Technogroup Welshpool Town F.C.

Technogroup Welshpool Town
Full name Technogroup Welshpool Town Football Club
Nickname(s) Lillywhites
Founded 1878 (as Welshpool Town)
Ground Maes y Dre Recreation Ground
Welshpool
(Capacity: 3,000 (257 seated))
Chairman Vacant
Manager David Jones
League Spar Mid Wales League
2010-11 Cymru Alliance, 16th (of 16)
Home colours
Away colours

Technogroup Welshpool Town F.C. is a football team, based in Welshpool, playing in the Spar Mid Wales League.

The club was founded as Welshpool Town F.C. in 1878 and plays at the Maes y Dre Recreation Ground, Welshpool, which accommodates 2000 spectators (257 seated).

The team's first choice strip is white shirts, black shorts, and white socks. The second choice strip is blue shirts, shorts and socks.

Contents

History

Founder members of the Cymru Alliance in 1990, finishing second in 1993 and 1996. As champions Oswestry Town were not eligible for promotion, Welshpool took their place in the League of Wales in the 1996-1997 season instead, finishing 17th.

Next season Welshpool Town were relegated and stayed in the Alliance until winning the competition in 2002 to regain Welsh Premier status. In the 2002/2003 season they finished next to bottom, but appealed against relegation to the FAW, because Neath were denied promotion as they failed to meet Welsh Premier ground criteria. To the surprise of many, they were reinstated in the League for 2003/2004.

In the 2005/2006 season, the club finished 6th in the Welsh Premier League, their highest finish in the league to date.

In September 2008 the club officially changed its name to Technogroup Welshpool Town F.C. to incorporate their sponsors name [1]

Successive relegations

Due to the Welsh Premier League restructure, the club lost their place in the top flight after not applying for a domestic license. Life in the Cymru Alliance got off to a disastrous start as, after picking up just 4 points from their first six games, they were deducted 15 points for fielding ineligible players.

Manager Graham Evans resigned shortly afterwards, three months into the job, citing a breakdown in relations with the Chairman. Guilsfield's boss, Mike Barton, took the reins with the team on -11 points. However, just a month into his reign, he too quit the club. A further three points were deducted for the club failing to fulfill the fixture at Penrhyncoch.

Connah's Quay striker Chris Herbert moved to the club for his first job in management. Over the remaining months of the season, Herbert completely restructured the playing squad and results improved slightly. His efforts weren't good enough to prevent the club's second successive relegation, but they did get back into positive points before the end of the season. However, on the final day, a suspended John Keegan appeared in the starting line-up and the club forfeited another three points, ending the campaign rock bottom on zero points.

Fighting Back

In the summer of 2011, the club's sponsorship agreement with Technogroup ended and the side reverted to the name of Welshpool Football Club. Due to the impact this had on the finances, the club opted to become fully amateur and manager, Chris Herbert, took up the position of Assistant Manager of Rhyl FC.

The club appointed Reserve Manager, Adam Knight, to the position of Manager following his side's success in the Montgomeryshire Amateur League Division 2. The club's existance was thrown into jeopardy when Knight resigned two weeks before the season and the club had no registered players. However, the Spar Mid Wales League agreed to postpone the club's opening three fixtures to allow time for a new manager to be appointed.

Local players David Jones and Neil Breeze took control of the side and, against all odds, pulled together a team in time for the opening match with title favourites Montgomery Town FC. The start to the season has been indifferent due to the upheaval, but the future of the club looks very bright with the influx of local talent.

Biggest victories and losses

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
GK Garry Foster
GK Neil Breeze
DF Carl Phillips
DF Mark Bloom
DF Iain Brailsford
DF Jason Jeffries
DF Alex Parry
DF Scott Jones
MF David Williams
MF Paul Smith
No. Position Player
MF Michael Henderson-Smith
MF Richard Morgan
MF Ryan Floyd
MF George Clifton
MF Michael Hooper
MF Martin Flood
MF Tom Gethin
MF Damian Fahy
FW Andy Smith
FW Dan Jones
FW David Jones
FW Russ Teale

External links

References