Newtown A.F.C.

Newtown Association Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Pêl-droed Y Drenewydd) is a Welsh football club based in Newtown, Powys, which plays in the Cymru Premier. Newtown are one of only two clubs that can claim unbroken membership of the league since its formation in 1992, with the other club being Aberystwyth Town.

Newtown
Full nameNewtown Association Football Club
Nickname(s)The Robins
Founded1875 (1875)
GroundLatham Park
Newtown
Powys
Capacity5,000 (1,300 seated)[1]
ChairmanHoward Ellis
ManagerChris Hughes
LeagueCymru Premier
2019–20Cymru Premier, 6th

The club was founded in 1875 as Newtown White Stars, and was one of the founder members of the Football Association of Wales. Newtown White Stars, which appeared in the first Welsh Cup match on 13 October 1877, is believed to have merged with Newtown Excelsior to form the current Newtown AFC in time to be Welsh Cup finalists in 1885 and 1888.[2][3][4]

The club plays at Latham Park, Newtown, which accommodates 5,000 spectators.

History

Newtown White Stars won the Welsh Cup in 1879 and were losing finalists in 1881. Newtown AFC won the cup again in 1895, but this was the last national trophy won for sixty years, until the Welsh Amateur Cup was won in 1955. The first match was played at what is now Latham Park in 1951, and the ground has since been brought up to a standard which makes it fully eligible to stage big games such as cup semi-finals, Welsh Cup finals, UEFA Youth Internationals, Women's International matches and UEFA Cup matches.

For most of the years since the 1920s the club operated in the Mid-Wales League, or the Central Wales League as it was sometimes known, winning the championship in 1975–76, 1978–79, 1981–82, 1986–87 & 1987–88 and on the strength of this record, the club gained entry to the English league system in the Northern Premier League.

In 1992 the club became rather reluctant founder members of the Konica League of Wales. Since then it has finished runners-up in the league in both 1995–96 & 1997–98, and subsequently played UEFA cup ties against Skonto Riga of Latvia and Wisła Kraków of Poland.

Newtown Association Football Club are one of the oldest clubs in Wales, being formed in 1875 and are one of the founder members of the FAW. In addition, the club was also one of the founder members of the League of Wales, now known as the Cymru Premier.

The club has a long and proud tradition with the move in the late 1980s into the Northern Premier League being part of the progressive nature of the club.

Way back in 1877, Newtown took part in the first Welsh Cup tie on Saturday 13 October against Druids of Ruabon. Cefn Druids now former members of the Welsh Premier are derived from this club. Wrexham went on to win the competition but in the following season, Newtown White Stars beat the favourites Wrexham 2–1 in Oswestry and became the first club to receive the famous trophy, which had only been purchased a few months earlier. In December 1895 Newtown travelled to play Manchester City at Maine Road and shocked the City team by winning 3–2. Newtown’s W. Parry scored all three goals for the Robins.[5]

In 2014 Newtown became the 2nd Cymru Premier club, after The New Saints, to change their grass turf for a 3G pitch. During the 2014/15 season Newtown finished in the top 6 for the second consecutive season. They also took part in their first Welsh Cup Final in 118 Years after memorable wins against Caersws, Bangor and Rhyl. However they lost the match 2–0 to The New Saints, despite it being played at Latham Park in front of a capacity crowd. After the cup final defeat, Newtown entered the European play-offs. During the play-offs, they won away at Port Talbot Town and won away at Aberystwyth Town to take a spot in the 2015–16 Europa League qualifiers.

In July 2015 Newtown faced Maltese opponents Valletta in the first round of qualifying for the 2015/16 Europa League. A last minute winner in the 1st leg at Latham Park gave the club their first European win and was followed with an away victory giving Newtown their first Europa League Win over two legs. Newtown faced Danish giants Copenhagen in the second round and were defeated over both legs losing 5–1 on aggregate. Newtown finished in the top 6 again during the following 2015/16 Welsh Premier League season and were also the only team to beat The New Saints at Park Hall, but eventually lost at home to Airbus UK Broughton in the play-off semi final. Newtown again reached the play-offs after finishing 7th in the 2016/17 season, but were beaten 3–2 away to Bangor City.

