Cwmbrân Town A.F.C. Explained

Clubname:Cwmbrân Town
Fullname:Cwmbrân Town Football same Club
Nickname:The Crows
Founded:1951
Ground:Cwmbran Stadium
Capacity:10,500 (2,200 seated)
Chairman:Marc Herbert
Manager:Dale Clark
Website:http://www.cwmbrantownafc.co.uk/
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Cwmbrân Town Football Club is a Welsh football team based in Cwmbran, South Wales, that competes in the .

The Crows were formed in 1951 when Whiteheads AFC disbanded. After playing in junior leagues the club switched to the Welsh League in 1960, moving to Cwmbran Stadium in 1975.

In 1978 Cwmbrân Town finished bottom of the Welsh League Premier Division and were relegated, in 1981 the Crows finished 16th but in 1982 won promotion to the Premier Division. In 1986 Cwmbrân Town became full members of the FAW and were chosen as one of 14 Welsh clubs to participate in both the English FA Cup and FA Trophy.

History

Formed in 1951, Cwmbrân Town 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 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. 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 championship brought European reward in the form of a UEFA Champions League tie against Cork City from the Republic of Ireland. In the preliminary round, Cwmbrân won the home leg 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 Național București of Romania, and Celtic respectively.

In the 1999–2000 Welsh Cup final Cwmbrân lost to Bangor City, and in 2002–03 Barry Town defeated them in the final in a penalty shoot-out. In the 2003–04 UEFA Cup they lost 6–0 on aggregate to Maccabi Haifa of Israel, playing the away leg in İzmir, Turkey.

Financial problems (2006–2007)

The 2003–04 season saw the introduction of a new manager, Brian Coyne, who had previously managed Newtown. But his reign was short, and during the 2004–05 season after the resignation of long term chairman John Colley, Brian also decided to step down as manager due to financial reasons. For the rest of that season Cwmbrân were managed by former player Sean Wharton. For the next two seasons, in difficult circumstances Wharton looked to local talent to try to avoid relegation. At the end of the 2005–06 season, Town were close to dropping out of the Welsh top flight for the first time since the League's formation. Cwmbrân 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. But at the end of the 2006–07 season Cwmbrân were relegated for the first time from the Welsh Premier League into the Welsh Football League. They finished in 17th place and were ultimately relegated following a 5–1 defeat by Llanelli AFC on 20 April.

The season's 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 30 November the club announced officially that it was unable to pay its players. A few 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 club. Wharton resigned at the end of the season.

Post Welsh Premier League relegation and Welsh League Football (2007–2011)

Season 2007–08 saw the club install a new manager, Guillermo Ganet; but his reign was short: he only stayed with the club for one season and then left by mutual consent. A year later the experienced Gary Proctor became as manager, but relegation from Welsh Football League Division 1 followed. For the 2009–10 season the club had a new management team of Barrie Hughes and Gareth Kedward. With a completely new squad, the team finished fifth from bottom in Division 2, and because of the league restructure, demotion to Division 3 followed. Another relegation followed at the end of the 2010–11 season, and Hughes resigned mid-season.

Gwent County League (2011–present)

Manager Mark Parfitt and assistant Jamie Jenkins built a new squad for 2011–12 using local players and managed a creditable third 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: the team were fighting for the league championship until four defeats in the last five games resulted in a seventh-place finish.

The Crows appointed former Cwmbran Celtic FC manager Steve Morgan for the start of the 2014–15 season, but after a bad run of results with no wins in the first eight games, Morgan resigned. 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. Howells left the club, and Ryder took over as manager for the 2015–16 season.

Season 2015–16 started so well on the new 3G pitch at Cwmbran Stadium winning more than usual; as the season ended, the Crows avoided another relegation, finishing in 12th place, with the league restructuring relegating 4 teams from the Gwent County League.

For 2016–17, Ryder brought in Gareth Hinwood as his assistant manager and a host of new players from Cwmbran Celtic FC, finishing the season in eight position, despite being the league's leading goal scorers; it was the other end that let the team down. In 2017–18 Ryder and Hinwood had added quality to the squad, with a real hope of achieving promotion to the Welsh Football League. Ryder hit a bad patch over the Christmas period losing three games in succession resulted in him resigning, leaving the Crows in sixth position and Hinwood taking over as caretaker manager for the final ten games, but Hinwood also stepped down with three games remaining.

In April 2018, at the end of the season, Nicky Church was appointed manager with Della Cheedy as his assistant. The club finished the season in 4th place.

