PICTURE by CPD Llanystumdwy FC

ONE of Llanystumdwy FC’s greatest ever goal scorers has returned to the club in a player-manager capacity ahead of the new season.

Sion Parry has been one of North Wales’ most prolific goal-getter over the last few years and now he returns to where it all began with the club who will play in the North Wales Coast West Division One (tier five) next season.

The 24-year-old striker has already bagged 279 goals in his senior career to date – a statistic that very few could rival at such a young age.

His senior career began when he made his debut for Llanystumdwy on his 16th birthday and it was with that club that he would go on to earn himself a great reputation.

In that season, he scored seven goals and followed that up with 18 more in 2013/14 to earn himself the club’s top scorer and the Gwynedd League’s joint-top scorer prizes.

However, it was the 2014/15 campaign which was a truly memorable one for both Stumdwy and Parry. That year, he hit a crazy 56 goals in all competitions (again earning the club and league top scorer prizes, as well as the Player of the Season accolade for Stumdwy) as his side won the Safeflue Shield (5-1 v Y Felinheli).

The following season, Parry, then 18 years old, left to try his luck with higher league Porthmadog. However, he admits that, despite scoring the winner on his debut v Holywell, he ‘wasn’t ready’ for the step up at that time.

Having also played for Port Reserves that season (scoring 11 goals), he then moved back to Stumdwy a few months later during the 2015/16 campaign and ended the campaign with 31 goals there – again finishing as the club and the Gwynedd League’s top scorer as the club won the NWCFA Intermediate Cup for the first time in its history with a 3-0 win over Llandudno Albion in the final.

In that game v Albion, Parry was the hero as he netted all three goals to land Llanystumdwy the Intermediate Cup for the first time in its history.

2016/17 saw Parry try his hand at higher league football again with Penrhyndeudraeth, but a month or so into the season, he returned to Llanystumdwy once again. That turned out to be a wise decision for the player as he went on to hit another 38 goals for the club come the end of that campaign, winning the club and Gwynedd League’s top scorer prizes for a fourth time.

The 2017/18 campaign was Parry’s most prolific for date as he scored an incredible 60 goals for Llanystumdwy to finish as the club’s top scorer and division top scorer for a fifth time and also earned himself the GL Player of the Season award for the first time.

He departed Dwyfor Park in 2018/19, having scored a very impressive 210 goals in 170 appearances for Llanystumdwy over the years – making him one of the club’s greatest ever players.

2018/19 saw Parry take on a new challenge – in the Welsh Alliance Reserves League with a truly formidable Porthmadog Reserves side. Having been a coach alongside Sion Eifion Jones with the club’s under 18’s and 19’s side previously, Parry pulled on the boots to play for Jones’ Reserves (as well as Port’s first team in tier two) at Y Traeth that season.

With the second string, Parry scored 49 goals as they went the whole season unbeaten and won the league and Lock Stock Challenge Cup double. He also scored twice for the first team.

The 2019/20 season saw Parry start out at Port’s first team, before moving on to Gwynedd League champions Bangor 1876. In a campaign cut short by the Coronavirus, he scored nine goals for the club – despite only joining in January 2020.

Ahead of the 2020/21 campaign, Parry made the switch to Nantlle Vale, who will play in the newly-formed Ardal North West League (tier three). There, he was breifly re-united with Sion Eifion Jones who had managed him at Porthmadog Reserves and was appointed manager at Vale in 2020.

But, having played friendlies for both Vale and Llanystumdwy in pre-season over the last few weeks, Parry has now decided to move back to the club where it all began for him in senior football nearly nine years ago.

He should prove to be an unbelievable signing for Dylan Parry’s side.