This article of mine was originally published at ygemfootball.com (now defunct) in November 2018.
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One of the sad features of Welsh football has been the demise in the past decade of several clubs with long and illustrious histories in the domestic game. We’ve even seen clubs such as Barry Town, Llanelli AFC, Cwmbran Town and even some of the northern powerhouses humbled by various problems.
In some cases, struggling clubs are forced to drop down into lower leagues, and some further still into ‘recreational’ football, while others bottom out completely. Some never return, but others are reborn as phoenix clubs. In the past decade we have seen the aforementioned Barry and Llanelli clubs fold and reborn as new clubs, completing fairy tale turnarounds in consecutive seasons by re-taking their place among Welsh football’s elite in the Welsh Premier League.
The story for another famous club whose innings came to a sad end at the end of the last decade hasn’t been quite as spectacular.
Maesteg Park Athletic resigned from the Welsh Football League and dissolved at the end of the 2009/10 season. The club, founded in 1945, were a mainstay in the upper echelons of Welsh football since the early 1960s: founding members of the League of Wales, Welsh League runners-up in 2001, twice Welsh Cup semi-finalists. The Park had been a prospering Welsh League Division One side as late as 2007, but having survived one extinction threat in 2008, finally succumbed in 2010.
The reasons were manifold. The club had been held together for years by former FAW President David Griffiths and his family and when they could no longer commit to running the club, no new committee was forthcoming. The cost of running the Welsh League club proved onerous, as well as issues to do with a lack of infrastructure.
Although the original club went under, playing their final game in May 2010 against Porthcawl Town, the shoots of a new club – Maesteg Park FC – emerged that summer out of the former club’s junior section. Maesteg Park was fronted by current chairman and first team manager Andrew Jones, who told us how it came about.
“[Maesteg Park Athletic] mini and junior chairman Lee Flay asked me to help him set up a new senior team as they were flourishing and he wanted the young players to have the opportunity of playing senior football for their local club.”
“I had previously been chairman, secretary and first team manager of Gwynfi United and had played alongside Lee so after a bit of persuasion I decided to help out.”
“We met with David Griffiths, who was the long term secretary of the old club…[and he] helped us out with kit and training equipment and was pleased to see us trying to resurrect the club.”
Maesteg Park started out in the Bridgend & District League, where they remain and have gradually developed over the past eight years. Last season the club finished second in the Premier Division, behind Llangeinor (another former Welsh League club) but did manage to lift the Celtic Tyres Cup and Nathaniel Cars Open Cup.
The club have started this season well and are again in a title battle with another ex-Welsh League club in Bettws. Maesteg Park and Bettws are presently separated by one point and are well clear of the chasing pack. Their first meeting this season in the league ended in a 3-3 draw, suggesting it will be a very close run contest for the title.
The club’s ambitions are “to go as far as we can”, according to Andrew Jones.
“We have again applied for promotion to the South Wales Alliance League,” Jones continued, “and we know that the facilities we have are good enough but it’s just the difficult job of winning the league and potential play-off games which stand in our way… the title is in our hands although we recognise there is a long way to go.”
The success of Maesteg Park has been built on the junior section where it all began eight years. Jones says the development sections have been “hugely beneficial” to the club, providing nearly 30% of the players that have gone to represent the club at senior level.
The work done in these groups has been reflected in success at both reserve and youth levels. The reserve team were league and cup double winners in 2014, while the under 18 side had had success South Wales Youth League, winning the West Division in 2016/17.
Jones credited youth coaches Andrew Watts and Gavin Mizen and pointed out one of Maesteg Park’s youth system success stories, Keane Watts.
“[Keane was] the captain of the 2016/2017 [youth] team. [Keane has] gone on to win his Welsh Schoolboys cap [as well as] a Boys Club of Wales cap. He made the step up to senior football with ease and after two seasons he has been signed by Port Talbot Town in the Welsh League.”
As well as building on what was already in place from the former Maesteg club, Jones says Maesteg Park have continued to nourish their grassroots with junior teams running between under 8s and under 11, as well as under 14s and 15s.
Like many clubs, Maesteg Park is run by a small group of dedicated and hard-working volunteers but whereas the former club seemed unable to call upon local support once David Griffiths and his family stepped aside, Jones says there are better ties now with the community.
“We have had tremendous support from the local community who have helped us with sponsorship and also with remedial works in and around the ground and clubhouse.”
“We have renovated the kitchen with the help of CJ Construction and also created a sports room for the players and supporters on match days. We have made huge improvements on the pitch and surrounding areas including hand spreading 25 tons of topsoil, clearing the drains and culvert which was affecting the drainage, painting the barriers, dug outs, stand and entrance gates.”
Whether Maesteg Park FC ever reaches the same levels as the club it has succeeded is impossible to predict. Even if it doesn’t, the determination of those involved to keep the town’s football heritage alive is in-itself a tribute and a success.
Jordan Forster 