Date Published: Tuesday, 24th October, 2023 - 10:40am by Adam Angerer
Following his appointment as First Team captain and U18s coach at the start of the 2023/24 season, John Disney boasts a wealth of responsibilities on and off the pitch. A current unbeaten run of 10 league games gives The Nomads a brilliant chance of reaching the top six come the end of Phase One in the JD Cymru Premier.
The midfielder has already racked up 1,439 minutes across all competitions this season, having only missed out on a home fixture against Bala due to suspension as he continues to play a huge role in hopes of yet another European journey with The Nomads.
The Nomads have had a busy past few weeks, seeing off Caernarfon 4-1 at The Essity thanks to Jordan Davies’ hat-trick in the JD Welsh Cup before the unbeaten run continued with a 1-1 draw with Bala and most recently, a terrific 3-0 victory away to Pontypridd last Saturday which keeps Nomads in second, chasing league leaders TNS.
Here, Disney speaks to Adam Angerer on how he is willing to continue giving it his all as club captain, why a togetherness within the group has impacted a brilliant run of results and also the bright future of our U18’s squad.
"Receiving the captaincy after a top player, great person with a lovely family and club legend like George Horan is a privilege in itself but even more so when it means I am fortunate to lead this set of lads. It is something I am of course proud of personally and I’m thankful for the manager and his backroom team, the players and the fans for making it an easy and natural transition for me but collectively I would say we have a number of leaders who are willing to continually learn in our group that means everything is a collective and the only difference for myself is I wear an armband on matchday.
Disney continued: “The manager and all of his staff are very diligent in all areas of the work they cover on each and every opponent e.g. the manager traveling to games watching each opponent live and then delivering relevant sessions with Macca and Jonah on the pitch and then off the pitch we have video analysis with Gomez to ensure every single game we go into, we as players have the best detail on how to implement our plan and where we can hopefully exploit the opposition”
The Nomads suffered defeat in both legs of their European campaigns and Disney admits this was a setback, however the captain is proud of the response he has seen in and out of training since the start of the domestic season. Disney highlighted the “togetherness” of the whole group and how winning games brings everybody closer.
“I think keeping morale and team spirit high when winning is much easier than after disappointing results. The togetherness of the group was clear especially after the European ties and that during setbacks, we will all stick together no matter the outside noise. You see that from players who may not have started as much as they would like too, they all come off the bench or back into the side if there are suspensions or injuries and the team’s performance levels don’t drop, that’s down to keeping standards high in training every session and always demanding more from each other in the right way”
The Nomads began the season with two losses from their first three games but since then have gone on to score 29 goals in 10 unbeaten games with Disney bagging his first goal of the season in a 4-1 victory away to Barry Town. The Nomads are now edging ever closer to confirming their status in the top six, sitting 12 points above 7th place with just nine Phase One games remaining. Disney states how himself and the lads are keen to keep up this fantastic unbeaten run and go into every game with the correct mindset to hopefully qualify for Europe for the 8th time in 9 seasons.
“I think due to the preparation we get ahead of the games from Gibbo and the staff already mentioned, alongside the fact we have a number of players playing at a high level is the reason for our current unbeaten run. Togetherness of course helps but a lot of squads have togetherness so it doesn’t always mean it generates results. We as a whole are confident that if we turn up in the right mindset and perform as we can we are more than a match for each team we play. Two recent draws against Aber and Bala are frustrating because we felt we did enough in both games to get three points but we are playing against good sides and clubs every single week, so we have no right to win every game, we have to earn it. Challenging for Europe through the league and/or cup competition has been this clubs aim for the last 7 years”
Disney was appointed as a coach for our U18’s side back in July, meaning the 31-year old can now use this opportunity as part of his UEFA A license and with Disney being at the club for almost 8 years, he described this as “the perfect fit”. Our U18s have won three, lost three and drew one in the Cymru Premier Development North and have also progressed in the FAW Youth Cup. First team manager Neil Gibson has also provided opportunities for youngsters, coached by Disney with names such as Noah Sumner, Mason Parry and Lucas Gregson all appearing in the first team squad in recent weeks. Disney claimed this was a “proud moment” for the academy stars and their families.
“The club have been great with me by asking me to do a role that fits around me still playing, which is most definitely my priority for as long as possible but helping/advising the younger lads is something I have always looked to do so the coaching role with the U18s whilst doing my A license is a perfect fit”.
“Since I came into the role in July, I have been really impressed by the standard of the players who remained from last year and also the new players in the programme. To see 15 and 16 year olds playing in an U19s league shows great development and learning for them individually and I don’t think there is a better place to be as young player as the coaching they receive from Macca and then with a first team manager like Gibbo and his proven record of bringing players into the first team, the pathway is clear for everyone to see - highlighted by Noah, Mason and Lucas all deservedly being involved in the matchday squad for the last few games. It was a great moment for them and their families when both Noah and Lucas made their debuts for the club, the whole first team congratulated and clapped them into the changing rooms and this is hopefully the start of many more occasions like this”
You can watch Disney and The Nomads in action this Friday night against Caernarfon at The Essity Stadium as The Nomads look to continue their impressive record against The Cofis, which has also included two wins this season, a 4-0 win in the reverse Cymru Premier fixture and a 4-1 triumph in the JD Welsh Cup.
The captain had his say on Friday’s clash: “Caernarfon are a great club with a number of very good players and threats, they have a fantastic fan base and sometimes over the years playing in front of a bigger crowd has got the best out of us. Of course I am not delusional or deflective when I say we are hoping to get a good result on Friday but that will only happen if we are at our best and have the correct mindset going into and during the game”
Get down to The Essity Stadium this Friday to watch us take on Caernarfon with a 7:45pm kick off. If you can’t make the journey down, we will be providing live match updates across our Twitter and Instagram pages.
