Carmarthen Town A.F.C.
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| Full name | Carmarthen Town Association Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Old Gold, The Town |
| Founded | 1950 |
| Ground |
Richmond Park Carmarthen |
| Capacity | 3,000 (1,000 seated) |
| President | Einsley Harris |
| Chairman | Jeff Thomas |
| Manager | Mark Aizlewood |
| League | Welsh Premier League |
| 2015–16 | Welsh Premier League, 7th |
| Website | Club home page |
Carmarthen Town Association Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Pêl-droed Tref Caerfyrddin) is a Welsh semi-professional football club based in Carmarthen. The team play their home games at Richmond Park. The club colours, reflected in their crest and kit, are gold and black.
Formed in 1950, Carmarthen Town was elected into the Welsh Football League in 1953. Their first league honour came in 1959–60, with promotion from Division 2 West to the First Division of the Welsh League. Carmarthen Town's first trophy was the Welsh Football League Cup, which they won in the 1995–96 season. Since then the club have gone on to win the Welsh Cup once and the Welsh League Cup twice. They have also qualified for UEFA competitions on four occasions.
Carmarthen Town currently play in Welsh Premier League and have yet to win a league title, despite being in the top tier of Welsh football since 1996–97. The club had their highest-ever finish in 2000–01, with third place, which qualified them for European competition for the first time.
The first attempt to form a Carmarthen Town team came in 1920. Jack Harding, a Geordie who settled in the town and had previously played in the Wearside League, made his initial effort in order to give other local sides more competition. The club only lasted for three years. Jack then went on to play for the St.Peter's and Quay Rovers (a Carmarthen team in all but name) clubs both of which folded in 1939. After the Second World War he founded a Carmarthen Athletic team but the players were not fully committed. In fact one match had to be called off as most of the team were engaged in bell ringing on a Saturday. However, he was more successful in 1950 when forming Carmarthen Town and he made some shrewd signings from Llanelli and Swansea Town. The club played their first two seasons at Penllwyn Park and in 1952 moved to the newly created Richmond Park. A year later an application to join the Welsh League was successful with the new captain, Len Emanuel, taking over the reins. The stated aim of the club was "to give the public good football," and they succeeded in attracting crowds of over three thousand to home games. With only one team gaining promotion from the Second Division (West) the club finally achieved success in 1960 following five seasons as league runners-up. Alas, relegation followed twelve months later. It took four further years to win promotion again. The years passed with mediocre league placings and in 1976 the club looked like folding. It was the disbanded reserve team's committee which came to the fore and took over the running of the whole club. Relegation came again in 1979 and again in 1982. Things were grim. At long last promotion was achieved in 1992, and once more in 1995. The upward surge continued and the Welsh League Championship was won in 1996 along with the Welsh League Cup. The Old Gold were now in the League of Wales. The 1996–97 season was one of consolidation. Early in the following season, in September 1997, Carmarthen attracted a record league crowd of 911 to their match against Barry Town. The season's club captain, Mark Delaney would go on to establish himself in England at Premier League club Aston Villa. In May 1999 the Old Gold reached the Welsh Cup Final (losing on penalties) and the following year were runners-up in the Welsh Senior Cup. In 2001 Carmarthen finished third in the league and so qualified for a European competition for the first time. A 0–0 home draw against the Swedish side AIK Stockholm in the UEFA Intertoto Cup was followed by a 3–0 loss in the return leg. The appointment of Mark Jones as manager in the summer of 2004 stopped a slide which had seen the club fail to build on their European experience. Within twelve months the club were again in Europe having qualified as losing finalists in the Welsh Cup. Carmarthen were drawn against League of Ireland club Longford Town and were beaten 2–0 in the away leg. A fortnight later came the highest point in the club's history when they thrashed the Irishmen 5–1 to achieve the highest score by any Welsh club in European competition. The second Qualifying Round saw 2–0 defeats in both legs against Danish side FC Copenhagen. Fourth place in the league in 2006 saw the club gain a second season of European football but, again, defeat in both legs, this time against Finnish club Tampere United ensured there was no repeat of the previous season's euphoria. The 2006–07 season saw the club win the Welsh Cup for the first time which meant more European matches. However, the Norwegian club SK Brann were far too strong for the Old Gold over both legs. The next two seasons saw little success and with the now renamed Welsh Premier League due to be restructured after the end of the 2009–10 season it was imperative that Carmarthen finished in the top twelve to retain their status. They narrowly succeeded. The club's first season in the revamped league was inconsistent and in January 2012, former coach Mark Aizlewood was appointed as manager in an attempt to save the club from relegation. With some new signings he managed the virtually impossible and the following summer changed the vast majority of the team's personnel. This resulted in the club having its best season for many years. The League Cup success against The New Saints on a cold January day in Newtown was followed by qualification for the WPL Championship Conference and an automatic Europa League qualifying semi-final match. The League Cup was won again in January 2014 when Bala Town were defeated. For the 2014–15 season Aizlewood and coach, Neil Smothers, have brought in a few new faces to add to the squad. In February 2014, Carmarthen Town played their 600th Welsh Premier League match which is a far cry from that initial 1950–51 season.
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