Taff Ely Rhymney Valley League

Who is pushing for promotion in the district leagues? (South Wales FA)

Parks football, recreation football; whatever you want to call it, football in the lower echelons of the Welsh football pyramid is just as enjoyable as the upper tiers. There obviously isn’t the same quality in both the standard of play and facilities but it is still 11 v 11 with 3 points up for grabs. While the football at this level has largely a social function, there are some ambitious clubs trying to find their way into the more organised standard in the regional South Wales Alliance and Gwent Premier Leagues.

So here’s a round-up of all the current state of play in the district leagues across the South Wales FA, where the champions of each league are vying for promotion into the South Wales Alliance League. A similar Gwent County FA round-up will follow.

South Wales FA

Aberdare Valley
Abercynon and Cwmaman 2nds are locked on 26 points at the top of the Premier Division with a number of clubs having games in hand, including Penywaun. Last season’s champions Abercwmboi are languishing in mid-table and although they have games in hand, it would take an incredible run for them to retain their title. A three-point deduction hasn’t helped their title defence either.

Last season Abercwmboi did not apply for the South Wales FA champions play-offs but Abercynon and Penywaun did. You would expect the latter two to have the same ambition again this season.

Napiers Arms lead the way in Division One, although second-place Butchers Arms have the advantage of games in hand. The division has been reduced to nine teams after Gwawr FC withdrew from the league.

Bridgend & District
Bettws hold a seven-point lead over Wyndham BGC and both sides have four games left to play. So two wins for ex-Welsh League Bettws will guarantee the title after they missed out to an irrepressible Maesteg Park last season. They will almost certainly apply for the end of season play-offs.

An improved Llanharry side lead the way in division one, seven points clear of Pencoed Athletic with a game in hand, and look certain for a return to the top flight. Tondu Robins and Welfare Park (5th and 6th respectively) are best positioned to join Llanharry if a second promotion place is available.

Llanharan are top of division two, which is effectively a reserve team league. Unbeaten in 12 league matches, they are 4 points clear at the top with three games in hand. Their place in division one next season is inevitable.

Cardiff Combination
Champions Fairwater are top and unbeaten in the premier division, although they are being pushed hard by Avenue Hotspur. Fairwater missed out on promotion in the play-offs last season, while Avenue, I believe, also harbour ambitions to reach the South Wales Alliance League.

Homeguard are having another successful season after they romped to the division two title last season. They are unbeaten in division one, along with Thornhill, having scored an impressive 70 goals in 9 matches. Hard to find any reason why both sides won’t be in the premier next season.

Cardiff Jets have won all 11 of their division two matches so promotion should be a formality. The title remains theirs to lose because they have a 7 point lead over Cardiff Hibernian with a game in hand. Roath Park Rangers have games in hand and could push the re-formed Hibs side for any additional promotion spot.

Cardiff & District
There is an intriguing battle at the top of the premier division. Cardiff Bay hold a narrow advantage over Star FC with Pentwyn Dynamo and Tongwynlais just below with plenty of games in hand. Several sides may be seeking promotion to the next level and the battle for a place in the play-offs could go to the wire.

Cardiff Draconians 2nds are the division one leaders but in a league comprised mostly of reserve sides, it will be two of Space Jam Galaxy, Creigiau and Cardiff Villa to join the premier division next season. Space Jam have the points on the board at the moment, but there are plenty of games in hand for the other sides.

It is a three-horse race in division two between Splott Albion, Canton Libs 2nds and Llanedeyrn Wanderers. Cardiff Cosmos Athletic could make a push with a good run from their fixture backlog, but it would have to be an almost flawless run-in now.

In the lowest tier in the South Wales FA pyramid, Splott Cons are romping away in division two with a 100% record after 9 matches. Llanrumney Athletic are similarly placed with four games in hand on the leaders.

Merthyr & District
The Merthyr League is running with just one 7-team division this year after the loss of champions Navi Treharris this season and Hills Plymouth at the end of last season. Merthyr Town were also fielding a reserve team in this division at the start of the campaign but that side seems to have withdrawn also.

Aber Wanderers, Pantyscallog Village Juniors and Quar Park Rangers are all on 16 points at the top, although last season’s unlucky runners-up QPR have played a game more. Bali Glass are already in the mix. It is unclear whether any club will seek promotion this season. QPR did last year and share a ground with SWAL club Merthyr Saints.

Port Talbot & District
Gwynfi United lead the single division league, unbeaten after 13 games and 5 points clear of closest rivals Glyncorrwg. Last season the Port Talbot League split into two conferences after every side had played each other once. That looks set to happen, if it hasn’t already, soon. Last season’s runners-up FC Porthcawl are currently on the border of the split.

