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One of the most successful and exciting football clubs in south Wales over the past four years is run by a man, who by his own admission, does not know much about football.

Back in 2019, Dave Evans went to watch son Jack play football on a wet and miserable night in Trethomas, when he was approached by coach Lee Moore and club president, Gerwyn George (Speedy).

“I got on great with the pair of them”, Dave said. “They floated the idea of getting involved in the club to me, but I told them I didn’t know much about football”, he added.

What Dave did understand however, is how to run a business. The financial advisor soon met-up with first team manager Mark Dunford and his assistant Adam Raymond.

“They asked me to become chairman and I realised I’d have to look at it from a commercial point of view.

“I told them I’d do it for five years, with a set of goals we needed to reach within that time. I also told them that if at any point I was doing a bad job, to let me know and I’d step down.”

Quite the opposite of a “bad job” however, Dave has overseen the Bluebirds’ fairy-tale run these past few years, where they’ve won a league cup, the Amateur Trophy, and most recently topped the Ardal South East and gained promotion to the Cymru South.

“It’s been a collective effort. I always like to thank the people who came before us and gave the club the platform to build on. I can’t take credit for any of the football because I leave that to the coaches.

One of the first and ongoing missions for Dave and the committee was to make the club sustainable.

He explained: “I’ve been very open and transparent with everyone involved at the club since day one. Whether that’s the players or the parents, running a football club is not cheap.

“I think by taking that approach its helped us in two ways. Firstly, we see a real buy-in from everyone. We ask for £120 a season in subs, but you get some parents who pay more because they know how much it all costs.

“That then leads to a connection between the community and the club, which for me is paramount in the long-term sustainability of Trethomas Bluebirds.”

As well as a lot of money, it takes a lot of time to run a football club, as demonstrated when Dave opened his binder full of documents, receipts, and spreadsheets.

Due to their success last season, the Bluebirds have expanded into an U16s and youth section in another attempt to increase the long-term viability of a club founded in 1903.

“Stringer (Alun Griffiths), has been amazing with the 16s. The parents can’t sing his praises highly enough and the boys love him too”, Dave said.

“My other boy, Tom, plays for them. He’s quite shy so for me its great to see him out there enjoying himself,” he added.

At a combined cost of around £30,000 per season for the 16s, youth, and reserves though, the club has relied on the success of the first team to grow.

Dave said: “We pride ourselves on being as professional as possible. Whether that’s having all age groups training with the match balls, wearing the same gear, training on a good pitch etc.

“This does come at a cost however, and without much in the way of grant funding we need to get people through the gate on matchday and sponsors to buy into the brand.

“At the Llanelli match we took £1,000 on the gate and I think around £1,200 for Barry Town. It helps, but I’ve always said to be involved in a club has to be a passion project because the money isn’t there.”

One passion of Dave’s and the club’s is to return to Trethomas, as the firsts and youth currently play their home matches at the Centre for Sporting Excellence in Ystrad Mynach due to league standards.

“We know realistically that isn’t going to happen because of how much money would need to be spent on improving facilities in the village, but it would save us about £20,000 a season.”

To deal with all these challenges, the club has brought in Chris Wind and Dave Walters to help with planning and decision making, whilst Julian Farmer has been running the Bluebirds’ growing social media presence.

One other man who has been vital to the project over the past few years is former Manchester United and Cardiff City defender, Derek Brazil.

“Derek has been a great source of experience for both me and Mark [Dunford]. He also raises the profile of the club.

“We’ve really built a great culture here. I always say it’s more like a men’s self-help group who happen to play football. I’ve made some friends for life these past few years.

A recent example of this culture was at a meeting attended by Caerphilly Observer at the start of the season between Dave and parents of potential U16 players.

In an open floor Q&A session, the chairman, along with first team manager Dunford, spoke to the mums and dads about the vision for the club, explaining the potential pathway through to the firsts.

“It’s about making sure we grow piece by piece so the foundations are strong for whoever comes next. There can’t be a single point of failure.

“Who knows what the future holds. It’s such an exciting time for us, we’d love to get a girls team going for example, there are lots of options.

“I know I said I’d only stay five years, but I’d find it very difficult to walk away now. I think I’d be lost without it.”