EXCLUSIVE: Llanfair United boss Lucie Gwilt on Adran Leagues, cup success, and new FAW board role | OneFootball

The newest FAW director – Lucie Gwilt – is also the manager of a team in the second tier of women’s football in Wales.

She has just been appointed to the FAW board, and has already served two years on the FAW Council, elected as Adran North representative in 2023.

She’s the manager of Llanfair United Ladies in the Adran North – and indeed may still be player-manager…although she’s hoping to hang up her boots soon.

“I said I wasn’t going to play! However, I’ve played 90 minutes every game so far this pre-season. As soon as our squad starts to set up, I’m planning on taking a step back.”

Lucie Gwilt on Llanfair United: ‘It’s a very good, together side’

Recruitment in the Adran Leagues can be tricky. The season starts after the English leagues, so players on the England-Wales border might be biding their time and seeing what other offers they get before signing on the dotted line.

Regardless, Lucie isn’t too worried about adding to the squad, which she says is already strong.

“They’re the sort of girls that stay together year in, year out, they don’t leave. It’s a very, very good, together side.”

An uncompromising central defender, Lucie spent several seasons at Aberystwyth Town Women in the Adran Premier before switching to Welshpool Town and then to Llanfair as a player-assistant coach.

She wasn’t intending to take up a management role so quickly, but with her UEFA B Licence, stepped in out of necessity.

“I always said to them, ‘I’d be happy [to step in]; if you can’t find anyone else, I will [do it].’ I was not going to leave the team in it.

Lucie Gwilt in action for Llanfair United (Nik Mesney/FAW)

“So I took it on, and it was interesting. It was difficult at times, because it felt like I was trying at times to focus on my own game, but then also trying to figure out what’s going on around the rest of the pitch. That was quite tough.

“Also, I started as a player, made those friendships as a player, and then all of a sudden, I was making managerial decisions and leaving these girls I’ve made friends with out of the team, having to let people know they weren’t going to be in the 16-person squad. That was quite an interesting transition, but I feel better prepared for it this year.”

‘In my five years at Aber, I didn’t score a single goal!’

And she enjoyed huge success in 2024-25, leading her side to a second-place finish in the league last season, behind Connah’s Quay Nomads, and triumph in the Central Wales FA Cup, beating Berriew 3-0 in the final.

The cup win broke Aberystwyth Town’s dominance in the competition, having retained it for the best part of a decade – and it was a brace from Lucie that helped Llanfair past the holders in the semi-final, as they drew 4-4 and then edged the penalty shoot-out 3-2.

Llanfair United after winning the CWFA Cup

She admits she’s an unlikely goalscoring hero.

“It was nice to be able to score two goals in the semi-final as well – in my five years at Aber, I didn’t score a single one! Then to beat Berriew in the final, local rivals, it was the biggest attendance Central Wales has ever had for a women’s game, and one of the biggest games of Welshpool Town has had at their ground in ten, 20 years. They hadn’t seen crowds like that before. It was really nice to finish off the season.”

That’s not to say Lucie has had a quiet summer. As soon as the season ended, she was immersed in preparation for her wedding to Gavin Allen – manager of Guilsfield in the JD Cymru Premier.

“With my husband in football as well, it’s a couple weeks off then straight back into it again,” she says. “But that’s why we do it – we love it.”