Newport County A.F.C.

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Newport County
Badge of Newport County
Full name Newport County Association
Football Club
Nickname(s) The Exiles/The Ironsides
Founded 1912 (reformed 1989)
Ground Newport Stadium, Newport
Capacity 4,300
Chairman Flag of Wales Chris Blight
Manager Flag of England Peter Beadle
League Conference South
2005-06 Conference South, 18th
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
　
Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
　
Away colours

Newport County are a football team based in the city of Newport. They currently play in the English Conference South.

They were founded in 1912 and joined the Football League's new Third Division in 1920.

Newport were Welsh Cup winners in 1980 and subsequently reached the quarter finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup, but were relegated from the Football League in 1988. They failed to see out their first Conference season and went out of business in February 1989, but were reformed three months later.

Contents

[edit] The Football League years

[edit] Rise through the league

After starting out in the Southern League in 1912, the club were first elected to the Football League in 1920. After almost twenty years in Division 3 South, the club finally clinched promotion to Division 2 as champions in 1939.

[edit] Second Division Disaster

Unfortunately, this coincided with the outbreak of the Second World War, and only three games were played that season. 'County' managed a respectable 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur and a 3-1 win over Southampton, finishing joint 9th out of 22 in the abandoned season. On the resumption of association football after the war, the club didn't fare so well, suffering their record defeat at the hands of Newcastle United. Despite victories over the likes of Coventry City, Sheffield Wednesday and Fulham, the club needed four wins out of the last four games to have any hope of safety. Despite a revenge victory over Newcastle United, defeats to Birmingham City, Luton Town and Manchester City sealed their fate, and County finished rock bottom of Division 2 and were relegated. However during this lean period, Newport did reach the 5th round of the F.A. Cup in 1949, the furthest they have gone in the competition.

[edit] Life in the basement division

After eleven further seasons in Division 3 South, the club narrowly avoided another effective relegation with the creation of League Division 4. The bottom twelve teams from Division 3 North & South were placed in the new division, with the remainder forming a new Division 3. County avoided this fate by a mere four points. However in 1962, with only seven wins all season, the club were to play in Division 4 — their home for the next 18 years. In the 1972-3 season Newport missed out on promotion only on goal average.

[edit] Promotion, cup glory and European run

The 1980s heralded both the brightest and darkest moments in the club's history. Len Ashurst was Manager from 1978-1982, the club's most successful period. In 1980, promotion was finally achieved from the Football League 'basement', the club only being 5 points from being crowned champions. The team included a young John Aldridge who later became one of the most prolific goal scorers in English football history. This was also the year that County won the Welsh Cup, entitling them to play in the European Cup Winners' Cup the following season. The cup run turned out to be quite eventful — the first round against Crusaders of Northern Ireland was won 4-0 on aggregate (4-0 at home and 0-0 away). The second round against Haugar F.C. of Norway was even more convincing, after a 0-0 draw away, the home leg was won 6-0, taking the club into the quarter finals against Carl Zeiss Jena F.C. of East Germany. The quarter final away leg was drawn 2-2, with Tommy Tynan scoring in the 90th minute, but the club lost the home leg 0-1 in front of 18,000 fans. Carl Zeiss Jena went on to be the eventual runners up. During the 1982-83 season, County finished fourth in Division 3, narrowly missing out on promotion (which was achieved by arch-rivals Cardiff City).

In the 1982-3 season Newport County finished 4th, just four points behind Huddersfield who were promoted to the Division 2. Newport appeared in the 1987 Welsh Cup final, losing 1-0 to Merthyr.

[edit] Freefall and bankruptcy

The decade ended in a rather less glamorous way. Back-to-back relegations dragged Newport from the Third Division to the Conference before they finally went out of business on 27 February 1989. However, in June 1989 a new team was founded and elected to the Hellenic League (some four divisions below the Football League). Since then, the club's main aim has been to regain the Football League status held by the original club.

