Cofis announce Griffiths as new manager
CAERNARFON Town have announced the shock appointment of Huw Griffiths as first team manager.
The Canaries announced the news on Friday evening just a few short hours after Cefn Druids announced they had terminated Griffiths’ contract with immediate effect.
This represents a similar move by the club last year when they moved Alan Bickerstaff into the managerial hot seat in order to satisfy the Football Association of Wales’ licencing criteria.
Griffiths was only appointed Druids’ sporting director on a fulltime basis in November, and he enjoyed a successful spell with the Ancients that saw them reach the Europa League for the second time in their history during the 2018 campaign.
This earned the former Chester City assistant the Welsh Premier League Manager of the Year distinction, but Druids were unable to make the top six this season after narrowly missing out to Newtown.
Sean Eardley will again remain with the Cofis in an assistant capacity alongside coach Richard Davies.
In a statement on the club’s website, Caernarfon Town said: “We are delighted to announce that Huw Griffiths has joined the club as first team manager.
“Huw, who has spent a number of years in and around the top of the Welsh domestic game, joins us after leaving Cefn Druids.
“Huw enjoyed a very successful spell as manager of Cefn Druids and was named Welsh Premier League manager of the season in 2018 after leading the Ancients into the Europa League.”
“I’m really looking forward to working with Eards,” Griffiths told the club’s official website.
“He’s a great bloke and we know each other well. I also know Richard, and I’m certain we’ll work well as a team.”
Eardley, who has been such a key figure in Caernarfon’s success in recent years, believes Griffiths’ arrival is exactly what he and the management team require
“To be working alongside Huw is a boost that myself and the management team needed,” he told the club’s official website.
“He’s a great guy off the field, and since our very first game against Druids back in the top flight we’ve kept in touch on different football matters. He now adds experience and knowledge to what is already a strong management team.
“The players are buzzing to embrace a new voice and are looking forward to some different ideas, we can’t wait for the next eleven matches now, including the Welsh Cup, which will have that element of spice now. As long as he doesn’t nick my song I’m happy!
Interim chairman Paul Evans hopes Griffiths’ arrival can help the club achieve its long-held aim of qualifying for Europe whilst pushing the club forward in the long term, and is keen to make it clear that the new manager fits not only the club’s management team but also its policy of giving the best local talent an opportunity to play at the highest level for the club.
“We’re all excited by Huw’s arrival and want to make it clear that the appointment was made with the full blessing of Sean Eardley, who has, and will continue to be, a major figure in the club,” he told the club’s official website.