Penydarren Seniors BGC

Port Talbot Town Football Club

Founded 1901

Season 2022 / 2023

Saturday February 11th 2023

Official Match Day Programme

Ground: Victoria Road, Port Talbot

E-mail: porttalbotsec@gmail.com

Website: www.porttalbottownfc.co.uk

President Michael Sheen

Secretary Ben Davies

Team Manager Jonathan Davies

Coaches Ben Williams & Craig Money

Reserve Team Manager Coach

Third Team Manager Jarad Cook

Third Team Coach Robin Arch-Jones

Programme Editor Rhiannon Reynolds

Web Master Rhiannon Reynolds

Life Members Mrs Ann James

Mr Alan & Mrs Betty Wilkins

Mr Michael Roberts

Croeso i Victoria Road

Good afternoon and welcome to Victoria Road for our League match against Penydarren Seniors FC.

Today we welcome our opponents and officials from Penydarren Seniors FC and hope we all have an enjoyable afternoon. We also welcome our match officials to Victoria Road. This is the second meeting between our two clubs this season, following our visit to The Bont Playing Fields in October. We are hoping for a better performance this time out.

Last week we had a disappointing result at Penrhiwceiber Rangers, where two defensive mistakes cost us the three points. Listening to the team dissect the match afterwards shows how disappointed they were with their performance on the whole. Much work has been done this week to try and put right the errors made.

On Sunday some of our Disability Team travelled to Droitwich Spa to play in a tournament where they finished runners up. Narrowly losing the final game 1-0. Congratulations must go to them, well done team! With a massive well done and thank you to their coaches and management who give up their time to help our members participate.

Great news from our junior section also this week. Our U7’s are growing in numbers as well as confidence. There are now enough players to field two teams at this age group, the boys are thoroughly enjoying training as well as their matches on a Saturday. We look forward to seeing them in the 1st team in a few years time!

Our 50/50 draw is open and the next draw is tomorrow, Sunday 12th February. It will be nice for this to be supported well to help us enhance the club. The SoccerLotto draw is being drawn in two weeks time, on 25th February. The prize pot is £1100 so get your envelopes in the box today for your chance to win!

This leaves me with nothing further to add, just to wish you all an enjoyable game this afternoon. The staff and officials will be happy to enjoy a pint with you in the club after the game.

Our Visitors

History of Penydarren Seniors FC

Penydarren Boys & Girls Club was initially formed in 1985. The club was originally based at St. Johns Church Hall at Penydarren in Merthyr Tydfil, where the main activities were table tennis and board games. The club then became members of the Boys & Girls Club of Wales. Two children’s football teams were formed using local council grounds to play their games. Due to refurbishment of the church, the club then relocated using the old Gelifaelog School as a base.

In 1994 the club was successful in gaining a lease to the current site known as ‘The Bont’. With the aid of funding from a variety of sources, work started to remove the old black ash type surface of the original pitch to provide a firstclass playing area and a clubhouse with changing rooms. The facilities are admired by many throughout Wales and are held in high regard by all visiting teams. There are also plans in place for a new 3G surface with new floodlighting & changing facilities.

Club membership continued to increase in the late 90s with the club providing teams from Under 10’s to Under 18 level. Next was the introduction of the senior team, which after playing in local leagues gained promotion into the South Wales Senior League. In 2015-16 Penydarren became members of the South Wales Alliance League following merger of the Senior League with the Amateur League.

After two seasons of consolidation, 2017-18 was to prove to be Penydarren’s season, after an unbeaten league campaign brought the prize of Welsh League Football, winning promotion at home to Cardiff Draconians 2-0 in front of a bumper crowd at The Bont, with six games to spare.

The club won 27 and drew 3 of their 30 league fixtures, scoring 117 goals and conceding just 14 in the process.The club also went on two epic cup runs reaching the quarter finals of the JD Welsh Cup and semi-finals of the FAW Amateur Trophy. The Welsh Cup run saw Penydarren knock out Penrhiwceiber Rangers (5-3), Brecon Corries (3-1), Cardiff Corinthians (4-0), STM Sports (2-1), Llandudno Junction (4-0) and Pontypridd Town (2-1) before losing to Bangor City (7-0).

Penydarren’s Welsh League debut season went down a storm, with the club romping to the Third Division title, winning 24 of their 30 league games. They won the title with a 3-1 win at Ely Rangers, with Connor Keating, Sam Gamble and Alex Long sealing the silverware. While they also clinched the double, beating Ynysygerwn to win the Welsh League Cup at Port Talbot, by a 3-0 scoreline.

