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Newtown A.F.C.

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For the Irish football club, see Newtown F.C. (County Clare).
Newtown
Full nameNewtown Association Football Club
Nickname(s)The Robins
Founded1875; 149 years ago (1875)
GroundLatham Park
Capacity5,000 (1,300 seated)[1]
ChairmanNick Evans
ManagerCallum McKenzie
LeagueCymru Premier
2023–24Cymru Premier, 4th of 12

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.

The club plays at Latham Park, Newtown, which accommodates 5,000 spectators. They are the only top flight football club in Powys.

History

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The club has its origins in two previous clubs, both active from 1875; Newtown and White Stars. The latter won the 1878–79 Welsh Cup and in the aftermath an attempt was made to merge the clubs under the name Excelsior.[2] The Newtown club folded into the Excelsior, but White Stars continued, and absorbed the Excelsior in 1880.[3] After losing the 1880–81 Welsh Cup final, the White Stars disbanded; but a meeting at the Lion Hotel on 23 July 1884 re-established a Newtown association football club, featuring many of the players and officials who had been involved with the White Stars, and, in some cases, with the original Newtown club beforehand.[4][5]

The revived club won the 1894–95 Welsh Cup, beating Wrexham 3–2 at Welshpool, despite Goodwin in goal being ordered off for retaliation before the second half (while Newtown was 2–1 down),[6] but in July 1900 it lost the use of the Cunnings, and, with diminished gates and additional expenses, there were fears for the future of the club.[7] Another article from March 1901 referred to Newtown being defunct, and hoped that Newtown Excelsior would resuscitate the club.[8] Newtown North End and Royal Welsh Warehouse Newtown emerged in the town in their place.[9] In 1910, they were still inactive.[10] No records exist of Newtown Football Club again until the 1919.[11]

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 and 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 League of Wales. Since then it has finished runners-up in the league in both 1995–96 and 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.[12]

In 2014 Newtown became the second 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 six 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 Welsh Premier League season, but were beaten 3–2 away to Bangor City.

Honours

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Players

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Current squad

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As of 31 July 2024[15]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 MF England ENG Oliver Sharp
3 DF Wales WAL Callum Roberts
4 DF Wales WAL Ryan Pryce
5 DF Wales WAL Kieron Mills-Evans
6 DF Wales WAL Shane Sutton
8 MF Wales WAL Rob Evans
9 FW England ENG Jason Oswell
10 MF Wales WAL Josh Lock
11 FW England ENG Zeli Ismail
No. Pos. Nation Player
13 GK Italy ITA Sam Ussher
14 FW England ENG Aaron Williams
15 FW Italy ITA Hanoch Boakye
16 MF England ENG Dylan Downs
24 MF Wales WAL George Hughes
27 DF Wales WAL Dominic Smith
— MF Wales WAL Jojo Harries
— GK Wales WAL Alex Swindell
— MF England ENG Calvin Smith

Technical staff

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Position Name
Manager England Callum McKenzie
Assistant Manager Wales Craig Williams
Academy Manager Wales Craig Williams
Goalkeeping Coach England John Davies
First-team Coach Vacant
Physio Wales Meg Randell
Sports Therapist England Andrew Pellow
Kit Manager Wales Dave Rose

Managers

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Europe

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Newtown have participated in UEFA competition five times.

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
1996–97 UEFA Cup PR Latvia Skonto FC 1–4 0–3 1–7
1998–99 UEFA Cup 1Q Poland Wisła Kraków 0–0 0–7 0–7
2015–16 UEFA Europa League 1Q Malta Valletta 2–1 2–1 4–2
2Q Denmark Copenhagen 1–3 0–2 1–5
2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League 1Q Republic of Ireland Dundalk 0–1 0–4 0–5
2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League 1Q Faroe Islands HB Tórshavn 2–1 (a.e.t.) 0–1 2–2 (4–2 p)
2Q Slovakia Spartak Trnava 1–2 1–4 2–6
Notes
  • PR: Preliminary round
  • 1Q: First qualifying round
  • 2Q: Second qualifying round
Name Competition Goals
Jason Oswell UEFA Europa League 2
Henry Cowans UEFA Europa Conference League 2
Tom Goodwin UEFA Europa League 1
Matty Owen UEFA Europa League 1
Luke Boundford UEFA Europa League 1
Lifumpa Mwandwe UEFA Europa Conference League 1
Aaron Williams UEFA Europa Conference League 1
Romilly Brown UEFA Cup 1

Rivalries

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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

