AR10
TFF member
Torquay Fans Forum Manager
Posts: 238
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Post by AR10 on Dec 11, 2008 16:42:10 GMT
Has anyone got any info on Abergavenny Thursday FC as I'm there this sat with the Devon Unders 18's as we take on Gwent.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2008 17:27:22 GMT
Rather a sad story I'm afraid.
In the days before what is now the Welsh Premier League, Thursdays were one of the strongest clubs in South Wales and regularly competed in the (English) FA Cup. By local standards they also enjoyed decent facilities.
As champions of the league which covered South Wales (confusingly called the "Welsh League") they were founder members of the the national league (then known as the League of Wales).
The decline began quickly as Thursdays finished bottom and were relegated back to regional level. I don't know the details but things went from bad to worse and then went totally downhill to the extent Abergavenny Thursdays now compete at the seventh level of Welsh football in Gwent County League Division Three.
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Dave
TFF member
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Post by Dave on Dec 11, 2008 17:49:01 GMT
Thanks Barton, Ant has gone to Plymouth as he has to attend another disciplinary hearing, he will read it when he gets back.
Dave
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2008 10:08:13 GMT
I don't think we've ever played Abergavenny Thursdays but it's crossed my mind that Torquay United have faced Welsh opposition in the majority of seasons since turning professional in 1921 (starting with Cardiff Corinthians in 1921/22). Even last year it was Newport County, this season it'll be Wrexham.
The peak actually came in the 1920s wth games against Barry Town, Ebbw Vale, Llanelli, Lovell's Athletic, Mid Rhondda, Pontypridd and several others.
Those must have been epic - and pretty frequent - trips, most likely by train through the Severn Tunnel. Or did the charabanc take the Aust Ferry or follow the "slow way" around Gloucester?
Many of the Welsh clubs opted out of English semi-professional football during the depression and lost their footholds to rugby union in the battle for paying spectators.
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Jon
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Post by Jon on Dec 17, 2008 19:57:23 GMT
.... it's crossed my mind that Torquay United have faced Welsh opposition in the majority of seasons since turning professional in 1921 (starting with Cardiff Corinthians in 1921/22). Even last year it was Newport County, this season it'll be Wrexham. The peak actually came in the 1920s wth games against Barry Town, Ebbw Vale, Llanelli, Lovell's Athletic, Mid Rhondda, Pontypridd and several others. Our Welsh dominated seasons were 1923-24 and 1924-25, when exactly half the teams in our league were Welsh. When the Southern League restarted after the Great War, its second division was predominantly Welsh. In 1920, the entire first division was elected into the Football League. The Southern League was then split into English and Welsh sections for three seasons as it rebuilt its strength. TUFC’s first season in the Southern League was the last of the English / Welsh split. We had a lot of travelling – as far afield as Norwich. By 1923, English teams outnumbered Welsh teams by about 3 to 1, so it was sensible to move to an East / West split rather than an English / Welsh split. This obviously left us facing a lot of Welsh teams, nine in a league of eighteen in 1923/24 and ten in a league of twenty in 1924/25. In 1925, the number of Welsh teams was slashed from ten to four as the recession hit deep. To keep up the number of fixtures, the English sides in the Southern League – Western Section formed the Western League -Professional Section. For the next two seasons, TUFC’s first team played in both the Southern League and the Western League. Our reserves did the same from 1927 to 1939. In more recent times, our most Welsh season was Cyril’s “nearly” season which was the only time we ever had Cardiff, Newport, Swansea and Wrexham all in the same division as us. Add to that, we had Swansea over two legs in the League Cup and again in the Play-Offs. I can confirm Brett’s memory of a supporters’ coach window being smashed at the away League Cup leg – I was on it and yes it was cold! Our longest Welsh-free period came after Swansea were relegated in 1967. We had three seasons sandwiched between Cardiff above and Newport, Swansea and Wrexham below before Swansea and Wrexham were promoted in 1970. We also had no cup draws against Welsh teams in those three seasons – although we did have a couple of pre-season friendlies with Cardiff. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2008 13:40:44 GMT
Thanks, Jon, for the research - especially our longest "Welsh free" period of just three years. Looking at the tables I'd half-forgotten just how many seasons Cardiff spent in the 4th tier - and how very, very bad they were on occasions.
I've been "over the bridge" the last three summers to see Llanelli in European games - three different competitions on three different grounds - which has been an insight into the strange nether world of the early rounds of the European competitions. Difficult to quantify the standard or sense of occasion - more like the 4th qualifying round of the FA Cup in some ways - and watched by a mixture of locals, English groundhoppers and a few Latvians. All-seated and all-ticket to meet UEFA regulations.
Against my better judgement, I was invited to watch a game at Merthyr Saints last season. Apart from this probably being one of the roughest, coldest and highest (over 1000 feet) pitches in the country, it's the first time I've ever seen a linesman on crutches. He didn't venture away from the halfway line all game. At that level the linesmen are supplied by the clubs I hasten to add. As the half-time whistle blew, the home lino immediately rushed to the battered club house to serve the teas (an excellent example of mutli-tasking I thought).
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