The upsurge in female football in the county owes much to the yeoman efforts of Emily Ardran, who quite happily admits that she has never been a player but loves her role as an administrator in Pembrokeshire's oval ball game.
 
Emily is both chairman and Hon Secretary of the Pembrokeshire Women and Girls Football League - and doubles up as the Hon Secretary of the Johnston Girls football team, coordinating all the organisation needed at under 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 levels - no small task.
 
Not content with that little lot, Emily is the Ladies' Coordinator of Football at the Conygar Bridge Meadow Stadium with Haverfordwest County and until she stepped down last October she was the administrator of the West Wales' Girls Performance Centre, situated in Carmarthen, before it was moved to Swansea and then Neath, which made the travelling almost impossible to sustain.
 

Family matters

 
Emily hailed from Tavernspite before moving to Narberth and then Haverfordwest, where she lives with her partner Brian Kelly, a doughty Scot who enjoys his role as a coach in the local girls' football set-up.
 
Brian is a great supporter, along with Emily's mother Vicki and sister Gina, whilst daughters Bethan (21) and Cerys (18) have both played the game.
 
Indeed, Emily first got involved in football because her daughters wanted to start out in football so she took them to training at Neyland with Paul Thomas before he decided to step down - and when a number of the girls said they wanted to carry on she decided to get involved.
 

Glenn and the rest are great at Johnston

 
She had to think about a venue and since Johnston was a fairly central point she decided to ask that club if they would take on a girls' section.
 
"I was very lucky that I approached Glenn Murray because he was brilliant at Glebelands'" Emily told us, "and has given us total support from the outset.

"Debbie Wise was also really helpful as the Women's and Girls' Football Development Officer and at first we had just two teams and managed to muddle our way through the season quite well.
 
"I've just learned as I've gone on and we now have every age group from under eight to under 16 - and all play in the traditional Johnston colours of gold and black.

"I had great help at the time from Nev Williams, whose daughter Kelsey was playing, plus Mandy Williams, whose girls Beth, Alice, Megan and Annie were all involved as players.
 
 

Noisy training in the sports hall

 
“Some of the coaches have come and gone but we are lucky to have such great help as we all meet at Glebelands on Thursday evenings in the spring and summer, plus at the sports hall at STP School during the dark winter months.
 
“At the sports hall they have the under 8s to under 12s from 6-7pm with Brian Kelly taking charge of the youngest players, Niall Delaney looking after the under 10s - and Paul Ribbon and Mike Canton working with the under 12s.
 
"The kids are all very enthusiastic and noisy and we have great fun, as we do in the second hour when the father and son duo of Denny and Bradley Barrett coach the under 14s and 16s.
 
"We play all our home matches on Sunday mornings and over the years we have won our share of silverware - but we place emphasis on just enjoying being involved in the game and when you say about it being hard work you just have to look at the enjoyment and it is all worthwhile."
 

Class acts at the Conygar . . .

 
As if that isn't enough work for Emily, she is also very busy at the Conygar Bridge Meadow Stadium, where the ladies' team trains on Wednesdays at the Bridge Meadow second pitch (when it isn't flooded!) - and at the floodlit Astroturf at STP School from 8-9pm, also on Wednesday.
 
"We have just one team, with ages ranging from 16 to late 20s, and they play in a tough division that includes Swansea City, Pontarddulais, Swansea University, Dafen, Cwmgwendraeth and, a little closer to home, Camrose. It means a great deal of travel but there is a great camaraderie amongst the girls and the coaches."
 
"We recently played away at Swansea University at Sketty Lane and the girls showed their talents before being pipped 5-4, when they deserved at least a point for their efforts, with Niamh Mathias and Kaycee Blake amongst the scorers.
 
"We have some very talented players that come from as far afield as Fishguard, Pembroke Dock and Tenby, and are coached by Brian (Kelly) and Byron Woodward.
 
"Again we have had wonderful support from the likes of David Hughes and Barry Vaughan as the chief administrators, plus Wayne Jones and Steve Batty, who really show an interest as coaches.
 

Qualified coach – and BTech-bound!

 
When Emily was in school she enjoyed gymnastics and ballet, and later on coached gymnastics at Bloomfield in Narberth - and although Emily might not have been a player herself she has qualified as a football leader and is about to start a BTech course in football management run by Jo Price, who is a Welsh international goalkeeper.
 
Back on the Pembrokeshire League Ladies' and Girls' League front Emily receives great assistance in terms of managing the fixtures from Dan Brodie but she deals with all the queries about registration or discipline, which fortunately are kept to a minimum.
 
She would say that she loves all she does and derives great pleasure from just being involved but football people like Glenn Murray would say that Emily is a great ambassador for Ladies' and Girls' football in our county.
"We couldn't manage without her at Johnston," Glenn admitted.
 

Wonderfully deserved recognition

 
It is nice to report that Emily's efforts were deservedly recognised by her winning a special 'Grass Roots' award from the Football Trust, which she received through the post, along with an invitation to attend a Welsh match at the Cardiff City Stadium, the post-match buffet and introduction to the crowd.
 
She would say that it was very nice but that she gets far more out of what she does than she actually puts in to football's administration in our county.
 
Be that as it may, there is no doubt that Emily Ardran represents all that is good in her sport and we can only say, long may she continue to advance the cause of female football in Pembrokeshire!