 | |||
| Full name | Monmouth Town Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Kingfishers | ||
| Founded | 1930 | ||
| Manager | Scott Russell [1] | ||
| League | Gwent County League Premier Division | ||
| 2022–23 | Ardal SE League, 15th of 16 (relegated) | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
Monmouth Town Football Club is a Welsh football club based in the historic town of Monmouth. They currently play in the Gwent County League Premier Division, which is at the fourth tier of the Welsh football pyramid.
Association football was first played in Monmouth as early as February 1870. Regular association matches was played between Monmouth Grammar School and Troy FC (Mitchel Troy). By 1874, both teams had fully converted to rugby, and very rarely played association football over the next few years. At the beginning of the 1888/1889 season. Monmouth Association Football Club were formed. [2] [3] Their first match was a 6–3 win at home to Micheltroy. [4] Monmouth lost their second match 5–0 away to Abergavenny AFC. [5] During their third match, away to Micheltroy, one of Monmouth's players, T. T. Williams, a Monmouth Grammar School pupil, broke his leg during the match. The match was immediately abandoned. Monmouth were winning 2–1. [6] Their fourth match was against a team called "Minstrels", where the Minstrels club played in costume. Monmouth won 5–2. [7] Another match was announced at home to Abergavenny AFC, but it seems this match was not played. No other matches was reported during their first season. It seems Monmouth AFC only played 1 season, as there is no evidence to suggest that the club carried on playing after this season. There is evidence to suggest that an 'association club' was playing in all white at Dixton Road in the town in the year 1906. The Monmouth Beacon of 14 December recalls this and adds a comment about a period when football had been extinct in Monmouth. Indeed, research shows that Monmouth were joint champions of the Monmouth and District League in 1925–26 with Clearwell FC.
The next honour recorded by the Town was victory on the Monmouthshire Senior Cup on the eve of war in 1940, defeating Lovell's Athletic, (aka the Toffeemen) then about to lift the Southern League West title, 3–2 at Monmouth Sportsground which is still home today.
Nearly 20 years later, in 1958, the Town lifted the Monmouthshire Amateur Cup beating Cefn Fforest 3–0 at Pontllanfraith. The following season saw victories in both the Monmouthshire Senior and Monmouth Amateur cups.
Town's only appearance in the FA Cup was a 2nd preliminary round defeat away at Llanelli on 6 October 1945.
Silverware was scarce with wins in the Gwent Amateur Cup in 1984 and 1996 being highlights of many years gracing the fields of Newport and the Gwent Leagues with an occasional foray into the English Forest of Dean and Herefordshire leagues.
More recently the Town were relegated to the bottom tier of the Gwent County just three years ago. The returning Andrew Smith took up the reins and gained promotion in his first season in charge finishing runners up to Rogerstone. At the beginning of 2005–06 season the club adopted 'the Kingfishers' nickname and logo in homage to a peculiar legend outlined later.
The season ended with fourteen match winning run as Town clinched the Gwent County Division Two title ahead of Newport Civil Service.
2006–07 almost saw a repeat but were Town were pipped by Civil for the title. However, The Kingfishers were offered the chance to take the step into the Welsh league for the first time in their history.
With Robin Pick and Barry Burns at the helm The Kingfishers won the Division Three title in 2010–11 and followed it with The Division Two title in 2011–12, Dan MacDonald scoring a remarkable 44 goals.
Their first ever season in Division One ended with a seventh-place finish after topping the table as late as March. The Kingfishers were also finalists in the Gwent Senior Cup for the first time since 1940 but lost out 1–0 to Caldicot Town.
16 times capped Steve Jenkins took over in June 2013 and after reaching the last sixteen of the Welsh Cup on 17 May 2014 The Club clinched the Division One title capping a remarkable rise up the divisions with a 2–0 win at Cwmbran Celtic.
A sixth-place finish was offset by winning the Gwent Senior cup for the first time since 1940 in a stunning 8–0 win against Panteg. During the four rounds Town scored 22 goals with just 2 against.
