Carmarthen Town A.F.C.

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Carmarthen Town
Carmarthen Town FC.png
Full name Carmarthen Town Association Football Club
Nickname(s) The Old Gold, The Town
Founded 1948
Ground Richmond Park
Priory Street
Carmarthen
(capacity: 3,000 (1000 seated))
President Jeff Thomas[1]
Manager Mark Aizlewood
League Welsh Premier League
2012–13 Welsh Premier League, 6th
Home colours
Away colours

Carmarthen Town Association Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Pêl-droed Tref Caerfyrddin) is a Welsh semi-professional football club based in Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, who play in the Welsh Premier League. The club was founded in 1948 and have played at their current home ground, Richmond Park, since 1952.

Carmarthen Town (also known as The Town or Old Gold) have yet to win the Welsh Premier League title, despite being in the top tier of Welsh football since 1996–97. In 2000–01 Carmarthen Town had their highest-ever finish, coming 3rd, which qualified them for European competition for the first time. Carmarthen's first and only major honour came in 2006–07 when the club won the Welsh Cup.[2]

The team's first choice strip is old gold shirts, black shorts and socks. The second choice strip is red shirts and shorts and black socks.

Contents

History [edit]

Carmarthen Town was founded as recently as 1948 and moved to their current ground Richmond Park in 1952.

The club was elected to the Welsh League in 1953 and gained promotion from Division Two in 1960. In 1996 Carmarthen won the Welsh League and the Cyril Rogers Cup. Carmarthen were promoted to the League of Wales in the same year. They have maintained their place in the League and shown gradual improvement, reaching the final of the Welsh Cup in 1999, but losing on penalties. They also reached the final of the Welsh Cup in 2005 losing 1–0 to Total Network Solutions. Carmarthen reached their third final on 1 April 2007 after a 1–0 win against Llanelli.

The appearance in the Welsh Cup final was enough to earn the club a UEFA Cup spot for 2005/6 as TNS had already won the Welsh Premier title and thus qualified for the UEFA Champions League. The ensuing campaign pitted the Old Gold against League of Ireland side Longford Town in the first round. Despite losing the first leg 2–0 away from home, Carmarthen put in a whirlwind performance at Newtown's Latham Park to beat their Celtic counterparts 5–1 and advance to the second round, winning 5–3 on aggregate.[3][4]

That result earned them a tie against Danish giants F.C. Copenhagen. Carmarthen were big underdogs for this encounter, but put in a creditable display despite losing 4–0 on aggregate and bowing out of the competition.[5][6]

The 2006/7 season saw Carmarthen qualify for Europe again via the Intertoto Cup, finishing fourth in the Welsh Premier. However, the result was not so good, Town suffering an 8–1 thrashing at the hands of Finnish side Tampere United.[7][8]

The season saw the Old Gold finish in a slightly disappointing 7th. position. However a fine Cup run saw Town edge out Llanelli 1–0 at the semi final stage to reach the Welsh Cup Final for the third time in their history.

With a 3–2 win over Afan Lido at Stebonheath Park Llanelli (06.05.07) Carmarthen Town lifted the Welsh Cup for the first time in their history and with it secured their third consecutive foray into European competition.[2]

With the departure of Mark Jones at the end of the 2007 season Deryn Brace took over as Player / Manager and Town hosted their first European tie (UEFA Cup) at Richmond Park on 19 July .

Carmarthen lost 14–3 on aggregate to S.K. Brann in the UEFA Cup First Qualifying Round. 8–1 at Richmond Park and 6–3 at Brann Stadion in Bergen.[9][10] The Norwegian giants progressed to the knockout stages eventually losing to Everton.

Town progressed to the semi final of the FAW Premier Cup but in a tight end to the season the Richmond Park outfit finished in 6th position.

On 9 April 2010 Carmarthen Town were awarded a FAW Domestic Licence and a UEFA Licence, enabling the club to participate in the restructured Welsh Premier League and European competition for the 2010/2011 season.

The club finished the season in tenth position and in June 2010 Manager Deryn Brace resigned. Tomi Morgan was appointed manager.[11]

Stadium [edit]

A grandstand at a sports venue. The seats are black and gold.
Clay Shaw Butler Stand, Richmond Park (Carmarthen),
A panoramic view from the Clay Shaw Butler Stand.

Main article(s): Richmond Park (Carmarthen)

From 1952 Carmarthen Town have played at Richmond Park in Carmarthen. The ground has been redeveloped over recent years into a small, modern and compact football stadium with a capacity of 3,000. The club's new Clay Shaw Butler Stand has a 1000 seat capacity which enabled Carmarthen Town to host the club's first ever home European fixture at the ground in July 2007 when they entertained Norwegian side SK Brann.[12]

Supporters [edit]

In the 2010–11 season Carmarthen's average attendance was 363, placing them third out of twelve teams in the Welsh Premier League in the new format league. The highest league gate of the season came against Haverfordwest County AFC with 556 spectators and the lowest, 212, against The New Saints. [13]

Current squad [edit]

Correct as of 26 October 2012[14]

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

No. Position Player
Wales GK Steven Cann
Wales GK Kerry Nicholas
Wales DF Carl Evans
England DF Kyle Graves
Wales DF Ian Hillier
Wales DF Jonathan Hood
Wales DF Matthew Rees
Wales MF Paul Fowler
No. Position Player
Wales MF Tim Hicks
Wales MF Nicky Palmer
Wales MF Liam Thomas
Wales FW Leon Jeanne
England FW Julian Alsop
Wales FW Craig Hughes
England FW Scott Quigley (on loan from The New Saints)
Wales FW Sam Wilson

Former players [edit]

This list of former players includes those who received international caps while playing for the team, made significant contributions to the team in terms of appearances or goals while playing for the team, or who made significant contributions to the sport either before they played for the team, or after they left. It is clearly not yet complete and all inclusive, and additions and refinements will continue to be made over time.

