Merthyr Tydfil F.C.
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| Merthyr Tydfil | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Merthyr Tydfil Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | The Martyrs (formerly The Lilywhites) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1945 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Penydarren Park Merthyr Tydfil Wales (Capacity 10,000) |
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| Chairman |  Wyn Holloway |
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| Manager | Garry Shephard |
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| League | Southern League Premier Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007-08 | Southern League Premier Division, 13th (of 22) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Merthyr Tydfil Football Club is a Welsh football club, based at the Penydarren Park ground in Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan. The team currently play in the Southern League Premier Division.
They are unrelated to the town's previous football club, Merthyr Town, who played in The Football League during the 1920s, but folded in 1934.
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[edit] History
In the 1945/6 season, Merthyr Tydfil were runners-up in the Welsh League, and joined the Southern League. The club were immensely successful in their first few seasons, winning the championship in 1948, 1950, 1951, 1952 and 1954. In the 1947/8 championship winning season, at home, Merthyr only dropped one point against Colchester United and only lost four games all season. However, despite their success, the club failed to be elected to the Football League. The 1950/1 season ended with Merthyr winning the Southern League, the Welsh Cup, the Southern League Cup and the Welsh Challenge Cup.
After bouncing between the various Southern League divisions during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, the club finally won their sixth championship in 1989, making them joint Southern League title record-holders together with Southampton. This time, winning the championship meant promotion to the Football Conference, the fifth level of English football. The club did quite well, finishing 9th in their first two seasons, and then 4th. However, the club went into decline, and were relegated back to the Southern League in 1995, and have remained there since. They should have been relegated a season earlier, but were reprieved when Northern Premier League champions Marine failed to meet the stadium criteria for the league.
Being a Welsh club playing in an English League, Merthyr Tydfil were able to play in both the FA Cup, and the Welsh Cup until the Welsh FA stopped the Welsh clubs in the English pyramid from entering.
The club's best FA Cup performance has been to reach the 2nd round, which they managed in 1946/7 (losing 3-1 to Reading), 1954/5 (losing 7-1 to Bradford City), 1973/4 (losing 3-0 to Hendon), 1979/80 (losing 3-1 in a replay with Chesham United) and 1990/1 (losing 5-1 to Woking). The only time the club managed to actually beat a Football League club in the FA Cup was in the first round of the 1946/7 cup, when they beat Bristol Rovers 3-1.
The club were considerably more successful in the Welsh Cup, which they have won on three occasions; 1949 (beating Swansea City 2-0), 1951 (beating Cardiff City 3-2 in a replay) and 1987 (beating Newport County 1-0 in a replay). In addition, the club finished as runners-up in 1947 and 1952.
After winning the final in 1987, the club were allowed to enter the European Cup Winners' Cup. In the first round, they were drawn against the Italian club Atalanta. The club managed a sensational win in the first leg at home, beating the Italians 2-1. However, the return leg was lost 2-0, and the club were out.
Currently, the club's biggest rivals are Gloucester City. The two clubs have played over 120 times in their history, making it the most played Anglo-Welsh derby in football.
[edit] 2007/2008 Season
Season 2007/2008 brought about many challenges, with the club battling to retain their British Gas Business Southern Football League Premier Division status, and a bitter feud between the Board of Directors and Supporters Trust.
In the FA Cup, The Martyr's progressed to the First Round Proper, where they met former Football League Cup winners Oxford United. A crowd of over 1,000 turned up as Merthyr lost narrowly 2-1 at Penydarren Park.
Towards the end of the season, Merthyr Tydfil FC took a significant step in launching their first official club website (http://www.merthyrfootball.co.uk) with which to market the club, communicate with fans and bring in some much-needed revenue.
The Martyrs finished 2007/2008 in 13th place after flirting with relegation in the latter part of the Southern Football League Premier Division campaign. On the final day of the season league leaders Kings Lynn travelled to Penydarren Park and their 2-0 victory, watched by Merthyr's highest home league crowd of the season (912), confirmed the Norfolk side's promotion as champions.
[edit] Current squad
[edit] Club records
- Record Attendance: 21,000 vs. Reading, FA Cup 2nd Round 1949
- Best league pyramid position: 4th in Football Conference, 1991/92
- Most goals scored in a League Season: 187 in the Welsh League, 1945/46
- Least goals conceded in a League Season: 32 in the Southern League Western Division, 2002/03
[edit] Notable former players/managers
- John Charles CBE (player-manager during the 1970s, formerly with Leeds United and Juventus and a member of the Welsh national team)
Bob Latchford (player, previously with Birmingham City, Everton and was also capped by the England national team)
Tommy Hutchison (player in the early 90's, previously with Burnley, Swansea City and many other teams)- Colin Addison (manager from 1996-8, previously managed Notts County, West Brom, Derby County, Newport County, Celta Vigo and Atlético Madrid amongst others)
- Nathan Jones (player during the mid-nineties, now playing with Yeovil Town)
- Tom Ramasut (player during the 1998-1999 season)
- Leroy Rosenior (manager, previously managed Gloucester City)
- John Relish (manager during 2004/05 season)
- Tim Harris (manager during 2005-2006, previously managed Forest Green Rovers, Cinderford Town and Newport County)
[edit] External links
- Unofficial Club Website
- Full Record of Merthyr Tydfil's League Positions
- Diagnosis Merthyr : Merthyr Tydfil FC Fansite
- Old Merthyr Tydfil: Penydarren Park - Historical Photographs of Merthyr Tydfil F.C. & Penydarren Park.
- Home page of the clubs 'Million Pound Roof' fund raising idea
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Banbury United | Bashley | Brackley Town | Cambridge City | Chippenham Town | Clevedon Town | Corby Town | Dorchester Town | Evesham United | Farnborough | Gloucester City | Halesowen Town | Hemel Hempstead Town | Hitchin Town | Mangotsfield United | Merthyr Tydfil | Oxford City | Rugby Town | Stourbridge | Swindon Supermarine | Tiverton Town | Yate Town |
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Current and former Football League members from Wales
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