He signed for Manchester United in 1985 and became a prolific scorer in the Youth and Reserve teams, playing alongside the likes of Lee Sharpe, Lee Martin and Russell Beardsmore. This young, highly promising group of players became known as “Fergie’s Fledglings.”

Deiniol made his first team debut in October 1987, as a substitute in a League Cup 2nd round tie away to Hull City. He then made his full league debut in a 2-1 defeat away to Wimbledon. However, he was only to make another two appearances for the first team including an FA Cup tie away to QPR when he scored in a 2-2 draw.

A broken arm sustained in a youth team game against Bury restricted his appearances for United and resulted in a £50,000 transfer to Barnsley in August 1991. From then until 1994, he made 42 appearances for Barnsley scoring 2 goals. Short spells followed at Preston, Carlisle United, Stockport County, Scunthorpe and Halifax Town, before Deiniol moved into non-league football.

He played for Dagenham and Redbridge and a number of teams in Wales. However, he will forever be remembered in these parts for his successful time with Emley. In 1996-97 he was the club’s top scorer with 29 goals, the second highest that season in the Unibond Premier League.

The following season, Emley went on an FA Cup run which brought them to the attention of the national media. Deiniol played an important role in the qualifying rounds scoring in the 3rd and 4th Qualifying Rounds against Belper and Nuneaton Borough respectively.

In the FA Cup 1st Round replay, he scored a penalty in the shoot out which resulted in victory against Morecambe in front of a crowd of 2,439 at the Welfare Ground. Further success followed in the 2nd round as they were drawn away to Lincoln City. An 84th minute goal by Deiniol appeared to have given Emley victory. However, they were thwarted by an injury time equaliser. Victory followed however for Emley in the replay at the McAlpine Stadium to set up a 3rd round trip to West Ham United.

Although Emley lost the game 2-1, they gave the Premier League side, which included the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard, a real fear of one of the greatest FA Cup upsets of all time. Playing alongside the speedy Glynn Hurst in attack, Deiniol caused the West Ham defence problems throughout the 90 minutes.

In an interview prior to the West Ham game, Deiniol explained that “Manchester United was the highlight of my career. It was the club I looked up to when I was a youngster, so to go and play for them was a dream.” However, he also pointed to the achievements he had experienced with Emley, especially as they were all part-time players. During that FA Cup run, Deiniol was working as a labourer on building sites.

Since retiring as a player, he has had two spells as manager at Llandudno FC and has worked as a Football Development Officer in Conway.

See Deiniol as part of the Manchester United Legends here at Emley on April 5th. Buy your tickets online here, in person at The Wentworth (opposite the football club) or phone 01484 506940