This season has seen Cawley Cox score his first FA Cup hattrick against Torpoint, a first senior national league north hattrick away to Worksop and subject to the most viral tweet in the clubs history, backed up by a Southern League winning promotion last season. Not a bad first 12 months for a youngster who was initially brought into the club by Paul Michael in January 2025 to back up a flying front three of Rees, Simpson and Twamley.
One thing Merthyr is starting to become known as is a club that nurtures young talent, whether that be with lads coming through the academy system such as Aaron Harris, Jayden Bourne and Charlie Caswell or players that Paul Michael has brought into the club with some shrewd scouting such as Ricardo Rees, Lewys Twamley, Cole Jarvis and of course Cawley Cox.
The club picked up Cawley following a successful stint in the Hellenic Premier with Hereford Pegasus in 23/24, where he was the clubs top scorer (and 2nd top scorer in the league) with 24 goals before playing 3 pre season games for Merthyr and scoring twice. At the time Paul Michael said “Cawley has impressed us, but at this moment he needs to continue playing regular senior football and maintain the momentum he built up from his 2023/24 season”. Maintained the momentum he did as he returned to play for Westfields, scoring 19 goals in 24 games before being snapped up by Merthyr in January 2025.
Cawley’s debut came off the bench against Dorchester in early January 2025 and he finished his four month stint in the Southern League South with 4 goals. Whilst that can easily get lost in the numbers that Ricardo Rees and Kane Simpson put up (33 & 20 goals respectively), what it doesn’t account for is the importance of those goals. His first league goal was away at Marlow, where he came off the bench to score a 76th minute winner in a narrow 1 – 0 win, before his goal away at Wimbourne Town on 15th February secured a hard fought point for the Martyrs in a 1- 1 draw.
These were significant points in not only keeping Merthyr’s momentum as they pushed for the title but more crucially, were one of a number of deciding factors come the end of the season where the Martyrs only finished 3 points ahead of AFC Totton – take away these 4 points that Cawley earned and we would have finished in the playoffs and who knows what would have happened……
I caught up with Cawley to find out how he is finding his time at Merthyr and his aspirations for the future;
Fresh off the back of your hattrick at Worksop [at the time of writing], you must be really pleased as to how the past two seasons have gone. How have you found the step up from Hellenic Premier to Southern Premier South and then National League North? Has it surprised you how quickly you have adapted in such a short amount of time?
“The last two seasons have been amazing but there is still a long way to go this season. I’ve learnt so much from the staff, teammates and opposition and had some really good moments, obviously promotion last year being the most notable.
It is a big step up, the game is much quicker and more physical, but training with the quality of players that we have every week has helped massively and everyone holds each other and themselves accountable for their standards in training and games.”
When you played in 24/25 pre season (scoring 2 in 3 games), did you feel you had done enough to get an opportunity & did Paul’s positive feedback spur you on further despite returning to Westfields? Scoring 19 goals in 24 goals at Westfields before being snapped up by Merthyr 6 months later must have been a real boost for your confidence.
“Pre season 24/25 was a great experience and showed me the level I had to be at. I put a lot of hard work in before pre-season started and I felt good, but I think in the end, the loan worked out well and I came back full of confidence and ready to prove myself.”
How good has it been to hear the fans praising you online and chanting your name at games? Has that given you an extra bit of confidence to go out and play your game and helped you settle?
“The fans have been amazing, home and away they’re always behind us which definitely helps and it has definitely helped me settle in and feel part of the club. The fans came up with a chant almost straight away and it’s always nice to hear them singing it, it definitely gives me and the boys an extra confidence boost when the fans are behind us.”
Come on then – what did you think of THAT tweet which the last time I looked had over 950k views & 400 comments worldwide?
“Haha I knew this question was coming! Yeah that tweet was mental, had so many of my mates messaging about it and as you say it got a fair few views on socials. It does make me laugh when I hear the fans shouting it on the terraces and seeing it on socials.”
Favourite Merthyr moment or goal so far?
“Favourite moment has got to be promotion last year, was such an amazing feeling for everyone involved with the club and was great to celebrate it with the fans on the pitch, that was a great moment.
As for goals, I’d say my best was Darlington at home this season, but my favourite is either my first goal for the club away at Marlow last season or my 3rd goal against Worksop as it secured the 3 points and the *match ball!” *I can confirm the club sorted Cawley out with a match ball after it was taken at Worksop by a member of staff*
It’s amazing what you can find on YouTube – 14 years ago your father uploaded a freekick you scored age 7 for Hereford City. Now seeing where you are in your career (which may or may not have surprised you), where does Cawley Cox see himself in 5 years….?
“Yeah wow that’s a throwback, it’s always nice to look back at the journey so far and reflect on how far I’ve come but I also don’t ever want to be satisfied with where I am, I always want to push for more and see what I can achieve. At the moment I’m loving my football, playing with some great players and coaching staff, and for a great club.
Hopefully in 5 years, I’m still enjoying my football and scoring goals. I’m really ambitious and always want to push and test myself so we’ll see what the next 5 years holds. Obviously everyone wants to test themselves and wants to play at the highest level possible, at the moment I’m just taking it a season at a time and focusing on finishing as high as we can this year.”
Obviously training and playing with the calibre of players at Merthyr since you joined must have rubbed off on you, particularly as a striker and working with attacking players like Ricardo Rees, Kane Simpson, Lewys Twamley etc. What has it been like training & learning off players like that & then being able to take that onto the field?
“Yeah you’re spot on, playing with the quality players we have has been massive for myself. As you say, playing with forwards like Ric, Twammers and Kane has been a great opportunity to learn off different players and improve parts of my game as a striker, but I’ve learnt bits from everyone, the squad is so full of talent. Although it’s not fun chasing the likes of Jack and Kieran around the training pitch, I know it’s making me a better player! The standard of each session is so high and everyone demands such high standards that it benefits everyone.”
One thing that is constantly talked about on the terraces is your work rate & how you run yourself into the ground each game. Is this something that has always been a part of your game or something that has evolved over time?
“Yeah I’ve always been a hard worker on the pitch. My mum and dad always instilled in me that no matter how you are playing you can always give 100% and that’s something I’ve kept to, for me it’s a non negotiable. When fans are spending their time and money to watch the games, the least they deserve is 100% effort.”
Being a Hereford lad, I consistently see a number of Hereford fans online saying that you are one that has slipped through the net from their perspective and the club should have taken a chance on you before Merthyr swooped. How nice (or not) was it to play against them in front of a sold out Penydarren Park, despite the late equaliser?
“Yeah it was a nice moment playing in a sold out Penydarren Park. It was obviously gutting not to take all 3 points, but it was definitely a nice moment to look back at, especially after living in Hereford for so long.”
Obviously the gaffer & staff must have had a big influence on you since you signed, but what do you think has been the biggest positive and/or in your development so far?
“The Gaffer, Smudge, Craig and all the staff have been great ever since I walked through the door last pre season. They are always trying to push all of us to improve on the pitch and they’re great off it too, supporting us.”
A big thanks to Cawley for his time and we look forward to what the rest of the season has in store!
UP THE TOWN
Gavin Burns