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Season League Position Pld W D L F A Pts
1959–60 Mid Wales League 7th 26 12 5 9 73 54 29
1960–61 Mid Wales League 6th 24 10 3 11 64 42 23
1961–62 Mid Wales League 6th 20 10 2 8 54 42 22
1962–63 Mid Wales League 7th 22 11 2 9 49 52 24
1963–64 Mid Wales League 8th 24 9 4 11 51 62 22
1964–65 Mid Wales League 6th 24 10 4 10 64 49 24
1965–66 Mid Wales League 9th 26 9 7 10 60 62 25
1966–67 Mid Wales League 8th 26 12 3 11 60 56 27
1967–68 Mid Wales League 4th 26 15 3 8 76 49 33
1968–69 Mid Wales League 4th 26 15 6 5 68 39 36
1969–70 Mid Wales League 11th 30 10 4 16 62 73 24
1970–71 Mid Wales League 11th 28 6 7 15 46 77 19
1971–72 Mid Wales League 11th 26 5 9 12 34 50 19
1972–73 Mid Wales League 13th 26 3 6 17 — — 12
1973–74 Mid Wales League 11th 26 7 5 14 32 48 19
1974–75 Mid Wales League 2nd 26 18 4 4 — — 40
1975–76 Mid Wales League 1st 28 20 3 5 86 33 43
1976–77 Mid Wales League 4th 28 15 3 10 54 45 33
1977–78 Mid Wales League 7th 28 9 10 9 50 43 28
1978–79 Mid Wales League 1st 30 25 2 3 77 22 52
1979–80 Mid Wales League 3rd 30 19 3 8 68 40 41
1980–81 Mid Wales League 3rd 26 16 5 5 53 18 37
1981–82 Mid Wales League 1st 26 21 3 2 77 24 45
1982–83 Mid Wales League 2nd 22 12 7 3 52 25 31
1983–84 Mid Wales League 6th 28 14 8 6 67 38 36
1984–85 Mid Wales League 5th 28 13 7 8 70 53 33
1985–86 Mid Wales League 3rd 26 15 6 5 65 30 36
1986–87 Mid Wales League 1st 24 20 2 2 67 16 42
1987–88 Mid Wales League 1st 24 20 2 2 72 21 42
1988–89 NPL First Division 9th 42 15 12 15 65 59 57
1989–90 NPL First Division 14th 42 14 12 16 49 62 54
1990–91 NPL First Division 13th 42 13 12 17 68 75 51
1991–92 NPL First Division 14th 42 15 6 21 60 95 51
1992–93 League of Wales 18th 38 9 9 20 55 87 36
1993–94 League of Wales 6th 38 18 9 11 52 48 63
1994–95 League of Wales 4th 38 20 8 10 78 47 68
1995–96 League of Wales 2nd 40 23 11 6 69 25 80
1996–97 League of Wales 5th 40 22 5 13 74 49 71
1997–98 League of Wales 2nd 38 23 9 6 101 47 78
1998–99 League of Wales 6th 32 13 10 9 45 35 49
1999–00 League of Wales 8th 34 14 6 14 49 41 48
2000–01 League of Wales 4th 34 18 4 12 68 37 58
2001–02 League of Wales 13th 34 9 11 14 35 44 38
2002–03 Welsh Premier League 10th 34 12 6 16 48 54 42
2003–04 Welsh Premier League 10th 32 12 5 15 43 50 41
2004–05 Welsh Premier League 10th 34 13 7 14 49 55 46
2005–06 Welsh Premier League 16th 34 10 6 18 42 61 31
2006–07 Welsh Premier League 16th 32 6 6 20 30 63 24
2007–08 Welsh Premier League 13th 34 9 10 15 47 66 37
2008–09 Welsh Premier League 10th 34 10 10 14 46 54 40
2009–10 Welsh Premier League 13th 34 10 11 13 54 57 41
2010–11 Welsh Premier League 9th 32 8 11 13 40 55 35
2011–12 Welsh Premier League 12th 32 7 5 20 44 82 23
2012–13 Welsh Premier League 9th 32 10 7 15 44 54 37
2013–14 Welsh Premier League 5th 32 12 6 14 46 58 42
2014–15 Welsh Premier League 6th 32 10 8 14 52 65 38
2015–16 Welsh Premier League 5th 32 11 9 12 46 54 42
2016–17 Welsh Premier League 7th 32 12 9 11 59 41 45
2017–18 Welsh Premier League 8th 32 12 4 16 52 55 40
2018-19 Welsh Premier League 5th 32 13 7 12 53 56 46
2019-20 Cymru Premier 6th 25[a] 10 5 10 25 30 35
2020-21 Cymru Premier 7th 32 12 6 14 57 53 42
2021-22 Cymru Premier 3rd 32 15 6 11 50 35 51
2022-23 Cymru Premier 6th 32 12 5 15 49 56 41
2023-24 Cymru Premier 4th 32 13 5 14 49 46 44
  1. ^ League was suspended on 13th March due to COVID-19 pandemic

References

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  1. ^ "Newtown AFC | Latham Park | Football Ground Guide".
  2. ^ "Newtown clubs". Wrexham Guardian and Denbighshire and Flintshire Advertiser: 8. 13 September 1879.
  3. ^ "Civil Service v White Stars, Newtown". Wrexham Advertiser: 8. 6 November 1880.
  4. ^ "Establishment of football club". Montgomeryshire Express: 5. 29 July 1884.
  5. ^ "Newtown v West Bromwich Albion". Wrexham Advertiser: 3. 18 October 1884.
  6. ^ "The Welsh Football Cup". Montgomeryshire Echo: 5. 20 April 1895.
  7. ^ "Newtown Football Club". Montgomeryshire Echo. 21 July 1900. p. 5.
  8. ^ "Football Notes". Montgomery County Times and Shropshire and Mid-Wales Advertiser. 30 March 1901. p. 6. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  9. ^ "Montgomeryshire & District League Tables 1904-05". www.welshsoccerarchive.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
  10. ^ "Newtown". The Montgomeryshire Express and Radnor Times. 1910-03-29. Retrieved 2024-04-11 – via newspapers.library.wales.
  11. ^ "Football". Llangollen Advertiser Denbighshire Merionethshire and North Wales Journal. 1919-09-19. Retrieved 2024-04-11 – via newspapers.library.wales.
  12. ^ http://welsh-premier.com/rel_club.php?cid=13. Archived 2016-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ White Stars
  14. ^ White Stars
  15. ^ "First Team". Newtown AFC. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
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