Afan Lido Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Lido Afan ) is a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
team based in
Port Talbot
Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south ...
, Wales, playing in the
Cymru South
The Cymru South is a regional football league in Wales, covering the southern half of the country. It has clubs with semi-professional status and together with the Cymru North, it forms the second tier of the Welsh football league system.
The fi ...
.
History
Afan Lido F.C. were founded in 1967 shortly after the opening of the Afan Lido Sports Centre in Aberavon. A football team was set up to give the Centre's users a proper organisation. Ken Williams was the prime mover behind the club.
Lido gained admission to the
Port Talbot and District League for the 1967–68 season. In 1971–72 the club was accepted into the
Welsh Football League
The Welsh Football League (also known as the Nathaniel Car Sales Welsh Football League for sponsorship reasons) was a club football league in Wales. For its final season in 2019–20 season it operated at levels 3 and 4 of the Welsh football leagu ...
, and two years later was promoted into the First Division (afterwards the
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
), and another two years later they were promoted again into the Premier Division (afterwards the
First Division). After a barren spell they were relegated but were promoted in 1984–85; by this time the League had been reorganised and a higher National Division had been formed, to which Afan Lido were promoted in 1989–90 after finishing 3rd (they had actually won the Premier Division the two previous seasons, but not been promoted because of the ground criteria set by the League).
Afan Lido became founder members of the
League of Wales
The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 200 ...
in
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
, and won the
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
in 1992–93 and 1993–94. The
next year
"Next Year" is a song released as the last single from the third Foo Fighters' album ''There Is Nothing Left to Lose''.
History
A shorter version (running at just 3:21 compared to the original's 4:36) was released as a single in 2000 and wa ...
the porous defence was addressed, and the team finished in second place in the League, winning a
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
place, but they were defeated by
RAF Yelgava of Latvia on the away-goals rule. This was a taste of things to come, and Afan Lido were
relegated
In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
from the League of Wales before winning their place back after an absence of two years.
Lido's young team that emerged during the spell out of the League of Wales grew together and the club enjoyed several encouraging seasons after settling again in the top flight. Lido's policy of choosing players from within the club's huge junior structure (which has 25 teams for all age groups, from under 5s upwards) paid off, when they finished 5th place in
2001–02. If the club had scored a single point more, in fact, Lido would have taken the town into European football for a second time.
Leaner years followed that near miss, and in
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
the club left the Welsh Premier in controversial circumstances, after being deducted points for fielding an ineligible player in a league game. The points deducted sunk the Lido into the relegation zone below
NEWI Cefn Druids, which sealed their fate.
In
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
Lido secured a return to the Welsh Premier and
their first season in the top flight saw the club survive the drop. The club also
won the Welsh Premier League Cup, defeating
Newtown on penalties at
Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...
.
Off-field issues surfaced the
following season, however, and Lido had to assemble an all-new squad under the guidance of
Paul Reid. The club finished bottom of the Welsh Premier, but survived relegation due to the demise of
Llanelli
Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...
and the inability of
Haverfordwest County to finish in a promotion spot in
Welsh League Division One.
On 4 July 2013 Afan Lido appointed former club captain and fans favourite Paul Evans to the hotseat as they look to cement their position within the top division.
For the
2016–17 season, the club found themselves in the same division as town rivals
Port Talbot
Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south ...
.
Current squad
:''As of 4 October 2018.''
Staff
* Director of Football: Mark Robinson
* Coach: Paul Evans
* Physio: Doug Mallen
Stadium
They play at the Lido Ground, currently known as the
Marston's
Marston's plc is a British pub and hotel operator. Founded by John Marston in 1834, it is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Marston's disposed of its brewing operations in 2020, selling the assets to a newly formed joint venture with the Ca ...
Stadium for sponsorship purposes. It's located in
Aberavon
Aberavon ( cy, Aberafan) is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a distri ...
,
Neath Port Talbot
Neath Port Talbot ( cy, Castell-nedd Port Talbot) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county borough in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. Its principal towns are Neath, Port Talbot, Briton Ferry and Pontardawe. The county bor ...
and has a capacity of 4,200 (601 seated).
Rivalries
Afan Lido's main rivals are
Port Talbot Town
Port Talbot Town Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl Droed Port Talbot) is a Welsh association football, football club from Port Talbot. It was founded in 1901 as Port Talbot Athletic, one of the first clubs in the country. The club plays in the Arda ...
, who are based less than half a mile away from Afan Lido's ground.
Honours
*
Welsh League Cup
The Cymru Premier League Cup, currently known as the Nathaniel MG Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a cup competition in Welsh football organised by the Cymru Premier.
The competition was established in 1992 and is considered to be the second-mos ...
winners (3): 1992/93, 1993/94,
2011/12
*
Welsh Football League Cup
The Welsh Football League Challenge Cup (known for a time as the Nathaniel Car Sales League Cup for sponsorship reasons, and not to be confused with the national Welsh League Cup) was a knock-out competition for all members of the divisions tha ...
winners (2): 2006/07, 2008/09
*
U16’s Neath Port Talbot league Cup Winners
2018/19
Biggest victories and losses
*Biggest win: 9–1 v.
Dinas Powys
Dinas Powys (; also spelt "Dinas Powis" in English) is a small town and community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. Its name means "fort of the provincial place" and refers to the Dinas Powys hillfort, Iron Age hillfort wh ...
in 2010.
*Biggest defeat: 2–8 v.
Port Talbot Town
Port Talbot Town Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl Droed Port Talbot) is a Welsh association football, football club from Port Talbot. It was founded in 1901 as Port Talbot Athletic, one of the first clubs in the country. The club plays in the Arda ...
in 2014.
*Biggest League of Wales win: 6–0 v.
Abergavenny Thursdays in 1993.
*Biggest League of Wales defeat: 0–6 v.
Barry Town in 1995.
Managers
* Phil Robinson / David Rees (1992–93)
*
Dai Rees
David James Rees, (31 March 1913 – 15 November 1983) was one of the Britain's leading golfers either side of the Second World War.
The winner of many prestigious tournaments in Britain, Europe and farther afield, Rees is best remembered as ...
(1993–94)
*
Nigel Rees
Nigel Rees (born 5 June 1944 near Liverpool) is an English writer and broadcaster, known for devising and hosting the Radio 4 panel game '' Quote... Unquote'' (1976–2021) and as the author of more than fifty books, mostly works of reference on ...
(1994–96)
* Mark Robinson (1998–06)
* Phil Holmes / Paul Evans (2006–09)
* Craig Duggan (2009–10)
* Kim Bowley (2010–11)
* Andrew Dyer (1 July 2011 – 30 June 2012)
*
Paul Reid (2012–13)
* Paul Evans (1 July, 2013–2014)
* Stephen Llewellyn (2014–2015)
* Mark Robinson (2015– 2016)
* Liam McCreesh (2016–2017)
* Wayne Davies (2017–2018)
*
Andrew Mumford (2018–2019)
[
]
References
External links
Official club websiteOld websiteUnofficial FansiteOfficial Disabillity club website
{{Welsh Premier League
Football clubs in Wales
Sport in Port Talbot
Association football clubs established in 1967
Cymru Premier clubs
1967 establishments in Wales
Welsh Football League clubs
Cymru South clubs