Full name | Llanelli Town Association Football Club |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | The Reds |
Founded | 1896 (Reformed 2013) |
Ground |
Stebonheath Park Llanelli |
Capacity | 3,700 (1,012 seated) |
Chairman | David Craddock |
Manager | Andrew Hill |
League | Welsh Football League Division One |
2016-17 | Welsh Football League Division Two, 1st (of 18) |
Llanelli Town Association Football Club are a Welsh football club that plays in the Welsh Football League Division 1. The original club was wound up on 22 April 2013 at the High Court in London following a petition presented by HM Revenue and Customs. They were reformed later that year as Llanelli Town AFC and now play in the Welsh Football League Division One.
The team is based at Stebonheath Park from 1920, having previously playing at the Halfway athletics ground.
Formed in 1896, the club's first honour was the Welsh League division one title claimed in 1913–14 with further wins coming in 1929–30 and 1932–33. Llanelli made several attempts to join The Football League, in 1922, 1923, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1947, 1950 and 1951. Despite making an effort to turn professional, the club was not elected. The closest they came was in 1933, where the club received 20 votes compared to 26 for Newport County and 45 for Swindon Town who were re-elected to the Football League Third Division South. Llanelli was a founder member of the Welsh Premier League in 1992, but after only four seasons suffered relegation. Promotion back to the top division was achieved in 1998–99, but 2002–03 saw the team demoted only to return to the top-flight for the 2004–05 season. In 2005 a wealthy business man and his consortium, The Jesco group bought the club. Since then, the club's fortunes have transformed remarkably on the pitch. They have played in Europe for 7 consecutive seasons, they won the Welsh premier league and Loosemores challenge cup in 2008 and won the Welsh Cup in 2011.
2012–13 was difficult financially with three petitions to wind the club up presented by HM Revenue and Customs.
The club was wound up on 22 April 2013 at the High Court in London following a petition presented by HM Revenue and Customs. However, the town of Llanelli will still be represented in Welsh football through the 'phoenix club' of Llanelli Town in the Welsh Third Division in season 2013-14. Llanelli Town were crowned Division 3 champions for the 2014-2015 and will now compete in the Welsh Second Division.