The club is a member of Gwent County F.A. On 8 August 2011, Monmouth Town F.C. entered into an agreement to be purchased by internet venture fivepoundfootballclub.com. [8] In September 2011 the club established itself as a Community Interest Company, the first of its kind in Wales. The club's rally cry is "Kingfishers All The Way!"
After narrowly missing out on promotion in 2018–19 season and a change of manager, Monmouth Town F.C. announced Scott Russell as the new First Team Manager, Scott decided to leave his role as Goalkeeping Coach at Hereford F.C. to take on his new role at the Kingfishers in June 2019. He will be assisted by Steve Saunders and Dan Chance, both coaches were also at Hereford F.C. before joining the club with Scott. The management's aim for the 2019–20 season was to be competitive and look to take one of the three promotion places into the Welsh Championship (Tier 2), and to help develop the club as a whole and invest time into the impressive youth set up the club currently has. [9]
The main colours for Monmouth Town F.C. are yellow and blue, which have been used throughout their recent history.
The Monmouth Town F.C. crest is a large yellow crest with a blue circle and text. The top of the circle has the name of the club in English, "Monmouth Town Football Club". Prominently positioned in the middle is a picture of the Kingfisher and the numbers 19 and 30 on either side of the bird. The name of the club in Welsh, "Clwb Pêl-Droed Trefynwy", adorns the bottom of the circle.
The Kingfisher Legend
Some local folklore has it that in about 1936 there were extremely bad spring floods on the Monnow and Wye which effectively wiped out all of the Kingfisher nests along the rivers. Until then Monmouth had been a magnet for ornithologists from all over the country to see Britain's most beautiful bird in all its glory. Official government sources from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Timber recorded their alarm at the plight of the Kingfisher population and a detailed study was carried out to assess the damage. Amazingly the only surviving pair of breeding Kingfishers were found nesting in a deflated football that had floated down the Monnow into the Wye and lodged itself with its laces in some branches overlooking the river. It was in the days before the Magic Marker so it could not be proven that the ball had been lost in a game at the Town's sportsground but it was deemed the obvious cause. And so ....one loose shot saved the entire Kingfisher population of the Wye and Monnow rivers.
Monmouth Town F.C. has spent over eight decades playing at Chippenham Sports Ground, located on Blestium Street in Monmouth. The current grandstand was originally sited at the Monmouth Racecourse on Vauxhall Fields and relocated in around 1920.
In August 2014 The Club moved its first team to Pen Y Pound Stadium Abergavenny, to improve their chances of being able to take up any future promotion to the Welsh Premier League.[ citation needed ]
In May 2015 The club aborted their stay at Abergavenny citing a breakdown in the relationship and returned to Monmouth.
Having recently agreed to be purchased by FivePoundFootballClub.com, the Kingfishers can boast one of the most global followings of all Welsh teams. With part-owners that span the entire world, the Kingfishers have recently begun big steps to expand their online presence. Kingfisher TV recently began broadcasting from YouTube. [10] They have also recently had a fan-created sub-reddit created on the online community, Reddit. [11]
The club is incorporated as a Community Interest Company (social enterprise model with assets locked into the company). Having been selected by FivePoundFootballClub as the takeover target of their online investment community, the Kingfishers are currently awaiting for a total investment that will amount to the fan-owned group taking a 51% ownership of the club within 5 years from late 2011. The amateur club had been able to pay its expenses while making a modest profit before the takeover was announced.
Monmouth is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, two miles from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Cardiff, and 113 miles (182 km) west of London. It is within the Monmouthshire local authority, and the parliamentary constituency of Monmouth. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8,877 in 2001. Monmouth is the historic county town of Monmouthshire although Abergavenny is now the county town.