Management [edit]

Current management and coaching staff [edit]

Player-Manager in a White, Carmarthen Town, t-shirt.
Deryn Brace, Player-Manager of Carmarthen Town between 2007 and 2010
As of January 2012 .[18]
Position Name Nationality
Manager Mark Aizlewood  Welsh
First Team Coach Neil Smothers  Welsh
Physiotherapist Gary Morris  Welsh
Medical Consultant Jeremy Williams  Welsh
Assistant Physiotherapist Tom Pointon  English
Masseur Nigel Davies  Welsh
Reserve Team Manager Steve Jones  Welsh
Kit Man Gareth Davies  Welsh
general manager Kevin Morris  Welsh

Notable managers [edit]

The following managers have each been in charge of Carmarthen Town since the club gained promotion to the highest tier in Welsh football, the Welsh Premier League, in 1996.

Correct as of June 2010[19]

Name Nationality From To
Wyndham Evans Wales Jan 1996 Oct 1996
John Mahoney Wales Oct 1996 Nov 1998
Tomi Morgan Wales Nov 1998 Sep 2003
Andrew York Wales Sept 2003 May 2004
Mark Jones Wales May 2004 May 2007
Deryn Brace Wales May 2007 June 2010
Tomi Morgan Wales June 2010 Dec 2011
Neil Smothers Wales Dec 2011 Jan 2012
Mark Aizlewood Wales Jan 2012–

Honours [edit]

Domestic [edit]

Winners (1): 2006–07
Runners-up (2): 1998–99, 2004–05
Winners (2): 2004–05, 2012–13
Runners-up (1): 2003–04
Winners (1): 1995–96
Winners (1): 1995–96
  • West Wales Senior Cup:
Winners (1): 2004
Runners-up (2): 2003, 2006

European record [edit]

UEFA Cup:

Season Round Country Club Home Away Aggregate
2005–06 First Qualifying Round Republic of Ireland Longford Town 5–1 0–2 5–3
Second Qualifying Round Denmark FC Copenhagen 0–2 0–2 0–4
2007–08 First Qualifying Round Norway SK Brann 0–8 3–6 3–14

UEFA Intertoto Cup:

Season Round Country Club Home Away Aggregate
2001 First Round Sweden AIK Solna 0–0 0–3 0–3
2006 First Round Finland Tampere United 1–3 0–5 1–8

Biggest victories and losses [edit]

  • Biggest win: 14–0 v Bryngwawr Inn in the FAW Trophy.
  • Biggest defeat: 0–9 at Scully, Welsh League.
  • Biggest League of Wales win: 9–1 v UWIC Inter Cardiff 21/10/00 & 8–0 v Cardiff Grange Quins 10/12/05
  • Biggest League of Wales defeat: 0–6 v Barry Town 08/10/96 & 1–7 Llanelli 29/10/99

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Carmarthen Town Club Details". welshpremier.co.uk. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-26. 
  2. ^ a b "Carmarthen 3–2 Afan Lido". BBC Sport. 6 May 2007. Retrieved 2009-09-01. 
  3. ^ "Longford are two up on Carmarthen". BBC Sport. 14 July 2005. Retrieved 2005-07-14. 
  4. ^ "Carmarthen 5–1 Longford". BBC Sport. 28 July 2005. Retrieved 2005-07-28. 
  5. ^ "FC Copenhagen 2–0 Carmarthen". BBC Sport. 10 August 2005. Retrieved 2005-08-10. 
  6. ^ "Carmarthen 0–2 FC Copenhagen". BBC Sport. 25 August 2005. Retrieved 2005-08-25. 
  7. ^ "Tampere Utd 5–0 Carmarthen". BBC Sport. 17 June 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-17. 
  8. ^ "Carmarthen 1–3 Tampere Utd". BBC Sport. 24 June 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-24. 
  9. ^ "Carmarthen 0–8 SK Brann Bergen". BBC Sport. 19 July 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-19. 
  10. ^ "Brann 6–3 Carmarthen (Agg: 14–3)". BBC Sport. 2 August 2007. Retrieved 2005-08-02. 
  11. ^ "Eight Clubs receive the FAW Domestic Licence, Nine for UEFA". League of Wales. 26 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-09. [dead link]
  12. ^ "Parc Waun Dew / Richmond Park". carmarthentownafc.net. 26 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-26. 
  13. ^ "Carmarthen Town Attendances 09/10". Welsh-Premier.com. Retrieved 2010-04-26. 
  14. ^ "Official squad listing". carmarthentownafc.net. Retrieved 2010-03-19. 
  15. ^ "Delaney's new deal". BBC Sport. 20 December 2001. Retrieved 2001-12-20. 
  16. ^ "Delaney eyes long stay at Villa". BBC Sport. 23 March 2002. Retrieved 2002-03-23. 
  17. ^ "Delaney player stats". soccerbase.com. Retrieved 2007. 
  18. ^ "Coaching Staff". carmarthentownafc.net. Retrieved 2009-09-23. 
  19. ^ "Carmarthen Town A.F.C History". carmarthentownafc.net. Retrieved 2009-08-23. 

External links [edit]

Official websites
Unofficial websites