Merthyr Town (Wales)
Founded in
1908, Merthyr Town were based in Merthyr Tydfil. The cub joined the Southern
League in 1909, a league that was mostly contested by English clubs, did have
other Welsh clubs involved such as Cardiff City, Newport County and Swansea
Town (As they were known as back then). The club wore black and white stripes
and played at Penydarren Park.
The clubs first
season, in Division Two A, which only consisted of six clubs, was a stable one,
with the club finishing third, winning four, drawing one and losing four. The
league they were in, consisted of Stoke City, who won the division easily, Ton
Pentre, who are another Welsh club, Salisbury City, who are no longer a
football club, Aberdare, another Welsh club who dissolved in 1928 and Burton
United, who left the league at the end of that season and merged with Burton
All Saints, one of the many mergers that have happened within the history of
Burton football.
The 1910-11
season saw the division expand to twelve teams, but Merthyr Town held their own
and finished third, two points behind both Reading and Stoke, who together
gained promotion to the First Division. Reading were crowned champions on
virtue of their superior goal average.
But the next
season was to prove to be a better one for the Welsh side, when they won the
Division and the title, gaining promotion alongside Portsmouth. They had a
better goal average and so they were crowned the champions. It meant they would
be playing First Division football, only four years after they were founded.
The 1911-12
season saw the club finish a respectable twelfth out of twenty clubs. It was a
league that consisted of huge clubs such as Southampton, Crystal Palace and
West Ham United. But the division was not won by any of those clubs, instead,
it was Plymouth Argyle that lifted the trophy.
It was a shirt
stay in the First Division, as Merthyr Twon finished second bottom, one point
behind Watford. It meant they were related back to Division Two, alongside
Coventry City. The next season saw the club once again finish third in the
second division but were elected to the SFL Division One. World War I then took
place, meaning football was postponed and an afterthought in most countries in
Europe. Merthyr Town would have to wait until the 1919-1920 season to play
competitive football again. Their wait was met with disappointment as they did
not do all that well that season. But despite coming 21st out of 22
teams, they were elected into the newly formed Football League, Third Division.
The Football
League Third Division consisted of 22 clubs, and Merthyr Town finished a
respectable 8th that season, with Crystal Palace winning the
division that year. The 1921-22 season saw the club drop down to 11th,
but it was still a respectable position to finish in considering the bigger
clubs that were involved in the division, such as Swansea Town, QPR, Millwall
and the eventual champions, Southampton.
The 1922-23
season saw another drop in the league, with the club finishing 17th,
but still safe from relegation or the prospect of not getting re-elected, a
process that two other Welsh clubs had to go through after the season ended,
with Aberdare and Newport finishing in the botto two places of the division.
Luckily for both, they were re-elected, and Welsh football kept it’s strong
contingent of clubs in the division for another year,
The 1923-24
season saw an improvement for the club, although not by uch in regards their
league position, as they finished 13th that season. But that was to
be their highest finish in a few years as the found themselves finishing bottom
on a couple of occasions after that and then finally in the 1930 season, they
were voted out of the Football League. Ironivally, they were replaced by Thaes
FC, a club that only managed to play in the Football League from 1930 until
1932. As for Merthyr Town, they continued to play in the Southern League and
competed in the FA Cup, however never made an inroad in that competition. They
played only four seasons in the Southern League before they bowed out and
ceased playing for the first time in their history.
They re-emerged
after World War II but as Merthyr
Tydfil Football Club. They originally joined the Welsh League for their first
season back, but after a runners-up finish, they joined the more competitive
Southern League. They seemed to thrive in this league, winning it five times
between 1947 until 1954. The 1950 season was their best season by far, with the
club winning the Southern League titles, the Welsh Cup, the Southern League Cup
and the Welsh Challenge Cup. Despite this success, the club was never invited
to join the English Football League.
But the club would have to wait many years before they would
win their sixth title, after bouncing around the divisions in the Southern
League. It came in the 1988-89 season, and with it came promotion to the
Football Conference, the fifth tier of English football. They started off with
a ninth placed finish in their first season in their new division, which was
followed by the exact same final position the next season. The club did reach
the dizzy heights of fourth in their third season in the Football Conference,
and that was the closest they came to entering the modern English football
league. 1994 saw the club finish in the relegated zone, however, due to
Northern Premier League side, Marine not being able to fulfil the stadium
required to play at Conference League level, they were not allowed to be
promoted and Merthyr Tydfil were kept in the league. However, the downward
spiral didn’t stop and in 1995 they saw themselves getting relegated, and this
time there was no reprieve.
They played in the Southern Football League until 2010, when
they once again were dissolved and left the footballing world for the second
time in their long history. The club was re-established as Merthyr Town and it
didn’t take them long before they found themselves back in the Southern Premier
League, which is where the club is playing their football at the time of
writing.
Whilst some people see both Merthyr Town and Merthyr Tydfil
as being separate clubs, it is hard to dismiss both clubs’ connections. On
record, Merthyr Town have won only one Southern Premier League, back in
1912.and one Welsh Football League inn 1930-31, whilst Merthyr Town have a
total of five Southern Premier League titles to their name. In fact, they are
the joint most successful club in that league, alongside Southampton who have
also wn five titles in that division. If both clubs put their honours together,
they could be the record holders of the most Southern Premier League titles.
However, many may see that as not real, so maybe it’s a record best left alone,
or maybe Merthyr Town, who are still playing in the division, can win a few ore
and clai the record as their own.