Our Opponents

Issue No. 001 DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE

October 14, 2022

OUR OPPONENTS

BARRY TOWN UNITED

Barry Town is a semi-professional team that was founded in 1912 and are based at Jenner Park which has saw many European days after qualifying via winning the Cymru Premier and the Welsh Cup.

Barry has produced over 50 internationals and is now fan run! Jenner Park has just had a new surface and boasts of being able to hold 3,500 spectators!

In 1949/50 Jenner Park became one of the first grounds in the country to install floodlights with the likes of Newport County, Swansea City and Cardiff City all visiting to showcase the facilities.

The creation of the League Of Wales in 1992 then promoted a deceee that Barry would no longer be allowed to play in the English pyramid whilst based on welsh soil. With the team forced into exile they adopted the name of Barri AFC and played their matches at Worcester City ' s ground. However this didn 't last long as then chairman O'Halloran made an unexpected U-turn that saw Barry Town return home and eventually accepted back for the 1993/94 campaign.

Barry ' s return to Jenner Park sparked the sides most successful period as they earned immediate promotion to the top flight and a unique quadruple of the Welsh League, Welsh League Cup, FAW Trophy and the Welsh Cup. The latter one being one of their most famous achievements upsetting Football League Second Division Cardiff City at the Old National Stadium in front of 16,000 spectators!

They soon after became the first fully professional club and many years of success followed. They became the first League of Wales team to win a Champions League tie defeating FC Shamkir which led them to play FC Porto losing 8-0 away in front of 55,000 fans! Barrys most famous result was the return leg where they won 3-1 at home against a squad that included Ricardo Carvalho, Helder Postiga and many other top players.

The golden era didn 't last forever as the continual challenge of competing to get the top prize money was tough to sustain such high standards set previously and with the chairperson pulling out ex footballer John Fashanu joined the club to steer it to safety promising many TV deals that did not happen. Soon Fashanu left the club after finding more fame after participating on Im a Celebrity, Get me out of here " they went into administration in 2003 with the squad quickly disintegrating.

Issue No. 001 DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE

October 14, 2022

OUR OPPONENTS

THE FIGHT BACK

After the fully professional bubble burst fans set about to raise money to keep the club alive. Eventually Stuart Lovering then came in to takeover the club in December 2003.

In 2003/04 a difficult season hit them as they were relegated to Welsh League Division One which saw manager Colin Addison leave the club and his assistant David Hughes replace him but not for long as his budget got slashed! In the meantime a district valuer determined that the club should pay £42,000 in rent and rates each season for the remainder of the lease. Lovering refused to pay this and then moved the club to play in Treforest from January 2005 to May 2006. During this absence many fans created a breakaway club called Barry FC sparking major disputes with the current chairman who then banned them from fundraising at the club.

While chaos reigned off the field for much of the decade the roots of recovery began to grow in 2007 with the appointment of Gavin Chesterfield. He soon led them to promotion with the hope that a winning run of form would see the clubs dwindling support return. After a tough start Barry Town went on a 21 match unbeaten streak and finished third! However in 2008 a crisis meeting was held with the supporters creating a company to be able to be able to operate the first team so Lovering could focus on finding a buyer.

In 2010 we saw the Stand Up For Barry campaign launched using all social media platforms to hit a wider online audience. Shortly after in 2011 Lovering tried to withdraw the club from playing in the higher league competition so the Barry Town Supporters Committee stepped in to prevent this and and took control of football and their funding know to their fans as the "DIY Era " .

In 2013, Lovering decided to withdraw the senior team from the Welsh League and after a meeting with the FAW Council they decided the club would have to play recreational football. This was soon seen by a High Court judge stating the FAW Council acted unlawfully and the club was soon re-entered into the structure. The club soon revived under Chesterfield as they won the Welsh Football League returning to the Welsh Premier. Barry then went on to qualify for the UEFA preliminary rounds a remarkable turnaround for all involved. After the pandemic the clubs form dropped which saw them drop to the Cymru South.