Rhondda & District
Trehebert BGC are well in control of the Premier Division, holding a 10-point lead over Cwm Rhondda having played two games more. These sides had been neck and neck for much of the first part of the season but unbeaten Treherbert now have the edge, including a 5-3 over Cwm Rhondda in December.

Last season’s champions Penygraig United have had a difficult campaign and currently sit 6th in the 8-team division, so their hold on the trophy will end this season.

Their village rivals, Penygraig BGC, have shrugged off last season’s relegation and are well clear in division one, 13 points ahead of last season’s double cup winners Tonypandy Albion. Albion do have four games in hand so could close that gap and the second meeting between the sides could be crucial. Although both sides are almost certain to go up based on form and results this season. 3rd place Ferndale BGC have lost 4 matches, while Tonypandy have lost once.

Taff Ely & Rhymney Valley
The folding of champions Ynysybwl Athletic at the start of the season meant the most open TERV Premier title race as Nelson Cavaliers, Talbot Green, Rhydyfelin, Church Village and Cwrt Rawlin all looked capable of challenging. Unbeaten Nelson (champions in 2017/18) are the favourites but they have a league fixture backlog developing alongside continued participation in league and regional cups. Their recent league and cup wins over Cwrt Rawlin certainly consolidated their position as the team to beat but should they falter Talbot Green and Rhydyfelin look the sides most likely to profit. Nelson and Rhydyfelin have both expressed ambition to seek promotion to the SWAL in the past.

In Division One it looks like a straight shoot-out between Cefn Hengoed and Aber Valley 2nds for the title. Cefn Hengoed are unbeaten but a 3-point deduction means Aber Valley are in the hunt. Aber’s side cannot be promoted so that leaves the door to promotion open to other senior sides in the league should be they finish in the top two. It looks like it’s between Pontypridd and Fochriw Village to claim the second promotion place.

Vale of Glamorgan
The VOG league re-structured this season into two larger divisions and it’s a very competitive premier division this season. Notably, champions Barry Athletic are languishing in 6th place, although they do have games in hand. AFC Rhoose lead the way presently, although there are a number of sides on their tail such as Holton Road and Island Marine. This could be the most interesting of the district league title races and still plenty of football to play.

AFC Rhoose also top division one, their B side unbeaten in 12 matches and 7 points clear of Barry Vikings. Two will go up, which won’t include Rhoose B, and at the moment it Barry Vikings and Cadoxton Barry are the among best positioned for promotion at the end of the season.

A farm, a pub and a football club…Cwrt Rawlin

Groundhopping is such an eccentric hobby you could probably write a lengthy piece on all it’s different variations. I’ve seen websites dedicated to groundhopping which include an enormous list of rules for what constitutes a valid match (I’ve even heard of groundhoppers that don’t count 0-0s!). I also know people who will watch any football match anywhere. There are some that count visits to a ground, whether there is a football match going on or not. Each to his own.

I have, I believe, a fairly laid back attitude. As long as it’s a full 11-a-side contest between two teams consisting of players eligible for senior football playing in or affiliated with a football association or league, that’s all I need.

In Wales you are restricting yourself to missing out on some superb places to watch football if you get into qualifications about stands, barriers, merchandise etc. Some of the most memorable places I have seen a game have been in public parks where a football pitch is marked out with two goals at either end.

Which brings me to my latest new ground – or so I’d hoped…

Owain Glyndwr Playing Field is a public recreational space in Caerphilly with a railed pitch. What makes it remarkable is that if you take certain positions around the pitch you can watch the beautiful game with Caerphilly’s enormous Norman castle as your backdrop because it is on the other side of the road. For someone who does like to photograph football matches the draw is the opportunity to capture some dramatic shots.

So when I had a free Saturday and saw that Cwrt Rawlin – the senior side based there – had a home match, I thought the long wait to ‘bag’ this ground was over. Except…

…the game had been moved to the 3G pitch at nearby school. As disappointed as I was when I found this out, it proved tremendous foresight by the club officials because the Owain Glyndwr pitch was waterlogged. Off I went anyway.

Cwrt Rawlin are possibly the oldest current club that is based in Caerphilly town. There are clubs in the Caerphilly area like Aber Valley and Trethomas Bluebirds that go back further but I think locals from both communities might challenge any definition of them as “Caerphilly”. The town’s highest ranked club, Caerphilly Athletic, began life as Dynamo Aber in the mid-2000s.

That Cwrt Rawlin’s origins only go back to 2001 says much about the history of football in Caerphilly. There have been plenty of clubs from the town (the 13th largest in Wales by population) to have come and gone and even though Caerphilly had a side in the Southern League for two seasons either side of the First World War, it’s not been a place renowned for producing successful football clubs. As far as I am aware, there has not been a Caerphilly town-based club in the Welsh League since 1938 (Caerphilly Town). Senghenydd Town and the original Aber Valley club represented “the area” between them in the post-Second War War era until 1968. Outside local or “parks” football, Caerphilly has been largely a football non-entity since then.