[edit] The new club

[edit] Exiles succeed in Gloucestershire

Known as The Exiles, they obtained their nickname as a result of the need to play their inaugural season in the north Gloucestershire town of Moreton-in-Marsh at which venue they won the Hellenic 'League and Cup double', winning promotion to the Southern League.

[edit] Return home to Newport

After two seasons back home in Newport at Somerton Park, football politics consigned them to a further two seasons of exile at Gloucester and the club was forced to resort to legal action to protect themselves from being forced out of the English football pyramid. That litigation proved successful, a landmark High Court verdict enabling them to have a permanent home in Newport at the then newly-built Newport Stadium. The club’s first season back in Newport, in 1994-95, saw them promoted to the Southern League Premier Division by winning the Midland Division Championship. That was achieved by a 14-point margin, on the way to that championship, the club set a then Southern League record by winning 14 successive league matches.

[edit] Further progress

Subsequent re-organisation of the upper divisions of non-league football saw County take their place in the inaugural season of Conference South, one of the two feeder divisions into the Conference. As of 2006 the club are now only two promotions away from regaining their place in the Football League.

The club's away following is among the largest outside the Football League and supporters have generally been the source of inspiration. The club is rare in non-league football as many of its fans live far from Newport.

Newport County have established Hartridge Football Academy in partnership with the local authority and the club has a youth development programme as good as any outside the Football League with around 50 students at the Academy. The club operates youth teams in two league competitions and in the 2004-05 season County’s youngsters won the FAW Youth Cup. A number of the present senior squad are Academy graduates.

In the 2001-02 season, Newport reached the first round proper of the FA Cup, drawing Second Division side Blackpool. Holding them to a 2-2 draw away, the home game was drawn 1-1 at the end of normal time, forcing extra time. Ultimately the game was lost 4-1 after extra time, but the club had still held Second Division opposition to two time-limit draws. If the FA Cup had been played with the away goals rule, rather than extra time, County would have gone through to the second round.

In the 2002-03 season, Newport reached the final of the FAW Premier Cup beating Swansea City and Cardiff City along the way before crashing 6-1 in the final against Wrexham.

In the 2006-07 season, Newport again reached the first round proper of the FA Cup but lost 3-1 to fellow Welsh side Swansea City in a spirited effort in which they outplayed Swansea throughout the second half. In the same season, Newport reached the final of the FAW Premier Cup for the second time since the competition's creation, beating Wrexham along the way but lost 1-0 to TNS in the final. This season has also seen an improvement in league form by Newport, with the team consistently in the top half, challenging for a playoff place (top 5), having one of the best home records in the league.

[edit] Honours

See also: Newport County A.F.C. seasons

[edit] History

[edit] Current squad

     

[edit] Notable former players

See also Category:Newport County A.F.C. players
     

[edit] Former Managers

See also Category:Newport County A.F.C. managers

[edit] See Also

[edit] External links

Newport County
v • d • e
The Club | Players | Managers | Seasons
Grounds: Somerton Park | Newport Stadium


Conference South 2006/07

Basingstoke Town | Bedford Town | Bishop's Stortford | Bognor Regis Town | Braintree Town | Cambridge City | Dorchester Town | Eastbourne Borough | Eastleigh | Farnborough Town | Fisher Athletic | Havant & Waterlooville | Hayes | Histon | Lewes | Newport County | Salisbury City | Sutton United | Thurrock | Welling United | Weston-super-Mare | Yeading   edit
Football in England Flag of England
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League competitions The FA Cup competitions
Premier League England FA Cup
The Football League (Champ, 1, 2) (U-21) (B) Football League Cup
Football Conference (Nat, N, S) List of clubs Community Shield
Northern Premier League (Prem, 1) List of venues Football League Trophy
Southern League (Prem, Mid, S&W) (by capacity) FA Trophy
Isthmian League (Prem, 1N, 1S) List of leagues FA Vase
English football league system Records FA NLS Cup
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