Penydarren kicked off 2019-20 season in Welsh League Division One, due to pyramid restructuring and were well placed for a promotion push, with several games in hand on their rivals, when the pandemic struck. The season was curtailed and Penydarren finished in 4th place on the points per game average, just missing out on a promotion spot to Port Talbot by 0.09.

League Table 2022 / 23

Port Talbot Town Disability Section @ Droitwich

Spa

Meet the Players

Name:- Steffan Rogers Sponsored By

Nickname:-

Worst Dressed:- Money

Mr Vain:- Ben Whiteman

Biggest Moaner:- Me

Worst Trainer:- Josh Cockings

Best Trainer:- Yonas

Best Dancer:- Aidan

Worst Drinker:- Dixy

Name:- Lewis Davies Sponsored By

Nickname:- LD

Worst Dressed:- Money

Mr Vain:- Ben Whiteman

Biggest Moaner:- Harry

Worst Trainer:- Baz

Best Trainer:- H

Best Dancer:- Steff

Worst Drinker:- Robbo

Name:- Richard Powell Sponsored By

Nickname:- Pows

Worst Dressed:- Robbo

Mr Vain:- Dixy

Biggest Moaner:- Craig Money

Worst Trainer:- Baz

Best Trainer:- Josh Cockings

Best Dancer:- Steff

Worst Drinker:- Manny

Name:- Rhys Dix Sponsored By

Nickname:- Dixy

Worst Dressed:- H

Mr Vain:- Ben Whiteman

Biggest Moaner:- H

Worst Trainer:- Robbo

Best Trainer:- Steff

Best Dancer:- Steff

Worst Drinker:- Manny

Name:- Tito Anderson Sponsored By

Nickname:- T-Rex

Worst Dressed:- Money

Mr Vain:- Ben Whiteman

Biggest Moaner:- Dixy & Baz

Worst Trainer:- Robbo

Best Trainer:- Dixy

Best Dancer:- Steff

Worst Drinker:- Kirk

Name:- Ben Whiteman Sponsored By

Nickname:- Zinedine

Worst Dressed:- Robbo

Mr Vain:- Ttio

Biggest Moaner:- Lewis Davies

Worst Trainer:- Baz

Best Trainer:- Pows

Best Dancer:- Steff

Worst Drinker:- Dixy

Name:- Lewis Robinson Sponsored By

Nickname:- Robbo

Worst Dressed:- Kirk

Mr Vain:- Ben Whiteman

Biggest Moaner:- Dixy

Worst Trainer:- Couldn’t tell you!!!

Best Trainer:-

Best Dancer:- Steff

Worst Drinker:- Me

Name:- Kirk McNally Sponsored By

Nickname:- Kel

Worst Dressed:- Money

Mr Vain:- Ben Whiteman

Biggest Moaner:- Lewis Davies

Worst Trainer:- H

Best Trainer:- Alex Brayley

Best Dancer:- Steff

Worst Drinker:- Manny

Name:- Jake Barrow Sponsored By

Nickname:- Baz

Worst Dressed:- Manny

Mr Vain:- Ben Whiteman

Biggest Moaner:- Lewis Davies

Worst Trainer:- Me

Best Trainer:- Steff

Best Dancer:- Steff

Worst Drinker:- Manny

Name:- Alex Aldrich Sponsored By

Nickname:- Al

Worst Dressed:- Money

Mr Vain:- Ben Whiteman

Biggest Moaner:- Lewis Davies

Worst Trainer:- Baz

Best Trainer:- Dixy

Best Dancer:- Steff

Worst Drinker:- Kirk

Name:- Jared Lake Sponsored By

Nickname:-

Worst Dressed:- Robbo

Mr Vain:- Tito

Biggest Moaner:- Baz

Worst Trainer:- Kirk

Best Trainer:- Ben Whiteman

Best Dancer:- Steff

Worst Drinker:- Manny

Name:- Harry Hodgson Sponsored By

Nickname:- H

Worst Dressed:- Money

Mr Vain:- Ben Whiteman

Biggest Moaner:- Baz

Worst Trainer:- Kirk

Best Trainer:- Alex Brayley

Best Dancer:- Steff

Worst Drinker:- Kirk

Name:- Jonathan Davies Sponsored By

Nickname:- Bushy

Worst Dressed:- Robbo

Mr Vain:- Dixy

Biggest Moaner:- Baz

Worst & Best Trainer Lewis D & Alex A

Best Dancer:- Money

Worst Drinker:- Manny Name:- Ben Williams Sponsored By

Nickname:- Big Ben

Worst Dressed:- Money

Mr Vain:- Ben Whitemqn

Biggest Moaner:- Manny / Lewis D

Worst Trainer:- Aidan

Best Trainer:- H

Best Dancer:- Steff

Worst Drinker:- Kirk

Name:- Craig Money Sponsored By

Nickname:- Money

Worst Dressed:- Dan Corrigan

Mr Vain:- Steffan Rogers

Biggest Moaner:- Lewis Davies

Worst Trainer:- Baz

Best Trainer:- Manny

Best Dancer:- Aidan ‘The Whirl’