Like Pontypridd, where local senior football barely registers in the sporting culture, rugby union is king in the town; still, I’ve always felt Caerphilly is a town that really needs a football club on the map. I grew up playing on the fields at Virginia Park. It is where the rugby club is based but there is absolutely no logical reason why a football ground fit for a good standard of football isn’t possible too.

On arrival at the game I spoke to Cwrt Rawlin chairman and founder Anthony Williams and he took me through the club’s heritage. Set-up originally as an under 6 team for his son, Cwrt have built a club over 20 years that now provides football for more than 270 players from under 6s right through to senior level. The pathway from there includes a youth team playing in the Cardiff & District League and the senior side that currently plays in the Taff Ely & Rhymney Valley Football League (TERVL).

The senior side was set-up around 2010 in conjunction with the local pub, the Cwrt Rawlin, to provide a route from youth to senior football for the emerging players at the club. The club’s name doesn’t come from the pub though, but the name of the farm that was owned by Anthony’s wife’s family and once comprised the area that is now the Castle View estate. Anthony was rightly proud of that legacy, with a strong contingent of the current senior squad having come right through the club’s junior system.

Now the senior side is established, there are ambitions to try and reach the next level in the South Wales Alliance League. With a chance at winning the league this season the process for applying for the end of season South Wales FA champions play-offs is underway. Cwrt’s committee know there are limitations on what can be done at Owain Glyndwr and they continue to explore the possibility of establishing a permament ground in the town they can develop to include spectator facilities and a clubhouse. The previously mentioned Virginia Park and the playing fields near the Twyn School have been considered but the local authority remains reluctant to support to any such plans.

On the field the club’s bid to progress included recruiting Dave Kempton as first team manager after he led Caerphilly Athletic’s 2nds to the TERVL division one title last season. Kempton – who has played and coached in professional set-ups in England – said he was initially reluctant to speak to Cwrt Rawlin due to rivalry from Sunday league football but having done so he complimented the club as the “best run in Caerphilly” and felt he had the best group of players he’s ever had while he’s been involved in football in Wales.

This match would provide a stern test of the side’s credentials. It’s been a decent season so far for Cwrt Rawlin, currently top of the TERVL premier division, in the last 16 of the South Wales FA Senior Cup, with a Greyhound Cup semi-final to come. This was the first bid for the club to challenge for silverware this season but for a place in the final of the Bernard Martin Cup (the TERVL’s second league cup) they would have to overcome Nelson Cavaliers.

A former South Wales Senior League club, Nelson Cavaliers have been the closest challengers to the Ynysybwl Athletic side that has dominated the TERVL in recent years. Aaron Powell’s side won the league title in 2018 only to lose in the promotion play-offs but they harbour themselves ambitions to reach the next step in the pyramid.

In very winding conditions the home side started the semi-final better, playing against the wind Nelson often struggled to clear their lines adequately. It was merited though when Cwrt Rawlin took the lead, captain David Tiltman firing home from more than 20 yards with powerful, swerving shot. The homesters almost doubled their lead during a scramble on the Nelson goal-line but somehow the ball stayed out and the visitors survived.

Oddly, an injury to Liam Dellanna – who had looked Nelson’s most dangerous player in the first half – just before half-time sparked the away team into life. Matthew Greenway smashed the crossbar from distance and Ceri Clingo was denied by an excellent save in the final moments of the first-half so Cwrt Rawlin’s lead was preserved.

But not for long. Less than five minutes into the second-half, Matthew Maksimovic was penalised for a challenge on Clingo in the box and Dan Falconer calmly converted the penalty to restore parity. Ceri Clingo fired past Joe Raspin – beating the keeper at his near post – to complete the turnaround within ten minutes.

How would Cwrt Rawlin respond? Immediately.

Within a minute of the restart the game was level thanks to an excellent finish by Tom Starr after Tiltman’s cushioned lay-off. That left an intriguing half hour for both side’s to grab the prize and Ryan Donovan’s strike edged Nelson ahead with 25 minutes to go. Cwrt Rawlin pushed hard and despite lots of pressure and possession that final moment of cutting edge was lacking to take the game into extra time.

The sides meet again on Saturday in a key league fixture.

Match Notes
1.2.2020
Cwrt Rawlin 2-3 Nelson Cavaliers
(David Tiltman 18′, Tom Starr 59′; Dan Falconer 49′ [p], Ceri Clingo 57′, Ryan Donovan 66′)
Bernard Martin Cup Semi-Final
Y Gwindy School 3G, Caerphilly (Welsh Ground #85)
Attendance: 30 (approx) |Entry: Free