400 Up for the Cofi Messi
Congratulations Darren Thomas! On Friday evening, Darren Thomas played his four hundredth competitive match for Caernarfon Town Football Club.
Darren began his senior career with our reserve side in 2003/04 before heading to Bontnewydd where he won the Caernarfon and District League in 2004/05. He moved to the Oval the following season but, having made just one League of Wales appearance he joined Llangefni, where he stayed for four successful years.
During his time at Cae Bob Parry, Darren was an influential part of the side that twice won the Cymru Alliance League. He signed for Porthmadog in 2011 before returning to the Oval in 2013. In his first season back at our club, we won the treble of the Welsh Alliance League title, Cookson Cup and FAW Trophy and Darren played a huge part, hitting nineteen league goals and netting twice in the FAW Trophy final. Although he left for a taste of the Welsh Premier League with Aberystwyth for a short period in 2015 he returned after three months and since then he has become a talismanic figure for the figure.
Darren has also scored one hundred and forty-seven goals for the Cofis and his achievements and trophy haul with the club speak volumes:
Welsh Alliance League
Cookson Cup
FAW Trophy Winner
Three Welsh Alliance League Cup
Two Cymru Alliance League Titles
Two Cymru Premier League Play Off Final victories
Sgorio Goal of the Decade
Sgorio Goal of the Season 2019/20
Darren has also represented the ‘Wales C’ side and captained his side during the club’s first European campaign last summer.
The club’s chairman, Paul Evans, pays tribute to Darren: “First of all, I want to congratulate Darren for reaching this special milestone of playing four hundred competitive matches for the club. This is a club record, by a long way, and it’s a tribute to his talents, commitment and efforts that he has achieved something that no one else has done. In all my time of following the club I can safely say that Darren is the best player I have seen wearing our colours. I remember his debut for us as a substitute at the Oval all those years ago and it was such a same that he found his opportunities to play so limited at that time. He was young, of course, but very talented and he proved that at Llangefni and Porthmadog before returning to us.
What he has achieved since coming back has been pretty unbelievable really and I don’t think it’s been a coincidence that our success and climb back to the top tier began in earnest with his return. Darren will be the first to say that it’s a team game and we’ve been lucky to have had many excellent players at the club during this time, but he has been our talisman.
He has given us so many great memories with his goals and performances and his commitment to the club has been there for everyone to see. I would also say that he epitomises what we have been trying to do as a club for the past fifteen years. It has always been our aim during this time to give the best local talent to play for the club and I am sure that seeing Darren and other local players in the team has highlighted this and given youngsters growing up in the area something to aspire to.
It was a special feeling to see a man born and bred in Caernarfon leading us out in those four matches in European competition last summer and I am sure everyone would agree that it was a proud moment for us all as supporters to see Darren do it. Of course, Darren is still as fit as ever, and I am sure he has plenty of time to add many more matches to his total!
The club will be looking to mark this achievement before the end of the season so please look out for announcements but for now I want to thank Darren for everything he has done for the club and congratulate him for reaching this special milestone.”