Glantraeth
Badge of Glantraeth F.C.
Full nameGlantraeth Football Club
Nickname(s)Glan
Founded1984
GroundTrefdraeth, Bodorgan (63 seats)
ChairmanGareth Evans
ManagerLee Jones
LeagueNorth Wales Coast West Premier Division
2022–23North Wales Coast West Premier Division, 8th of 15

Glantraeth Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Pêl Droed Glantraeth) is a football team, based on the island of Anglesey, Wales. They play in the North Wales Coast West Football League Premier Division (part of the Welsh football league system).

Formed in 1984, the club began competing in the Anglesey League before progressing into the Gwynedd League and the Welsh Alliance League. The club achieved its highest ever finish during the 2005–06 season by winning the Cymru Alliance but were denied promotion to the Welsh Premier League, the highest tier of Welsh football, as their ground did not meet league requirements. They resigned from the Cymru Alliance four years later and reformed several tiers below. After reaching the First Division of the Welsh Alliance League and winning the division in 2017, the club were again forced to resign their position after being unable to find sufficient players. They reformed again for the 2018–19 season, returning to the Gwynedd League.

History

The club was founded in 1984 and established a base on a piece of land provided by a local resident. They entered Division Two of the Anglesey League and finished as runners-up in the 1985–86 season.[1] The following season, the club won promotion to the First Division of the Anglesey League and reached their first cup final in the Dargie Cup. In 1990, the club gained promotion to the Gwynedd League and, four years later, reached the Welsh Alliance League for the first time.[1]

In the 1996–97 season, Glantraeth finished as champions of the Welsh Alliance League, winning 20 of their 26 league matches and scoring 96 goals.[2] They achieved consecutive fifth placed finishes during their first two seasons before ending the 1999–2000 season as runners-up to Oswestry Town.[2] In 2001, the club merged with fellow Cymru Alliance side Llangefni Town to form Llangefni Glantraeth. The new side remained in the Cymru Alliance and recorded a second and fourth placed finish.[3] However, the two clubs decided to split, with Llangefni remaining in the Cymru Alliance and Glantraeth dropping into the Welsh Alliance League to reform. In their first season back, Glantraeth finished as champions of the Welsh Alliance and returned to the Cymru Alliance.[2]

After finishing as runners-up again in the 2004–05 season, Glantraeth achieved their highest ever finish by winning the Cymru Alliance in 2006. However, the club were denied promotion to the Welsh Premier League, the top tier of Welsh football as their ground did not meet league requirements and they were unable to finance the necessary improvements.[1] The club struggled to match their achievements in the following seasons and, in 2009, after finishing 16th the club resigned their position in the Cymru Alliance and did not field a team for the 2009–10 season.[1] During their break, Glantraeth undertook an improvement in facilities at their ground and applied to the Football Association of Wales (FAW) to return, being placed in the Gwynedd League. They achieved consecutive promotions to reach the First Division of the Welsh Alliance League. In February 2016, actress Naomi Watts agreed to become the honorary president of the club,[4] replacing Sir George Meyrick. Watts had lived on the island of Anglesey as a child, her maternal grandparents had owned a farm in the village of Llangristiolus near the club's hometown of Bodorgan,[5] before moving to Australia in her teens.[6]

In the 2016–17 season, Glantraeth won a league and cup double by finishing as champions of the First Division and winning the Cookson Cup however, their promotion success proved disastrous as the club were unable to meet new ground requirements for entry into the Cymru Alliance,[7] claiming the cost of renovating their ground would be "absurd".[8] As such, they rejected promotion which led the majority of the club's players to move on, leading the team to resign their position in the league after they were unable to find enough players to start the new season.[7] After missing the 2017–18 season, Glantraeth reformed and entered a team in the Gwynedd League for the 2018–19 season.[9]

The club was chosen to host several matches during the 2019 Inter Games Football Tournament.

Honours

As of June 2018[10]

League

Anglesey League Division One

Anglesey League Division Two

Cymru Alliance League

Gwynedd League

Welsh Alliance League

Welsh Alliance League Division One

Welsh Alliance League Division Two

Cup

Barritt Cup

Cookson Cup

Cymru Alliance League Challenge Cup

Dargie Cup

Elias Cup

Eryri Shield

Gwynedd League Cup

Gwynedd Shield

North Wales Coast FA Challenge Cup

North Wales Coast FA Intermediate Cup

Welsh Alliance Division Two League Cup

Records

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Hanes/History". Glantraeth F.C. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Glantraeth". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  3. ^ "Llangenfni/Glantraeth". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  4. ^ "A-lister Naomi Watts links up with Anglesey football club". BBC News. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  5. ^ Reese, Ben (3 February 2016). ""If you don't ask you don't get" – Hollywood comes to Glantraeth FC". North Wales Chronicle. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  6. ^ Wyn-Williams, Gareth (2 February 2016). "Hollywood star Naomi Watts to become club president of Glantraeth FC". Daily Post. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  7. ^ a b Jones, Dave (27 August 2017). "Glantraeth resign from league – but club insists this is not the final chapter". Daily Post. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  8. ^ Evans, Arron (18 May 2017). "Glantraeth FC staying put after rejecting promotion". North Wales Chronicle. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  9. ^ Jones, Dean (7 June 2018). "Glantraeth boss Gibbs outlines ambitions after reforming club". North Wales Chronicle. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  10. ^ "Honours". Glantraeth F.C. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  11. ^ a b "Records". Glantraeth F.C. Retrieved 2 January 2019.

External links

North Wales Coast Football League
Authority control databases
Categories