Honours

Current squad
As of 6 September 2020

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  WAL Dave Jones
2 DF  WAL Jake Phillips
3 DF  ENG Jack Kelly
4 DF  ENG Sean McAllister
5 DF  WAL Kieron Mills-Evans
6 DF  ENG James O'Neill
7 FW  WAL Neil Mitchell
8 FW  WAL Nick Rushton
9 FW  WAL Jamie Breese
10 MF  WAL Jordan Evans
11 FW  ENG James Davies
12 MF  WAL Matthew Lewis
No. Pos. Nation Player
13 GK  ENG Khamrhan Steventon
14 MF  ENG Matthew Williams
15 DF  ENG Tom Davies
16 MF  ENG Dylan Downs
17 MF  ENG Ethan Short
18 MF  WAL Tom Huxley
19 DF  WAL Craig Williams (Captain)
20 GK  ENG Dave Rose
23 MF  WAL Ryan Edwards
24 MF  ENG George Hughes
— FW  ZAM Lifumpa Mwandwe

Technical staff
Position Name
Manager Chris Hughes
Assistant Manager Callum McKenzie
Goalkeeping Coach Andy Roberts
First Team Coach Matty Lewis
Physio Andy Pellow
Kit Man Dave Rose

{Dave rose} Rose is a former Robins goalkeeper, who was in the squad for one of their European home games in the 90’s.Has been part of the youth team set up, and last season part of the first team back room staff, replacing Tyler Clifton as kit man.Rose signed on as the Robins third choice goalkeeper

- {chris Hughes} -

Chris is going into his fifth full season as the Robins manager after he was appointed to the role back in November 2013.

In the 2013/14 season he guided the club into the play-offs for the first time, before leading them to play off glory the following season.

The former Prestatyn, Rhyl, Buckley and Caersws number two then over saw the historic Europa League win over Valletta, and tie against FC Copenhagen.

Hughes, who previously worked as a sports development officer now works at Glyndwr University and recently completed his UEFA Pro Licence.


- {Callum Mckenzie} - Callum took up his post in 2013, and worked under Bernie McNally before continuing his role under Chris Hughes.

He has over 15 years over coaching experience, having working for Cardiff City and Everton FC.

A Uefa A Licence holder, Callum currently works in the academy at Shrewsbury Town FC, and previously played for the Robins under Brian Coyne.

Managers
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Europe


Newtown have participated three times in the UEFA Cup/Europa League.

In 2014 newtown enjoyed success in the form of a Welsh Cup Final, and qualified for Europe where they beat Maltese side Valletta over two legs.

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
1996–97 UEFA Cup PR Skonto FC 1–4 0–3 1–7
1998–99 UEFA Cup 1Q Wisla Krakow 0–0 0–7 0–7
2015–16 UEFA Europa League 1Q Valletta 2–1 2–1 4–2
2Q Copenhagen 1–3 0–2 1–5
Notes
  • PR: Preliminary round
  • 1Q: First qualifying round
  • 2Q: Second qualifying round
Name Competition Goals
Jason Oswell UEFA Europa League 2
Tom Goodwin UEFA Europa League 1
Matty Owen UEFA Europa League 1
Luke Boundford UEFA Europa League 1
Romilly Brown UEFA Cup 1

Rivalries

Newtown share a local rivalry with Caersws who are only around 5 miles away and often attract big crowds when the teams meet. In the Cymru Premier Newtown have derby matches against fellow Mid-Wales clubs Aberystwyth Town and The New Saints.

League Record

References
  1. https://www.footballgroundguide.com/leagues/welsh-premier-league-clubs/newtown-latham-park.html
  2. "Welsh Newspapers Online ----THE WELSH CHAMPION FOOTBALL TEAM.|1895-04-27|The Montgomery County Times and Shropshire and Mid-Wales Advertiser - Welsh Newspapers Online". newspapers.library.wales. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  3. "[No title]|1879-09-13|Wrexham Guardian - Welsh Newspapers". newspapers.library.wales. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  4. "THE POPULARITY uF FOOTBALL,|1893-04-18|The Montgomeryshire Express and Radnor Times - Welsh Newspapers". newspapers.library.wales. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
  5. http://welsh-premier.com/rel_club.php?cid=13.

Newtown Whitestars website

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