Abergavenny Thursdays FC (Wales)
Football clubs
with weekday names in their title is not uncommon. The most notable example is
Sheffield Wednesday, who are still around today. There was also a Thursday
Wanderers, from Sheffield, that once played in the early 1900’s. But in Wales,
there was also a club named after a weekday, Thursday as well. The town of
Abergavenny added to the list, when they added the Thursday to their name. Here
is why they did it and here is their story.
Originally
founded in the 1890’s Abergavenny Rangers were one of the first clubs to appear
in the town. The club then added the Thursday to their name before dropping the
‘Rangers’ in 1908, becoming Abergavenny Thursdays. The name came from the fact
workers in the town were given a half day on Thursday, in which many used the
time to play football. In 1927, the club, Abergavenny Thursdays was officially
founded, detaching itself from the first team and becoming its own club. They
adopted the club colours of red and white for their home kits, while wearing
all blue for their away jerseys and shorts. They played their home matches at
the Pen-Y-Pound Stadum.
It took until
1951 when the club won promotion to the top tier of the Welsh Football League
and one year later, they won the Welsh Football League Cup in 1952, beating
Caerau Athletic. Their next big triumph came in the 1958-59 season when they
finally won the Welsh Football League top tier title. They won it by fifteen
points, ahead of second placed Cardiff City Reserves. They retained their title
the following year, whilst also reaching the semi-final of the Welsh Cup,
losing to Wrexham in a reply, 2-0, after the original match ended in a 2-2
draw.
Such strong
performances didn’t go unnoticed, and the club was invited to join the English
football tier in the form of the Southern Football League. The club declined in
the hope a that a Welsh National League would be formed. The Thursdays remained
in their current league, finishing runners-up on three consecutive occasions,
in the 1963, 1964 and 1965 seasons, finishing behind Swansea Reserves on each
occasion. They reached their second Welsh League Cup final in 1963, but this
time lost to Brecon Corinthians.
The 1960’s
seemed to be the peak of the club’s success, whilst the 70’s saw a huge decline
on the pitch. The club suffered back-to-back relegations, and ended up playing
in the third tier, the Welsh Football League, Division Two. They wouldn’t
return to the top tier until the 1988 season. The 1990’s would prove to be
another successful period in the club’s history. In the 1990-91 season the club
won the top tier title again for the first time in 31 years. They regained
their title in the 1991-92 season.
A new division
in Wales was created in 1992, the League of Wales, in which Abergavenny
Thursdays became the founding members. The new national division was recognised
by UEFA, and it meant that European qualification was now available to clubs
that finished top. The new league system came at a cost, as clubs had to give
assurances that their stadia was up to standard. The Thursdays had to invest in
floodlights for their ground. The club obliged, however it put them under huge
financial pressure. The club also saw a huge exodus of players to the English
leagues, which made their first season in the League of Wales difficult. They
finished last in their first season and found themselves relegated.
Things didn’t
get any better in Division One when they finished 14th. While the
following season was much improved on the pitch, with the club finishing 4th,
they once again lost most of their players to English clubs. Their hopes of
returning to the League of Wales were diminishing fast and in the 1997-98
season, the club failed to win a game conceding 210 goals in 26 games, meaning
they were relegated to Division Two.
From there on,
things got much worse for the club on and off the field. Four consecutive
relegations saw the club now playing their football in the Gwent County League.
In those four seasons, the club conceded a total of 675 goals. The clubs last
eleven seasons saw the club playing in the Gwent County League Division Two,
never really looking like they would get out of it. It was August 2013 when
they finally withdrew from the league, just days before their opening match of
the season against Pontypool, citing a lack of players. It was with this
withdrawal that the club folded. A new club was formed a year later under the
name Abergavenny Town FC.