks and snacks and were at the ground 40 minutes before kickoff. The mobile signal was hopeless in terms of data, so sorting my blog would have to wait until home. The Empire biscuit from Lidl was excellent. Cape Verde claimed a goalless draw against Spain, a remarkable result. Both sides were in the bottom half of the table. Ysceifiog (apparently pronounced 'uh-skay-vee-og) were in 9th place and had won six, drawn one and lost eleven. In their last game, they thumped Rhewl 6-2 in a game that was switched to the opponents' ground due to a waterlogged pitch. Caerwys (kai-ruhs) were 11th and had won three, drawn four and lost eleven. In their last game, they had lost 6-2 at Llanrhaeadr. The game was being played at Rhydymwyn (hreed-uh-moin). It was a good competitive game, played in the right spirit despite a few niggles. Caerwys took the lead, heading home a right-sided cross on 24 minutes. The visitors were well on top, surprising given recent results. Ysceifiog had a fair bit of possession in the second half, without many clear-cut chances. Caerwys got their second on 73 minutes, a great through ball and a finish into the bottom left-hand corner. On 87 minutes, it was 3-0, quite a scrappy goal, but persistence paid off. The goals were scored by Finn Williams & Lewis Hodson x2.
We had seen BuckieLugger from the non-league forum at the game. It was a good attendance of 85 enthusiastic folk, mainly supporting the two teams. I'd really liked the league, and there's a chance I'll come again next year. We left at 9, listening to the second half of Belgium v Egypt. I was supporting the Africans as I'd drawn them in the Holyport FC sweepstake, and they gained a credible 1-1 draw, having led. It was slow getting out of Wales thanks to their 20mph blanket limits. It was well meant, but poorly thought out on roads with no residences. At 10, it was Andy Crane with the Top Ten at Ten, 1993 was the year, but Colin's talking made it hard to take part. I then put on Saudi Arabia v Uruguay, another 1-1 draw. There was a closure on the M40, which meant ten minutes were added to the journey. I was back at Colin's by 12:45 but had to spend fifteen minutes helping him out of the car and up to his flat, so I was glad I wasn't at work in the morning. It was a challenge to get into his flat as he must have had at least twenty keys on his bunch; it was like a rubbish version of the Crystal Maze. He was able to walk and find his way and seemed happy to doze on his sofa, but I messaged his Dad just in case it was something more serious and medical folk had access to his flat as he leaves it unlocked. I was back at 1.15 and after all that palaver and to toast the end of the season, I had a couple of drinks. I planned to watch the 2 am World Cup game as I was still wide awake and would be staying up around the clock. My sleep pattern would be wrecked, but it had been a mighty fine season.
THE GROUND
DOLFECHLAS ROAD is an excellent setup for the level, probably equivalent to step 5 in England. There's a seated stand, holding around 70. The rest of the ground is fully railed and floodlit. There's plenty of parking and public transport available. The club do both food and drink, but it was not fully open for my small-scale game. All in all, well worth a visit.
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