Aberbargoed Buds F.C.
| Full name | Aberbargoed Buds Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Buds |
| Founded | 1957 |
| Ground | Centre of Excellence (Ystrad Mynach) |
| Chairman | Mark Giffard |
| Manager | Lee Costa |
| League | Welsh Football League Division Two |
| 2013-14 | Welsh Football League Division One 15th (of 16) Relegated |
| Website | [[1] Club home page] |
Aberbargoed Buds F.C. is a football club based in Aberbargoed. The team play in the Welsh Football League Division Two following relegation at the end of the 2013–14 season.
Aberbargoed Buds were founded in the 1950s after the demise of Aberbargoed Town who once played in the Welsh league before folding around 1949. The Buds started their football life in the West Mon league before there was a reorganisation of the league structure. Born out of this was the formation of the Gwent County League which to this day is a very strong league of three divisions. To their credit the Buds have never been outside the top flight of the Gwent Football League. The Buds won their first Gwent Championship in 1985–86 on the back of winning the County Motor Cup in 1984
They had to wait 16 years until they won the League for a second time but always played their football in Division One. In 1986 Aberbargoed Town was reformed with Lee Bugler and Kevin Simpson the architects bringing together a squad of mostly ex Buds and Jubilee F.C. players.The team entered the Rhymney Valley League and played there for a number of seasons before the league folded. This led to the team joining the North Gwent League in the nineties where they established themselves gaining promotion to the top tier and winning silverware on their way with a now young squad that had replaced the founders of Aberbargoed Town. The management duo of Graham Owen and John Randall who had taken the team to the double in 1999 were then approached by the Buds committee to amalgamate the Town with the current Buds team Aberbargoed were on the verge of folding leading up to the 1999/2000 season. The irony was the fact that, 50 years after Aberbargoed Town folded, it was now the Town who was to save the Buds from going out of existence. The Town committee agreed to this arrangement which kept the Buds in the Gwent County League and the Town, now known as the seconds, in the North Gwent League. With a new injection of players, committee and sponsors, the future was secure and Welsh League football was the goal set by the Club. In 2001–02 the Buds won the County Motors Cup after a gap of 18 years defeating Llanhilleth 3-0 and then comfortably held onto the trophy the following year (2002–03) defeating Blaenavon Blues 6–0 in what was a double winning season with the Buds winning the Gwent County League by 6 points and losing only 2 games on their way. Due to the lack of facilities the Buds were not granted entry to the Welsh League Division 3. However, after a lot of investment they now possess a ground that meets the criteria set down by the Welsh League.
Having finished runners up in the following season (2003–04) and then a modest third the season after (2004/05) current managers Graham Owen and John Randall (whose top mukkas with Turkey (Wayne Kirkwood) stood down making way for former player Neil Thomas to take the reins where the club once again won the league (2005–06) which was decided on the last game of the season with the Buds defeating the current champions Clydach Wasps 4–1 to take the league title and finally gain promotion to Welsh League Football for the 2006–07 season.
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