Steve shines as Clarbie coach

Steve Brown has done a wonderful job of coaching young footballers at Clarbeston Road which culminated in his under 16 team completing the amazing hat-trick of league, cup and West Wales Cup for their particular age group.
But chat to Steve for a short while and you would be encouraged by his eagerness to see his players get the credit and look at pictures of them receiving their trophies and you would be hard-put to spot him in any of the photographs.

Refreshing honesty

His honesty is equally as refreshing as his modesty, though, because he would readily admit that he was ‘never a brilliant player’ but enjoyed being part of several teams and has certainly found his niche in the coaching set-up.
Yet he started out in coaching youngsters almost by accident when his son Greg started out with Huw Bevan at Clarbeston Road in what both describe as their ‘Kindergarten Group’, a whole heap of eager kids who started out when they were between six and eight and are currently just starting out as senior players at the club. That was in 1992 and there were so many in attendance at the weekly training sessions that he was press-ganged into helping out and roped in to play at full back for the second team, with his last game being played when he was 50.

Still heavily involved

In the intervening years he has remained heavily involved at the club and as well as seeing his under 16 team sweep the board the other coaching area which has given him great satisfaction has been working with Sport Pembrokeshire Disability Officer Angela Miles and the Cleddau Warriors, a group of eager youngsters who have grown in confidence and developed their skills at Clarbeston Road under the watchful eyes of Hue, Steve, Delwyn Lewis and Tom Bevan. His current label at the club is Director of Coaching but he shrugs at the title and says he is just there to help out – and even referees the kids if there is no-one else to do it on a Saturday morning.

Come a long way

It is all a long way from his start in the game in Wiltshire as a nipper where he ended up playing for Marlborough Town, played during his college years in Coventry and had a spell with Porthyrhyd, in Carmarthenshire, when he first moved to West Wales. Then he found his way to Clarbeston Road and as his group of young players developed and were joined by some other talented performers so they began to vie with Tenby and Hakin United. They gave notice of intent at under 15 level when they won their championship and last season, with Steve receiving a great deal of help from Robbie Clarke-Trevis, saw them beat Carew in their final fixture to nudge ahead of Tenby and Herbrandston. Then they took on Tenby in the cup final and after trailing 2-0 at the interval fought back superbly to win 3-2.

Titanic treble tussle and further glory

That nicely set up a West Wales Cup Final at Stebonheath Park, Llanelli, against Llangyfelach, where they again came back from a 3-1 deficit to snatch a 4-3 win. It was a wonderful occasion for the club, players and parents who turned up in droves to give support, and the players sang all the way home on the bus! They were well looked after by the West Wales members and were given the match ball as a memento of a great day.
There was further glory as Clarbeston Road received the ‘Welsh Club of the Year’ award for the second time at a glittering ceremony in Cardiff where Steve joined Huw Bevan, Gareth Jones, June and Phil Harries in picking up the silverware they previously won in 2003. “Another great day for the club,” says Steve with some relish.

Family involvement

That Steve should be involved in sport was perhaps natural because he is part of a sports-minded family that includes wife Elaine, who used to play hockey and still keeps very fit, daughters Lauren and Joanne, both of whom have played their share of sport, plus son Greg, who plays for Clarbie seconds and has already had a couple of games with the first team after being part of last year’s successful squad.
He is currently a EUFA ‘C’ licensed coach, having previously passed his junior leader and junior coach badges prior to that under the guidance of Debbie Wise and Gerry Rigby. The club trains every Monday and Thursday, whilst Saturdays are busy on football again since he runs the second team, whilst Huw looks after the first XI, and he is pleased that they are beginning to come together after a slow start.
Steve is happy to maintain his involvement for as long as he is needed and, as Huw Bevan said, “We are very lucky to have Steve so involved and he is really vital to the club’s continued well-being.” We could pay Steve Brown no higher tribute than that!