Abergavenny Thursdays Football Club was a Welsh football team based in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. The club was founded in 1927 though several defunct clubs had existed in the town since the mid 19th century. It won the Welsh Football League title on two occasions in the late 1950s where it gained a reputation as one of the strongest teams competing in the Welsh leagues. The Thursdays won its last two titles prior to the founding of the League of Wales in 1992.
Cwmbrân Town Football Club is a Welsh football team based in Cwmbran, South Wales, that competes in the Gwent County League Premier Division, the fourth tier of the Welsh football league system.
Monmouthshire is a county in the south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the south, and Torfaen, Newport and Blaenau Gwent to the west. The largest town is Abergavenny, and the administrative centre is Usk.
Lovell's Athletic F.C. was the works team for Lovell's sweet factory in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales, which played professional football from 1918 until 1969.
Mathern is a historic community (parish) and village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, about 3 miles (4.8 km) south west of the town of Chepstow, close to the Severn estuary, the Bristol Channel and the M48 motorway. The village is designated as a Conservation Area. It is now bisected by the motorway, which passes over the road through the village, with the original village located to the south and the more recent development, known as Newton Green, to the north.
Colin Harper was an English professional footballer and football manager. He played as a left-back, and made 198 league and cup appearances in a 12-year career in the Football League.
Newport Civil Service Football Club is an association football club based in the Bettws area of the city of Newport, South Wales. The team currently play in the Gwent County League Premier Division, which is at the fourth tier of the Welsh football league system.
Aberbargoed Buds Football Club is a football club based in Aberbargoed, Wales. They currently play in the Ardal SE, the third tier of the Welsh football pyramid.
Ruabon Druids F.C. were a football club based in the village of Ruabon near Wrexham, Wales. The club was founded in October 1872 as 'Ruabon Rovers F.C.' by David Thomson and his brother, George, of Ruabon. In 1874 Ruabon Rovers F.C. became Plasmadoc F.C. before changing their name to Druids F.C. in 1876.
Brymbo Victoria F.C. were a Welsh football club based in Brymbo, Wales. They started the 2021–22 season as members of the North East Wales Football League Premier Division before resigning from the league in August 2021 and dissolving the club.
Broughton United was a Welsh football club based in New Broughton, Wrexham, Wales. They played their home games at Plas Power.
Abergavenny Town Football Club is a Welsh association football club based in the town of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, The team play in the Cymru South, tier 2 of the Welsh football pyramid. They play at Pen-Y-Pound Stadium in Abergavenny.
The 1893–94 Welsh Amateur Cup was the fourth season of the Welsh Amateur Cup. The cup was won by Mold Red Stars who defeated Wrockwardine Wood 4-3 in the final, at Stansty Park, Wrexham.
The 1896–97 Welsh Amateur Cup was the seventh season of the Welsh Amateur Cup. The cup was won by Coppenhall who defeated Rhos Eagle Wanderers 3–2 in the final, at Buckley. An ancient parish within the growing railway town of Crewe, Coppenhall became the first English club to win the trophy. In the same season, Coppenhall won the Crewe & District Cup, the Crewe League and the Sentinel Trophy - their successful side including George Betts, Ike Baker and Joe Foster.
Drumchapel RFC was an early twentieth-century East Dunbartonshire-based rugby union club; the town – after being annexed in 1938 – now resides in Glasgow.
The East Gwent Association Football League is a football league covering the eastern part of the preserved country of Gwent. It is affiliated to the Gwent County Football Association. The leagues are at the seventh and eighth levels of the Welsh football league system.
Aberdeen Nomads RFC were a nineteenth and twentieth-century Aberdeen-based rugby union club. It provided Scotland international players as well as North of Scotland District players but it folded at the Second World War as it lacked players to continue.
Crawford Findlay was a Scottish rugby union player. He became an international rugby union referee. He later was the 53rd President of the Scottish Rugby Union.
Garioch RFC is a rugby union club based in Inverurie, Scotland. The Men's team currently plays in Caledonia Division One. The Women's team currently plays in the Scottish Womens Premiership league.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help){{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help){{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help){{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help){{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help){{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)