Worst Drinker:- Alex Brayley

Port Talbot Town History

Port Talbot was initially formed in 1901 and spent its early years playing in the Swansea Senior League - starting at the bottom of the Welsh pyramid. Early records show that one of the club’s biggest wins came in the 1909/10 season when they beat Llanelli 10-0. After World War 1 it is assumed that the club again played in the Swansea League until 1926, when they became a founding member of the Port Talbot and District Association Football League.

In the 1928/29 season a team sporting the name Seaside Athletic were competing in the Welsh League Division 2 Western Section and sources say this was the same club that formed in 1901.

Port Talbot continued to ply their trade in the Second Division until 1956/57 when they won promotion to the topflight. They were never comfortable and it is no surprise when they were relegated after just one season. After a rebuilding programme, they again gained promotion finishing the 1961/62 season as champions, however once again they suffered relegation after just one season. Following a re-organisation of the league in the 1964/65 season, Port Talbot found themselves in the new Division 1 and remained there until 1970/71 when again they had to face relegation. A major setback for the club.

The club remained in Division 2 until 1982/83 when they finished runners up to Tondu Robins and won promotion back to the first division. Port Talbot were included in the new National Division of the Welsh League in 1984/85 and stayed there until 1990/91 when again they faced relegation. The club missed out on a place in the inaugural League of Wales and worse was to follow when they were relegated to the present-day division 2 in 1993/94.

Better times were to follow under the leadership of Steve Llewellyn and Alan Meacham and the club won a place in the top division on the last day of the season at local rivals Goytre Utd in 1995/96. After a period of consolidation, the team finished 5th in 1997/98 under David Rees and Craig Duggan who were in their first season in the managerial hot seat.

This became a turning point, with Andrew Edwards taking over as chairman in 1998/99 and beginning on off field transformation of the club. A three-year plan was put into operation which included winning promotion to the League of Wales and establishing a youth system from U7's right up to U18's.

The 1999/2000 saw the club achieve promotion to the League of Wales and the introduction of two junior teams and a youth team in the MacWhirter Youth League.

Many improvements were carried out around the ground, which included refurbishment of the dressing rooms, a new 260-seater stand, floodlights, a television camera gantry, turnstiles and a hard standing around the ground.

The team made a satisfactory start in the League of Wales, winning six games before Christmas, this was followed by a disappointing end to the campaign. Nonetheless, Kevin Bartley was the league's third top goal scorer with an impressive 23 goals in the season.

To mark their centenary year, the club changed its name from Port Talbot Athletic to Port Talbot Town at the start of the 2001/02 season.

The 2003/04 season saw the team reach the semi-finals of the Welsh Cup for the first time but lost to TNS 1-0 at Park Avenue. The Steelmen found themselves battling relegation for much of the 2004/05 season, but they eventually finished a comfortable 13th under new manager, Wayne Davies.

During the season, Andrew Edwards proposed a merger with local rivals Afan Lido, who play less than 1 mile from Victoria Road. This was made in the belief that it would produce a stronger, more commercially viable club for the town. Lido rejected this offer even though some of their senior officials were in favour.

Off the field, the club progressed further and boosted it's seating capacity with the construction of the 750 seater Gerald McCreesh stand. A further building was also named after Gerald - The Gerald McCreesh Suite, with the introduction of the new and improved hospitality facilities. This was followed up with heavy investment into the playing surface making it one of the best grounds in the Welsh Premier League.

The end of the 2006/07 season saw Wayne Davies step down as manager after claiming a memorable scalp in defeating Swansea City in the FAW Premier Cup while also taking the club to another Welsh Cup semi-final and also the Challenge Cup Final. Tony Pennock was appointed as manager as the club looked to build further on their on-field success but an unsuccessful start to his campaign saw the former Newport County and Yeovil Town goalkeeper resign in November.

Nicky Tucker was appointed to replace Pennock after impressing at Welsh League side Dinas Powys and made an immediate impact with the team finishing 4th. December 2008 saw the re-appointment of Mark Jones as manager following the sacking of Nicky Turner. Mark quickly turned around the fortunes of the team and saw a fifth-place finish. Jones was busy in the transfer market ahead of the 2009-10 season bringing in 6 new players. A superb 2009-10 season saw the club qualify for the UEFA Europa League for the first time with a 3rd place finish. This gave the team a fixture against Finnish side FC Turku over two legs. The club also reached the final of the Welsh Cup Final for the first time but lost 3-2 to Bangor City at Parc-YScarlets.

