CPD Y Rhyl 1879’s dreams of completing a memorable treble in its first season since re-forming have been put on hold after the final of the North Wales Coast Football Association (NWCFA) Intermediate Challenge Cup was delayed.

The tournament was cancelled by the NWCFA on May 16 after it was felt a backlog of matches in the competition made it impossible to finish it by the end of the season.

This followed the abandonment of a first round match on January 15 between Meliden FC and CPD Llanberis Football Club, after a Llanberis player was allegedly the target of a racist comment.

NWCFA had awarded the tie to Meliden, a ruling which Llanberis appealed to the Football Association of Wales (FAW), but the FAW then confirmed that Llanberis dropped its appeal.

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Following this news, the NWCFA opted to resume the competition, with a re-arranged date for the final, initially scheduled for May 21, pencilled in for May 31.

But Rhyl, who have already booked their place in the final, will now have to wait until mid-July to face Bangor 1876, who were due to face Bodedern Athletic in the other semi-final until Bodedern withdrew.

A club statement today (May 26) confirmed: “Due to concerns around safety, it has now been decided by the NWCFA that the Challenge Cup final will be played on either July 16 or 23, during pre-season, with the venue yet to be determined.

“Once we have more information, we will update accordingly.”

Rhyl have already won the North Wales Coast East Football League Premier Division, going the entire season unbeaten, and the Cookson Cup.

Their promotion to the third tier also means the club will not be eligible to enter the Intermediate Challenge Cup next year, either.

Adam Roche, managing director of Rhyl, said: "Firstly, it’s a shame and hugely disappointing that we as a club heard about this change of plan yet again from Grassroots North Wales on social media ahead of any official NWCFA communications, which makes all clubs involved look silly and uninformed. 

"Secondly, this adds additional change and impact to a club run by volunteers, as we have already made pre-season plans and will now have to let teams down that we have agreed games with for July. 

"Thirdly, there are members of the club who have been personally impacted by this additional match date change.

"Our manager, Gareth Thomas, had to cancel his pre-booked holiday for next Tuesday's final; others booked time off work to ensure they could get all the way to the remote location for kick off. 

"We, as a club, have so many questions on how it’s come to this and hope our friends at the NWCFA learn from this and don’t impact any football clubs in a similar vein again in the future. 

"The best thing for all clubs still involved in the 2022 Intermediate Challenge Cup now would be to confirm the final date in July ASAP so we can change our plans (again) accordingly and reduce the impact to everyone involved."