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Having won the Ardal South East and gained promotion to the second tier of Welsh football, Trethomas Bluebirds manager Mark Dunford sat down with Caerphilly Observer to review a truly historic season.

Since Dunford joined the Bluebirds as first team manager three seasons ago, the club has grown from strength-to-strength, winning a trophy each season until securing the ultimate prize of promotion to the Cymru South only a few weeks ago.

From early on in the season, it was clear the Bluebirds, who play their home games at the Centre for Sporting Excellence in Ystrad Mynach, were to be a force in the Ardal South East.

Across three competitions and 42 matches, Trethomas lost just four games, with their first league loss coming as late as April.

The Bluebirds ended the season with a staggering total of 78 points, scoring 100 goals and conceding just 25.

Pre-season

Going back to pre-season in the summer of 2023, Dunford was asked how he prepared his players after a season in which they lifted the FAW Amateur Trophy, but fell just short of a playoff spot.

He said: “The first battle we had to deal with was retaining the players we wanted to keep. Losing our captain Tom Rutherford at the time felt like a really big loss.

“He was a big player for us and a real leader who helped us lift two trophies. Ultimately these things happen though and we looked to get the right player in to replace him.”

The club ended-up signing midfielder James Saddler from Pontypridd United, who had bags of experience having played in the Cymru Premier.

“James came in with a great pedigree and allowed us to build and maintain the squad we had. We were really pleased we could find such a quality direct replacement.”

Asked about how he and his management team of Matthew Jones and Adam Raymond have maintained such high standards from the outset, Dunford said: “It has taken time to get to where we are now. I always say we took the stairs not the elevator.

“When I arrived there was a lot of work needed at the club. When I commit to something, I’m fully invested, so I knew a change in the culture was needed to get us where we needed to be but it wasn’t going to be a quick fix.

“I like to think I set the culture myself and with the management team around me. If I’m giving everything I’ve got to make this work then the expectation is that you do the same.

“Amongst the players there’s an expectation to be there for every training session and team meeting. Even if someone is injured they’re there just to be part of the squad. It’s been great to see and a pleasure to coach.”

On the pitch, Dunford explained how there were changes too, and praised assistant coach Matthew Jones for the work he put in during the off-season to allow the Bluebirds to better control games.

“When I first arrived at the club, the first thing I identified was that we were conceding too many goals. In year one we got that number down to 29.

“Last season we reduced that to 26 now this season 25. It shows how much we’ve improved off the ball but this past off-season we focused on looking after the ball in possession and killing games once we took a lead.”

Dunford’s philosophy has paid-off; his side have a 70% win rate across all competitions since he took over.

Key victories

Looking back at the season, Dunford was asked where he thought Trethomas picked up some crucial wins.

“I remember we were away to Undy early in the season – a fixture we always seem to get – and going a goal down. We changed shape and won that one 2-1 which felt important.

“Treowen home was another big one early on. They’re a side we all expected to be up there come the end of the season and to beat them 2-1 was huge to keep things rolling.

“We rolled a few teams early on and started to understand how good we really were.”

Dunford was also asked at what point the ‘invincible’ season crossed his mind, as with six games left in the league the Bluebirds had still yet to lose a game.

“I think it was always there but we probably couldn’t believe we were in such a position. We bumped into a Goytre team at full tilt but saw the loss as taking the monkey off our back and really focusing on winning the league.

“We played Undy in the next game and beat them comfortably 6-0 to get ourselves back on track which was a big help.”

With Newport City breathing down their neck, the Bluebirds had a very difficult final few games of the season.

Starting with Risca ‘away’ at their shared home, Trethomas secured a crucial three points with a 5-0 thumping before travelling to Caldicot – a ground where they’d never won at under Dunford.

“Caldicot was the one where I look back on and think ‘wow what a win’. After being three goals up, those final 20 minutes were the most difficult of my career.

“We’d had no success at Caldicot since I’ve been a manager here and to go there and battle to win 3-2 with just two games remaining was massive.”

In their penultimate game of the season, the Bluebirds faced a stiff test away to Treowen Stars – another ground they’d struggled to win at in recent years.

A victory however would secure the league title.

The Bluebirds didn’t blink; and beat their Caerphilly Borough-based rivals 3-0 to lift the Ardal South East league title and gain promotion to the Cymru South.

“It was an amazing feeling after such a long season. Everyone was over the moon because it was no mean feat the way in which we did it.

“Credit to Newport who pushed us until the end. There was a lot of relief there from me when we got it done.”

The future

It’s a pretty quick turnaround for the Bluebirds, who will play their first competitive match on July 18.

Dunford said he will have the players back in training from June 15, adding how he is already planning and looking at how they can be best prepared for the new campaign.

He said: “We’re not under any illusions, we know it’s going to be a very difficult challenge up against some quality opposition, but we’re really looking forward to the challenge and representing the area.”

The Bluebirds are going to have to do it without their star man – this year’s golden boot winner Levi Rees – who is leaving the country for work.

“Levi is going to be a huge loss of course, he’s scored 46 goals this season which is ridiculous really.

“We’re already looking at who we can bring in to improve the squad and we’ll most likely be making some announcements in the near future.”