| Full name | Carnarvon Athletic Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | C.A.C., Old Carnarvon [1] | |
| Founded | 1876 | |
| Dissolved | 1893 | |
| Ground | Coedhelen Ferry Field | |
| President | Sir Llewellyn Turner [2] | |
| Secretary | C. P. Boucher | |
Carnarvon Athletic F.C. [3] was an association football club from Caernarfon in north Wales.
The club was formed in 1876, as a football side from an athletic club founded in 1866, [4] and played 5 matches in its first season, winning one. [5] It played in the first Welsh Cup in 1877–78, losing at home to Bangor in the first round. [6]
After playing in the first two competitions, the club stepped back from the national competition, playing instead in the Northern Welsh Association Cup, which was first played in 1879–80; the club reached the semi-final stage, which consisted of 3 clubs, but did not draw the bye, and lost to Llanrwst. [7] The club went one stage further in 1881–82, but lost to Mountain Rangers of Bangor in the final. [8] It also apparently reached the final in 1883–84, but a protest from Bangor that the C.A.C.'s winning goal came from a foul was upheld, [9] and Carnarvon refused to re-play the tie, instead launching a counter-protest (on the basis that the chairman could not hear the protest, as his club had not paid a subscription fee), which was dismissed. [10]
Athletic re-entered the national competition from 1884–85, and reached the semi-final on its return, albeit after only winning one tie; in the last four, the club lost to Druids at the Racecourse Ground. [11]
The club took over Carnarvon Wanderers at the end of the 1886–87 season, the Wanderers players (including star forward Harry Owen and secretary Humphreys) [12] joining the club afterwards. [13] The Athletic reserve team used the Wanderers name on at least one occasion afterwards. [14]
Despite this boost to membership, the club only entered the Welsh Cup once more, in 1890–91, losing in the first round at home to Rhyl. [15] The last reference to the club is a 4–1 defeat at Bangor in a charity match on 22 April 1893. [16]
The club played in scarlet and black. [17]
The athletic club's ground was at a field close to Caernarfon Castle, on the opposite side of the Seiont, and belonged to one Rice W. Thomas. [18] By 1877 the club was playing on a ground at Bethesda Road, [19] 5 minutes from Carnarvon station. [20] although the club was back at Mr Thomas' field - now called Coedhelen Ferry Field - by 1881. [21] The club moved to The Oval in 1888. [22]
