To say that Julie is a key member of the back-room staff at The Bridge Meadow Stadium is something of an understatement because she is not only the secretary of Haverfordwest County AFC but is Academy Operations Manager, in charge of the complex licencing needed for the JD Cymru Premier League and also their Safeguarding Officer.Not content with that little lot, however, Julie has also recently started out on the road to becoming a coach and working with the newly-formed ‘Huddle’ group established to encourage girls from the age of four to eleven years old to enjoy playing football.
But at the moment her focus is very much on the heavy work-load in preparation for the new campaign, which has seen The Bluebirds beat Barry Town in the Nathaniel MG Cup and then the boost of a first-match win in the JD Cymru Premier against Caernarvon Town.
Then came the first away match at Bala, where The Bluebirds had a deserved draw, and so it was back to organising all the logistics for that trip so the treadmill begins to roll again!
Started out by accident
Julie started out at Haverfordwest County almost by accident because her three sons Josh (18), Dan (16) and Mason (10) all play football there and it was in a chance conversation at a registration session that she learned The Bluebirds were looking for someone to help then-secretary Barry Vaughan with the increasing number of clerical duties brought about by being back in the top echelon of Welsh Football.
So she had a meeting with Rob and Barry Vaughan - and she was soon installed as Barry’s assistant.
“It was all totally new to me but I enjoyed working with Barry but as the work spiralled because of new computer system ‘Comet’ he decided it was time to retire from his role after 20 years of terrific service and when new chairman Rob Edwards took over I became club secretary – and the work load has increased greatly because of the paperwork for the academy as well as the first team.”
Family matters
Going back to Julie’s sons for a moment, both Josh & Dan are doing well at The Bridge Meadow Stadium, with Josh now able to say that he is the youngest-ever goalkeeper to play in the JD Cymru Premier League and is now on a contract after also being on the bench for a number of matches, including that final match of last season when he came on to make his debut. Josh also plays regularly in goal for the Development Squad and has impressed the coaches with his commitment to The Bluebirds.Then there’s Dan, who plays in midfield and has also recently been able to train and be involved in a friendly with the senior squad after setting out relatively late in the game but soon made an impact and played up a year group at grassroots level to confirm the progress he has made.
Youngest son Mason is following Josh between the sticks but started out in midfield before his age group found themselves without a keeper for one match and he volunteered to go in goal.
He must have impressed coach James Devonald because he was videoed and James sent it off to Swansea City, who immediately offered Mason a six week trial which turned in to a contract shortly after.
One of his most recent matches took place at Manchester City and watching them was Kevin De Bruyne, their world-famous midfielder, who clapped a superb double-save that Mason made.
So Julie has been committed to her three sons’ involvement, the time during lock-down when parents were expected to take their kids to games and there were times that Mason might be playing somewhere like Southampton, which required a nine-hour round trip that certainly tested her commitment – but she did it and is glad she did!
So many jobs to do . . .
Going back to her administrative duties, there is such a high level of focus needed, with so many jobs needing to be done, like posting all the relevant details on the ‘Comet’ system which includes confirming the club’s match-day colours down, checking the number of yellow cards a player has and paying any sanctions in the previous match.
“In the transfer window it has been even busier because I have to make sure that players are registered properly because any glitches can cause problems on the playing front – and I am also responsible for making sure that players’ contracts are completed correctly and that international clearance is in place for anyone coming in from outside the FAW.
“On match days I am at the ground mid-morning, making sure that everything is ship shape before the players arrive and the supporters are allowed back in.
. . . She’s a busy lady!
“As Covid Officer I have had to make sure everyone is distanced properly in changing rooms and elsewhere, temperatures are checked (thanks Ben Evans!), and that players wear masks at the correct times.“I print out the team sheets for officials and the press and after the games I take charge of the gate money, plus the cash from the tea room and the bar, pay the match officials – and make sure that the pizzas arrive for the players, officials and stewards instead of the curry and chips that used to be cooked in the kitchen at the club.”
For away matches, most of which are in North Wales, Julie has to organise the bus and the hotel that they use regularly in Chester, which looks after them in terms of reliability and good meals.
“It is an ideal spot because most grounds are within an hour or so travel and I have been to every match, bar one, and everyone is good as gold – and I feel a bit like a mother hen to all the players!
Working with the club’s juniors
On the subject of safeguarding, it is a role that Julie takes very seriously and everyone in the junior, academy and development teams’ parents has had a letter telling them of her role and availability to help if needed
The variety of work continues with these teams because she is responsible for sorting out fixtures.
“Only this week we have the under 12s, 13s and 14s at home and I make sure everything is sorted for the games which are played at the excellent facility at Ysgol Caer Elen and I give the information to our opponents and organise the referees for all of them.
“The under 15s, 16s and development teams are away and I let all the coaches know what the travel arrangements are so they can contact parents. I try to attend all the matches, home and away so that I can regularly update the ‘Comet’ system – and although it takes a lot of time I have Josh and Dan involved so it’s not too bad.
“Pre-season I organise all the new kit for all of the teams and generally muck in with anything that needs doing, like bunging the kit into the club washing machine early each week!”
Julie’s now involved in coaching too!
As if that is not enough, Julie has now decided she would like to get more involved with coaching and after passing her leaders’ course is now looking to move up to holding a C Licence.She is assisting James Devonald with the girls at under 16 level in the recently-opened girls’ development centre, with Ben Evans overseeing the project for under 12s, 14s and 16s.
“In the main I help with the fitness part as I take the ‘warm-up’ and ‘cool-down’ sessions, as well as learning lots from James during the skills component.”
It is good to report that Julie is full of praise for the support that she has been given from the likes of Barry Vaughan and David Hughes, and now Rob Edwards, who told us,
“Julie is a one-off and a major cog in our wheel that we couldn’t operate without. We say she’s just Julie and there is no one quite like her. Everyone thinks the world of her at Haverfordwest County and long may she stay with us.”
We could pay Julie no bigger compliment than that from her chairman and can only add that we at PembrokeshireSport.co.uk are grateful that she is there to look after us on match days too!
