New season. New era. New leader. Allen takes the helm at Aber TOWN Ladies.

The club are delighted to announce that experienced Coach and Manager, Gavin Allen has agreed terms with Aberystwyth Town Ladies for the 2021-22 season. Gavin is the current Club Head of Coaching, and has also been involved with the men’s first team for the past 3 years; including being appointed Manager of the Cymru Premier side during 2020-21. Following his resignation last month, Gavin has been weighing up various options for a new challenge and fortunately for the Ladies, he decided that the Welsh Premier Women’s League was the way forward.
 
Gavin told us: “In my role of Head of Coaching at the club, I’ve already been semi-involved with the women’s team for the past two seasons. In that time, there’s been huge changes in terms of development and player pathway following the addition of a Girls Development Centre, U10s through to U19s. The club have been more supportive than ever of our women and girls’ section, at a time where women’s football is on the up. It seemed like the right time for me to make this move, to take on a completely new challenge and build on the structures already in place to ensure that our women’s team become more competitive in the WPWL. I’ll be focusing heavily on recruitment over the summer, as well as putting together a robust pre-season programme to properly prepare the team for the league start in September.” 

Gavin is a current UEFA Pro Licence candidate, and upon completion of the course later this year will be the first ever WPWL Manager with this qualification. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience earned from his prolific background in both playing and coaching at a high level. Gavin first joined Aberystwyth Town as a player in 1996 after his release from Tranmere Rovers. The former Wales Under-21 international went on to score 113 goals in 238 appearances during three spells with the club over a nine-year period.

Club Chairman, Donald Kane has commented: “ATFC are delighted to appoint Gavin Allen as Manager of the Ladies Premier side. Gavin is certain to bring a huge amount of expertise, experience and organisational background to the Ladies set up. As a club, we are optimistic that we can thrive in the reformed league set up next year. With the new age groups added to the Girls Development Centre, the future looks very encouraging for us and it’s something that will benefit further from Gavin’s coaching and managerial skillset.”

We also asked Ladies Captain, Caroline Cooper for her views on the appointment: “I am very excited at the prospect of working with Gavin Allen this coming season. He has the ability to relate and connect with us with his knowledge, passion and experience in the game. This in turn will inspire us to believe in ourselves, develop our football skills and perform to our full potential. This is going to be a great time to be involved in ladies football at Aberystwyth Town FC.”
 
The club would also like to thank Andy Evans for his hard work and dedication in the past two seasons as the Manager, and we wish him all the best in his new role with the club. We have no doubt he will do well, and look forward to being able to work with him again in the future.