This season also saw success for the U16's academy as they lifted the FAW Academy Cup. 2010/11 became a significant year in the development year as the Welsh Premier League voted to reduce the league to 12 clubs and to introduce a new play-off format. The new format would bring little joy to Port Talbot however, who despite making the top six cut, were eliminated in their first play-off game away to Prestatyn Town.

The season that followed saw Port Talbot fail to reach the top six cut and lose in the Welsh Cup to local rivals Afan Lido. A busy off-season saw a host of signings, including the high-profile arrival of Rhys Griffiths. His time was cut shot however, following his departure for a professional contract at Plymouth Argyle.

After an uninspiring start to the 2012/13 season, December saw the sacking of Mark Jones bringing an end to his four-year tenure as manager. Former Cardiff City player Scott Young was shortly appointed as manager with Marc Cahill moving to 1st team coach and with an influx of new players, this brought about a comfortable top six finish.

In 2015/16 Andy Dyer was first team manager and his team reached the semifinal of the Welsh Cup bowing out to Airbus with a 7-0 loss. Just weeks later the club was relegated from the Welsh Premier League, despite finishing above the relegation zone. The club had been refused a FAW Domestic License and lost its appeal.

This saw the club undergo a massive overhaul of its internal structure. A new chairman, vice-chair, secretary and treasurer were appointed and formed a committee of staff and fans alike. The wage bill was drastically reduced and newly appointed first team manager Mark Pike, formed a squad of local players to take the club forward. Despite working with one of the lowest playing budgets the in club in nearly two decades, relegation was avoided in the 2018/19 season. It was however a case of deja vu as the club was demoted to tier 3 of the pyramid system due to licencing issues.

Despite this second demotion in recent years the club continued to operate under a sustainable model.

Another change in personnel and committee saw the club have a renewed boost of effort and enthusiasm behind the scenes but this was short lived following a period of Government imposed lockdown due to the Coronavirous Pandemic when Mark Pike chose to resign days before the start of the 2021/22 season.

The committee worked tirelessly to form a new coaching team and done what was believed to be a fantastic job of bringing in Grant Kalahar, Conor McGaharan and Sam O'Sullivan. Unfortunately, these appointments did not live up to expectation. Grant stepped down for personal reasons, Sam was sacked over the Christmas period, and Conor was left to signle handedly take charge of the team for the rest of the season. This season has famously become the worst on record and Port Talbot were yet again relegated with a total of zero points on the table.

The 2022/23 season has seen another complete change of staff and players. This time the emphasis has been put on creating a team spirit within the club and making sure the squad want to play for the shirt. With Joni Bush at the front leading the coaching staff, we are excited to see what lies ahead.

News from the Dugout

Disappointing result last week where two efensive mistakes cost us along with not being clinical in the final 3rd .

We are in for a tough encounter at home today against a strong experienced side in Penydarren, who convincingly beat us 4-0 earlier in the season at “The Bont”. With us having not lost at home in the last 4 games, we are hoping to keep that going today.

We welcome Yonis Hussien into the squad for the first time today and are looking forward to seeing what he can offer after impressing us so far in training.

Hope you enjoy the game!

Joni

NEXT GAMES

Friday 17th February Cardiff Draconians FC - HOME

Sat 25th February Treharris Athletic Western FC - HOME

STEFF ROGERS (c) Stephen Price

LEWIS ROBINSON Joe Mullin

JAKE BARROW Scott Pike

TITO ANDERSON Sam Gamble

LEWIS DAVIES

Alex Lloyd

ALEX ALDRICH Adam Lewis

KIRK MCNALLY Ben Gibbons

MANNY MALONEY Ricky Jones

CHARLIE FARRELL Kyle Sullivan

BENJAMIN WHITEMAN Josh Jones

GARETH PHILLIPS Levi Jones

RICHARD POWELL

Harri Moyle

HARRY HODGSON Connor Keating

RHYS DIX Aarran Caffell

ALEX BRAYLEY George Kabza

YONIS HUSSIEN Joshua Brogden

Alex Long

Christopher Colvin-Owens

MANAGER MANAGER

JONATHAN DAVIES Kerry Mullin

COACH COACHES

BEN WILLIAMS Andrew Thomas Iain Pike

COACH

CRAIG MONEY

PHYSIO

PIPPA BARROW

COLOURS

COLOURS

BLUE / WHITE Green / Black

Referee – Paul Fisher

Assistant – Paul Fisher & Naythan Barnard