The 2018–19 season proved to be the Crows' strongest of recent years. The squad was enhanced with experience and talented youth players and although the Crows cemented 4th place again in the league, the club won the Gwent Senior Cup for the fourth time, beating a very strong Ynysddu Welfare side in the final 1-0 and claiming their first trophy in over 13 years.

On top of this, the Club endured a very strong showing in the Welsh Cup getting to the 2nd round proper eliminating Afan Lido of the Welsh League First Division before eventually being knocked out by Ton Pentre, losing 2–1 at Cwmbran Stadium.

An unbeaten league run of 17 games topped off a very successful season for Cwmbran Town.

The 2019–2020 season was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic bringing a premature end to Nicky Church's reign as manager. Town secured a mid table finish due to a points per game outcome. Dean Taylor was appointed as Church's replacement in May but only lasted a few weeks in the job leaving for Abergavenny Town.

Lee Waddon replaced Dean Taylor in June with Wayne Jepson stepping in as assistant manager.Lee only lasted a few months then stepped down.

DARK DAYS- lack of players and Lee stepping down week before the season started looked like the end of the crows, crises meeting led to the Appointment of former Newport County Defender Darren Jones. Not before the team played 2 games against Pill home and the worse result a 20–0 away loss.

Darren appointed Jon Mardon as his assistant and started to build a team, 2021/2022 was a long hard season surviving reliagation by just 3pts.

2022/23 New club President Dan O'Connell brought a new lease of life, so Darren bought in quality players and started winning games more regularly new hope of getting out of Gwent county seen them finishing in 4th position.

2023/24 Darren Jones stepped down with a host of people interested in taking the hot seat it was former Newport County coach Danny Elliott who got the job. Danny brought in Dominic Broad and Damien Broad former crows and Pontypridd players to help. With the league about to start Danny left for Abergavenny, this was met with a swift appointment of Steve Davies another Newport County coach taking the hot seat, with a mixture of youth and experience players things are looking exciting.

Honours

Senior

Youth

League record

!Season!Competition!Position!PLD!W!D!L!F!A!GD!PTS
1967/68Welsh League Division Two1st3226241564211454
1968/69Welsh League Division One7th3419411103634042
1969/70Welsh League Division One2nd32215661392247
1970/71Welsh League Premier14th3461018527220-22
1971/72Welsh League Premier16th348719407737-23
1972/73Welsh League Premier10th331351551565-31
1973/74Welsh League Premier7th341411961421939
1974/75Welsh League Premier16th348917386224-25
1975/76Welsh League Division One2nd34209564343049
1976/77Welsh League Premier14th3481214243713-28
1977/78Welsh League Premier18th3431219287143-18
1978/79Welsh League Division One15th348818345319-24
1979/80Welsh League Division One18th3416273510166-8
1980/81Welsh League Division Two16th3811423637815-26
1981/82Welsh League Division Two2nd32208477275068
1982/83Welsh League Division One8th321381160481247
1983/84Welsh League National12th3010416405010-34
1984/85Welsh League National15th324919438744-21
1985/86Welsh League National5th32167968432555
1986/87Welsh League National3rd32188660312962
1987/88Welsh League National5th342041057362164
1988/89Welsh League National14th329617435916-33
1989/90Welsh League National4th30193855332260
1990/91Welsh League National9th30116136358539
1991/92Welsh League National7th30111275142945
1992/93League of Wales1st38269369224787
1993/94League of Wales8th38169135146557
1994/95League of Wales5th382071169492067
1995/96League of Wales7th401415115849957
1996/97League of Wales9th401981371611065
1997/98League of Wales5th38227978473173
1998/99League of Wales3rd32176972442857
1999/00League of Wales3rd34216771373469
2000/01League of Wales2nd34242871343774
2001/02League of Wales7th341741366531355
2002/03Welsh Premier League9th341481151391250

European record

SeasonCompetitionRoundOpponentsHome legAway legAggregate
1993–94UEFA Champions LeaguePreliminary round 1 Cork City3–21–24–4
1997–98UEFA Cup Winners' CupQualifying round 1 National București2–50–72–12
1999–2000UEFA CupQualifying round 1 Celtic0–60–40–10
2000UEFA Intertoto CupQualifying round 1 Nistru Otaci0–10–10–2
2001–02UEFA CupQualifying round 1 Slovan Bratislava0–40–10–5
2003–04UEFA CupQualifying round 1 Maccabi Haifa0–30–30–6

Stadium

Cwmbran Stadium holds 10,500 people and the main outdoor arena consists of an international standard athletics track and field surrounding an artificial 3G football pitch. The complex has an outdoor floodlit artificial playing surface for football and hockey.

