Llanfyllin Town F.C.

Llanfyllin Town
Full name Llanfyllin Town Football Club
Nickname(s) The Magpies
Founded 1885
Ground Cae Llwyn
Llanfyllin
SY22 5BJ
Ground Capacity 100 seated, 1000 standing
Chairman Bryn Thomas
Manager Benji Evans
League Montgomeryshire Football League Division One
2014-15 Montgomeryshire Football League Division One, 4th (of 12)
Website [Llanfyllin Town FC Club home page]

Llanfyllin Town Football Club are a football club from Llanfyllin, Powys. While the Llanfyllin Men's Senior team currently compete in the 5th tier of Welsh football and play in the Montgomeryshire Amateur League Division One, the club field an under 19's youth team in the Central Wales Youth League and the Ladies team compete in the Dave Smith North Powys League.

History

At present the men's first team play in the JT Hughes Montgomeryshire Amateur League Division One, youth team play in the Mid Wales Youth League and the ladies team are current champions of the Dave Smith North Powys Ladies League.

The club was founded prior to 1885 as records show that the club played in the Welsh Cup for the first time in the 1885/86 season beating Wem White Stars 8-0 in the first round before losing to Shrewsbury Castle Blues in the second round. The club also reached the quarter final in 1886/87 before losing to Oswestry Town. The earliest match report found is a 4-0 defeat against a Newtown XI played on 28 November 1886. The earliest photograph discovered was taken in 1899 of Llanfyllin Town Reserves. It is believed that the club were the first in the Montgomeryshire Amateur League to have a manager and possibly the first club in Wales to have shirt sponsors.

The club were winners of the Montgomeryshire Challenge Cup in 1910/11, 1911/12 and 1923/24. After the war the club resumed in the Mid Wales League (North) with a Reserve team in the Montgomeryshire Amateur League. The Mid Wales title was won in 1947/48. The decision was taken in 1949 to play one team only in the Montgomeryshire Amateur League.

The club saw a period of uncertainty from 1957/58 through to 1965/66 when there were only seasons 1962/63, 1963/64 and 1964/65 when a team was entered in competitive football due to various difficulties, play then resumed in the Montgomeryshire Amateur in 1966/67. The 1970s and early 1980s saw a period of considerable success for the club with six Montgomeryshire Amateur League title wins and three runners-up, also Cup success in the Emrys Morgan Cup (winning once and runners-up twice), the League Cup (winning once and runners-up four times).

Promotion was gained to the Spar Mid Wales League in 2000/2001. The club won the Central Wales F A Challenge Cup, for the first time in its history in season 2006/07, when as underdogs beat Cymru Alliance side Guilsfield in the Final. In recent years, the club has been managed by Martyn Digwood, Alwyn Jones, Mario Iaquinta, Ian Furness and Graham Evans. Following a club decision to take voluntary relegation from the Spar Mid Wales League down to the JT Hughes Montgomeryshire Football League, Graham Evans departed as Manager and Benji Evans took charge in June 2013.[1] The club reached the final of the 'Llanfechain Knockout' summer competition in August 2013, but a narrow 2-1 defeat to local rivals Llanrhaeadr denied the Magpies of the first sign of silverware for seven years. After the long wait, Llanfyllin Town FC won the Tanners Town Cup in May 2014, having defeated Waterloo Rovers and Llanfair Utd on route to the final. Llanfyllin beat Newtown based side, Maesyrhandir F.C 4-2 AET in an entertaining final. A top 6 finish in the league completed a productive 1st season back in the Montgomeryshire Football League. The 2014/15 season saw huge improvements and development at the club. Following a slow start to the season, Llanfyllin went on a 11 game unbeaten run, only to fall short and finish the season in 4th place in the league, 9 points behind champions Bettws. The club had a successful run in the Emrys Morgan Memorial Thophy, scoring an impressive 15 goals on route to the 5th round, before losing to an impressive Cardigan Town side who went on to win the competition. Further development at the club at the start of the 2015/2016 season saw an Under 19's Team established. Following a local demand in the area to develop a platform for youth players, the club decided to establish an under 19's to provide opportunities for local players to develop. The youths are set to play in the Central Wales Youth League. A great start to the 2015/16 season and after waiting 15 long years, Llanfyllin Town finally regained the 'Llanfechain Knockout' Cup by defeating Waterloo Rovers 4-1 in the final. Benji Evans stepped down as Manager on 5th September 2015. Following a 4-1 home victory over Caersws Reserves, Evans highlighting that increased commitments at work was the main reason for his decision. Stuart Jones was soon appointed as the new Manager to work alongside the ever present Calum Vaughan who remained Assistant Manager.

Club Honours

References

  1. ↑ http://www.countytimes.co.uk/news/123666/llanfyllin-quit-senior-football.aspx

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, September 13, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.