Juan Ugarte Retires

If you know who he is great, if you don't, i'd introduce him as the Wrexham / football league goal machine of the 04/05 season. The clubs first Spanish player (?), with a goal tally up at around 25 in 30 appearances (league and cups - with 5 in one game) in 04/05. After a triumphant day, and scoring the winner, in the Millennium Stadium in April 2005 he would only make 3 more appearances for Wrexham FC. His injuries would never recover, and on Wednesday he took the decision to retire from the game, this is his farewell letter to the fans and club:

Firstly - thank you all very much!

I would never have thought I was going to be in this situation, but I have to say that I'm retiring from football. The football club and I have agreed to cancel my contract by mutual consent.

My hamstring won't let me give 100% to play professional football and that's why I am taking this decision.

After speaking with Brian Little, and I have say that he is one of the best managers I have worked with in my career, we thought that this was the best option, because he can now bring in another striker that, hopefully, will score a lot of goals and help the team stay up.

As for our supporters, the only thing I can say to you is "Thank you very much". You have been absolutely fantastic to me, even if I haven't been able to do for you what I would love. You made me feel I was in the best team in the world. The day we won the LDV Vans Trophy is going to live with me forever, because, without a doubt, it was the best day of my life.

So thanks again to you the supporters - I love you all!!!

Thank you very much also to Denis Smith and Kevin Russell because they were fantastic to me, and that season I scored all of those goals is going to stay as the highlight of my career. That is why I was working hard, because I wanted to have those feelings back.

Thank you also to all the players, including the YT's, that I have played alongside, with a special mention to Matty Crowell - I wish him all the best in his career that I am sure is going to be good.

Thanks a lot to all the staff, especially Brian Little, because they have been fantastic to me.

Thanks to Mel Pejic for being so patient with me.

All the best to Wrexham FC for the rest of the season and I hope we stay up!

Wrexham will be in my heart forever. Love you all!

Juan Ugarte

It's not often a player gets to sign off on such good terms, I thought it worth a post in it's own right.

I only saw Ugarte score 2 goals, and I only saw him play in 3 full matches; but one of those matches, and one of those goals was that Millennium Stadium final. A trophy which in the July 2005 was paraded around the Racecourse by Juan and Co., alongside Steven Gerrard & Co.'s big shiny trophy at the Pre-Season Liverpool friendly; they'd won something in Europe that season...

Cynics would say; he was a striker paid for doing what he did. Fair comment, but this was Juan Ugarte, who early on in his time at Wrexham was placed amongst the legends (he even had his own mug made and on sale in the club shop the week after his 2 goals against Chester!). "He came from Real Sociedad, and made the Chester sad"; Thanks for the memories.

Lust for Senior Knock-Out Twittering

Despite a valiant effort, Italian Costantino Rocca at Conwy Golf Club, couldn't find what was needed to win the European Tour Senior Welsh Open on Sunday. Great to see the course packed out with spectators for such a big event, and Sam Torrance play the course. Was also good to see nobody completely ripped the course up! Save Mr Quiros, scoring a new course record "64" off the back tees! My turn to play the course with the exact same setup as the weekends event tonight, as I go into the 3rd round of the Club Championship Knock-Out - it's a hard and long enough road getting to Round 3, now the course is setup at pretty much it's hardest setting...

So what else? Wrexham sign Eifion Williams, formiddable striker, who i hear can also play left midfield, so maybe the talk of Wrexham being top heavy with strikers isn't entirely true. I hope Juan Ugarte makes a full recovery from his injury / surgery complications though, if not, with regret, he'd have to go. What a striker when 'on it' though...

Twittering on... Ive added my Twitter badge/widget to this site, a kind of mini-blog I have open on my desk at work which only allows 140 characters, sort of SMS style, to just blog quick thoughts and stuff... i'll twitter away in that from time to time, it's down the right hand side.

That's about it for now... oh, I heard Travis' new track last night on the drive home, it's shit (like it was gonna be amazing or something). It's Iggy Pops "Lust For Life" drum beat slowed down with just terrible guitar and lyrics over it. The track started with no introduction or indication as to who or what it was, and I honestly thought, cool, a slowed down "Lust for Life", how's this going to work, could be interesting. No, it's just some middle of the road guitar band, with some bastard moaning on about his 'genes'. No apologies, it's shite.