Squad

[1]

Notable former players

Coaching staff

PositionName
Manager Steve Davies
Assistant manager Wayne Jepson
First team coach John Mardon
Player / coach Dominic Broad
Physio & Kit Manager Mark Cook

Club officials

PositionName
Presidents Dan O'Connell / Jennifer Drury
Chairman Dylan Lee
Secretary Mark Cook
Treasurer Cheryl Herbert
Website Editor Steve Thomas
Youth Chairman Mark Williams
Youth Secretary Ian Smith
Youth Treasurer Robert McGrath
Safeguarding & Welfare Officers Rhiannon Fisher/ Kate Banks

Youth set up

The club has a large and very successful youth structure at various age groups. All youth sides are based at Pen-y-Lan playing fields in Cwmbran, Torfaen. The Club holds a very popular mini festival tournament each year which is attended by many clubs around the Gwent area.

PositionName
Under 6 coach Alex Guest
Under 7 coach Ben Jukes
Under 7 coach
Under 8 coach Tom Humphrys
Under 8 coach
Under 9 coach Scott Smith
Under 9 coach Owen Llewellyn
Under 10 coach Jonathan Larcombe
Under 10 coach Emma Lewis
Under 11 A coach Lee Manley
Under 11 A coach Daniel Davies
Under 11 B coach Mike Board
Under 11 B coach Steve Board
Under 12 coach Matthew Robinson
Under 12 coach Cori Britton
Under 13 coach Joe Little
Under 13 coach Richie Bowen
Under 14 coach
Under 14 coach
Under 15 coach
Under 15 coach
Under 16 coach Ian Smith
Under 16 coach Anthony Barlow
Under 18 coach Matthew Evans
Under 18 coach Marc Berriman
Under 9 Girls Mark Williams
Under 9 Girls Donna Rees
Under 14 Girls Reggie Al Haddi

Managerial history

!Dates!Names!Notes!Honours
1968–1969 Kenny MorgansPlayer Manager
1991–2003 Tony WilcoxLeague of Wales (Welsh Premier League) Inaugural Winner: 1992–93Welsh Cup Runner-up: 1997, 2000

Welsh Premier League Cup Runner-up: 2001

Office Interiors Welsh League Cup Winner: 1990–91

Gwent Senior Cup Winner: 1994–95, 1995–96

2003 Roger GibbinsCaretaker managerWelsh Cup Runner-up: 2003
2003–2005 Brian Coyne
2005–2007 Sean WhartonGwent Senior Cup Winner: 2005
2007–2008 Guillermo Ganet
2008–2009 Gary Proctor
2009–2011 Barrie Hughes
2011–2013 Mark Parfitt
2013–2014 Jamie Jenkins
2014–2015 Steve Morgan
2015–2016 Andrew Howells
2016–2018 Matthew Ryder
2018 Gareth HinwoodCaretaker manager
2018–2020 Nicky ChurchGwent Senior Cup Winner: 2018/19
2020-2021 Lee Waddon
2021-2023 Darren Jones
2023-Present Steve Davies

Miscellaneous

Club record appearances

!Name!Position!Apps
James 'Jimmy' BlackieDefender378
Pat O'HaganGoalkeeper350

Top scorers

SeasonPlayerGoals
1992–93 John Powell12
1993–94 Andrew Clissold9
1994–95 Andrew Mainwaring28
1995–96 Andrew Mainwaring17
1996–97 Mattie Davies Simon Dyer2715
1997–98 Simon Dyer Mattie Davies2722
1998–99 Chris Summers Mattie Davies2120
1999–00 Chris Summers28
2000–01 Mattie Davies Jodie Jenkins1918
2001–02 Craig Hughes16
2002–03 Chris Summers10
2003–04 Chris Summers21
2004–05 Jason Welsh14
2005–06 Kaid Mohamed11
2006–07 Jodie Jenkins12
2007–08 Jean Black Ngody10
2008–09 Rob Fowler8
2009–10 Steve Hughes12
2010–11 Kristian Powell13
2011–12 Chris Ham20
2012–13 Luke Thomas19
2013–14 Luke Thomas32
2014–15 Chris Pike9
2015–16 Luke Thomas19
2016–17 Owen Llewelyn33
2017–18 Owen Llewelyn21
2018–19 Owen Llewelyn22
2019–20 Dan Pritchard7*

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Squad 2017/18 . Cwmbrân Town AFC . 7 June 2018 .