BLAST FROM THE PAST WITH ROY SOULE

Roy Soule took up perhaps the most daunting Manager’s role in Town’s long history when he was appointed to The Oval hot-seat with The Canaries playing it’s home games over 100 miles away in Manchester at Curzon Ashton’s National Park back 1993 due to the club’s conflict with the Welsh FA.

Roy casually looks back at the turbulent few months he had at the helm of Town’s battle to stay in the Northern Premier League.

Q: TAKING OVER A CLUB THAT WAS PLAYING IT’S HOME GAMES SO FAR FROM HOME – MUST HAVE BEEN A WORRYING TASK?

RS: It might seem stupid but yes and no. No, it wasn’t worrying that the fact the club for many years had been used to recruiting players out of the Caernarfon and North Wales area so that wasn’t a problem the club would normally train at a location near where the players came from. But the fact that the club was in effect homeless was a problem. The club were using Curzon Ashton’s National Park for home games so Town were losing income from things like the Social Club for an example.

Q: WHAT WAS YOUR VIEW ON THE CLUB’S STAND-OFF WITH THE WELSH FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION?

RS: I don’t think the people that ran Caernarfon Town at that time looked down on The League of Wales or anything like that, they just wanted the right to choose where they wanted to play their football. It’s like someone coming into your house and stating you must cook your bacon as they like it not how you like it, a point of principle.

Q: RESULTS WERE A BIT UP AND DOWN?

RS: On our day we were a match for anyone as the likes of Ashton United and Radcliffe Borough found out to their cost early on that season. Looking back I feel fitness or a lack of it probably contrived to our biggest downfall. There was nothing wrong with the squad I assembled. The major stumbling block was the logistics. The players I inherited were from Merseyside and the players I wanted to sign were from my patch in Manchester. So instead of dragging one group from one city to another, I opted for the halfway plan and train in Warrington. The problem was finding somewhere suitable and the only places that we could find we could only hire for an hour at the most. At NPL level you need a good degree of fitness and anyone whose managed or played at that level will tell you that you need to train for more than hour to be able to compete satisfactory at that level.

Q: DID YOU FEEL YOU WERE STUCK IN A TUNNELL WITH NO LIGHT AT THE END OF IT?

RS: Far from it. Obviously the arguments and disputes with the Welsh FA were out with my control and anyway I had enough to keep my hands full on the football side. I was fully committed to the cause - you couldn’t help but be so once that big White Executive coach pulled up at National Park. Here was a bunch of supporters that had travelled for a home game further than half the grounds they were watching away fixtures on. They were so enthusiastic it was unbelievable. The noise the Town supporters made was unbelievable. There might have been only about 50 or so of them but the players knew they were there alright. Everyone was rallying around to raise cash to keep the club going. There was one guy planning to do a sponsored row from Caernarfon Bay up to the Menai Bridge. That’s some distance in a car never mind doing it in a rowing boat.

Q: ANY GAMES STICK OUT IN YOUR MEMORY?

RS: Two games in particular, the ones I mentioned earlier on v Ashton United and Radcliffe. Ashton we’re going like an express train that season and Curzon Ashton are of course one of their local rivals so their trip to National Park took on a new meaning. Our supporters were taunted with the Gypsies and Nomads jibes but they had the last laugh when we beat them as we did Radcliffe who also had a good side back then and were obviously local too.

Q: HOW DID THE LOW ATTENDANCES EFFECT THE PLAYING SIDE OF THINGS?

RS: Like I said earlier when you saw the infectious Town support pull up in the bus it made you glow within wanting to get a result for them. There was also people coming along for the novelty of seeing what was happening for the sake of it but on the whole I would say the players coped well.

Q: WHAT INVOKED THE PARTING OF THE WAYS OF YOUR TERM AS MANAGER?

RS: To this day I still have respect for the people who ran and supported the club – that won’t change. Football is all about opinions, like I said earlier we were sitting down towards the lower reaches of the NPL First Division and I sat down with the Chairman and we talked about how things had progressed so far and what the future may hold. Perhaps he thought that the team should of have been doing a bit better playing-wise so I offered to stand down if the club wanted to bring a manager nearer to the town.

Q: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE SINCE LEAVING TOWN?

RS: After Caernarfon I spent the next season at Mossley and managed to save them from certain relegation but despite achieving the unthinkable – the Chairman decided to get rid of me I had a spell as Chief Scout. After a spell with Droylsden  that I acted as North West Scout for Rotherham United and latterly with Crewe Alexander. I held the post of Chief Scout with both Grimsby Town and Oldham Athletic before moving to the USA where I’ve been since 1998 coaching Herndon Soccer Youth Academy where I’m Technical Director.

Q: DO YOU STILL FOLLOW TOWN’S FORTUNES?

RS: I follow all the fortunes of all my former clubs. I’ve been checking Town’s fortunes via the internet. Hopefully you will pull through. I visited Caernarfon a few years ago with my Wife for the day. It was a week day although I did pop into The Oval to say hello to a few people.