Full name | Cwmbrân Town Association Football Club |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | The Crows |
Founded | 1951 |
Ground |
Cwmbran Stadium Cwmbrân |
Capacity | 10,500 (2,200 seated) |
Chairman | Gareth Griffiths |
Manager | Matthew Ryder |
League | Gwent County League Division One |
2015/16 | 12th (of 16) |
Cwmbrân Town is a football team based in Cwmbrân, Wales and play in the Gwent County League Division 1, the fifth tier of Welsh Football.
Cwmbrân's place in history is assured as the first ever team to be champions of, and later first to be relegated from the League of Wales. Formed in 1951, Cwmbrân began in the Monmouthshire Senior League, playing their matches at Cwmbrân Park. In 1960 the club joined the Welsh Football League and they moved to their present home at the Cwmbran Stadium in 1975. Cwmbrân lost their place in the top division of the Welsh Football League in 1978 and it took them three years to return to the top level. Although they finished only eighth in the 1981–82 season, they were invited to join the National Division of the restructured League. Cwmbrân finished third in 1986–87 and almost won the title in 1989–90. In 1992 they were invited to become founder members of the League of Wales. Unprecedented success followed when they took the title by five points from rivals and near-neighbours Inter Cardiff, conceding only 22 goals all season and losing only three games (all 1–0).
That inaugural Konica League championship brought European reward in the form of a Champions Cup tie against Cork City from the Republic of Ireland. In the Preliminary Round, Cwmbrân won the home leg by 3–2, after being 3–0 in front but despite going a goal ahead early in the second match they lost 2–1 and went out on away goals. Cwmbrân had another taste of European football in 1997 in the European Cup Winners Cup, having lost 2–1 to newly crowned champions Barry Town in the Welsh Cup final.
Qualifying for Europe again in 1998 and 1999, Cwmbrân met FC Naţional Bucureşti of Romania, and Celtic respectively. In the 2003–04 UEFA Cup they lost 6–0 on aggregate to Maccabi Haifa of Israel, playing the away leg in İzmir, Turkey.