Cwmbrân Town A.F.C.

Cwmbrân Town
Full name Cwmbrân Town Association
Football Club
Nickname(s) The Crows
Founded 1951
Ground Cwmbran Stadium
Cwmbrân
Ground Capacity 10,500 (2,200 seated)
Chairman Gareth Griffiths
Manager Matthew Ryder
League Gwent County League Division One
2016/17 8th (of 16)

Cwmbrân Town is a football team based in Cwmbrân, Wales and play in the Gwent County League Division 1, the fifth tier of Welsh Football.

History

Cwmbrân's place in history is assured as the first ever team to be champions of, and later first to be relegated from the League of Wales.[1] Formed in 1951, Cwmbrân began in the Monmouthshire Senior League, playing their matches at Cwmbrân Park. In 1960 the club joined the Welsh Football League and they moved to their present home at the Cwmbran Stadium in 1975. Cwmbrân lost their place in the top division of the Welsh Football League in 1978 and it took them three years to return to the top level. Although they finished only eighth in the 1981–82 season, they were invited to join the National Division of the restructured League. Cwmbrân finished third in 1986–87 and almost won the title in 1989–90. In 1992 they were invited to become founder members of the League of Wales. Unprecedented success followed when they took the title by five points from rivals and near-neighbours Inter Cardiff, conceding only 22 goals all season and losing only three games (all 1–0).

That inaugural Konica League championship brought European reward in the form of a Champions Cup tie against Cork City from the Republic of Ireland. In the Preliminary Round, Cwmbrân won the home leg by 3–2, after being 3–0 in front but despite going a goal ahead early in the second match they lost 2–1 and went out on away goals. Cwmbrân had another taste of European football in 1997 in the European Cup Winners Cup, having lost 2–1 to newly crowned champions Barry Town in the Welsh Cup final.

Qualifying for Europe again in 1998 and 1999, Cwmbrân met FC Naţional Bucureşti of Romania, and Celtic respectively. In the 2003–04 UEFA Cup they lost 6–0 on aggregate to Maccabi Haifa of Israel, playing the away leg in İzmir, Turkey.

The Welsh Cup final defeat to Barry Town mentioned above has since been equalled on two occasions, in 1999–2000 when they lost to Bangor City, and in 2002–03 when again Barry Town proved too strong, in a penalty shoot-out.

Cwmbran's ground has a capacity of 8,200 and 2,000 seats under cover, however the average league attendance in 2005-06 was 163.

At the end of the 2005–06 season, the Crows were close to dropping out of the Welsh top flight for the first time since the League's formation. The Crows finished in the second relegation position but were saved from relegation due to a lack of teams in the feeder leagues wishing to be promoted. They were not so fortunate in the 2006–07 season, when they again finished in 17th place and were relegated following a 5–1 defeat by Llanelli on 20 April.

Financial problems (2006–07)

The season's respectable on-field performances were overshadowed by off-field financial problems. Towards the end of November 2006, reports surfaced that players were not being paid. The club initially denied this but on the 30th November, the club announced officially that it was unable to pay its players. A few of key players left, including top scorer Jody Jenkins, who joined Haverfordwest County.

Cwmbrân Town received some help from Newport County, who offered a friendly with all proceeds going to the Cwmbrân Town.

Post Welsh Premier League Relegation (2007–Present)

Season 2007–08 saw the club install Guillermo Ganet as manager but his reign was short lived, only staying one season. Although a skillful squad was assembled there was a high player turn-over which ultimately resulted in a mid-table finish. A year later, new manager Gary Proctor was unable to prevent relegation to Division Two.

A third manager in as many seasons saw Barrie Hughes take the reins. However, despite securing 14th place in the division, a league restructure saw the Crows demoted to Division Three. A third consecutive relegation followed with Hughes resigning mid-season.

Manager Mark Parfitt and assistant Jamie Jenkins built a new squad for 2011/12 using local players and managed a creditable 3rd place in Division 1 of the Gwent County League. Season 2012/13 started in promising fashion but a few games into the season Parfitt stepped down and Jamie Jenkins took the hot seat, finishing the long hard season near the bottom.

The following season Jenkins was joined by his brother and ex-Crow Daniel Jenkins and the pair oversaw a good run of results that saw the team fighting for the league championship until four defeats in the last five games resulted in a 7th-place finish.

The Crows appointed former Cwmbrân Celtic manager Steve Morgan for the start of the 2014/15 season but a bad run of results with no wins in the first eight games saw Morgan resign. First Team Coach Andrew Howells stepped into the manager position and was joined by former PILCS manager Matthew Ryder with a third of the season remaining. Together they steered the team to the safety of 14th place. With Howells departing the club, Ryder takes over as manager for the 2015/16 season.

Honours

European record

Season Competition Round Opponents Home Leg Away Leg Aggregate
1993–94 UEFA Champions League Preliminary Round 1 Republic of Ireland Cork City 3–2 1–2 4–4
1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Qualifying Round 1 Romania National Bucureşti 2–5 0–7 2–12
1999–2000 UEFA Cup Qualifying Round 1 Scotland Celtic 0–6 0–4 0–10
2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup Qualifying Round 1 Moldova Nistru Otaci 0–1 0–1 0–2
2001–02 UEFA Cup Qualifying Round 1 Slovakia Slovan Bratislava 0–4 0–1 0–5
2003–04 UEFA Cup Qualifying Round 1 Israel Maccabi Haifa 0–3 0–3 0–6

Notable former players

Biggest victories and losses

Current squad

2015/16 Season

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

No. Position Player
1 Wales GK Brian Gumm
Wales DF Franco Emilio Marino
2 Wales DF Morgan Whittker

{{Fs player|no|pos=DF|nat=Wales|name=Lee McCarthy}} {{F player|no=5|pos=DF|nat=Wales|name=Michael Phillips}}

Wales DF Craig Bourne

{{Fs player|no|pos=M|nat=Wales|name=Daniel Davies}} {{Fs player|no|pos=MF|nat=Wales|name=David Davies}}

No. Position Player
Wales Robert Fowler
Wales MF Aaron Palfrey
Wales MF Jordan Clarke
Wales MF James Vernall
Wales MF Jordan Hill
Wales FW Owen Llwellyn
Wales FW Luke Thomas
Wales FW Chris Pike
Wales FW Rhys Appleby

References

Season Player Goals
1992–93 Wales John Powell
12
1993–94 Wales Andrew Clissold
9
1994–95 Wales Andrew Mainwaring
28
1995–96 Wales Andrew Mainwaring
17
1996–97 Wales Mattie Davies

Wales Simon Dyer

27

15

1997–98 Wales Simon Dyer

Wales Mattie Davies

27

22

1998–99 Wales Chris Summers

Wales Mattie Davies

21

20

1999–00 Wales Chris Summers
28
2000–01 Wales Mattie Davies

Wales Jodie Jenkins

19

18

2001–02 Wales Craig Hughes
16
2002–03 Wales Chris Summers
10
2003–04 Wales Chris Summers
21
2004–05 England Jason Welsh
14
2005–06 Wales Kaid Mohamed
11
2006–07 Wales Jodie Jenkins
12
2007–08 Wales ?
?
2008–09 Wales ?
?
2009–10 Wales Steve Hughes
12
2010–11 Wales Kristian Powell
13
2011–12 Wales Chris Ham
20
2012–13 Wales Luke Thomas
19
2013–14 Wales Luke Thomas
32
2014–15 Wales Chris Pike
9
2015-16 Wales Luke Thomas
19
2016-17 Wales Owen Llewelyn
33
2017-18 Wales
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