Abergavenny Thursdays F.C.
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Abergavenny Thursdays Football Club was a Welsh
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
Abergavenny Abergavenny (; cy, Y Fenni , archaically ''Abergafenni'' meaning "mouth of the River Gavenny") is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a ''Gateway to Wales''; it is approximately from the border wi ...
,
Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...
. The club was founded in 1927 though several defunct clubs had existed in the town since the mid 19th century. It won the Welsh Football League title on two occasions in the late 1950s where it gained a reputation as one of the strongest teams competing in the Welsh leagues. The Thursdays won its last two titles prior to the founding 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. As a founder member of the new League of Wales, they competed in the Division's inaugural season. Financial issues at the start of the campaign led to an exodus of players and staff and the club suffered relegation after finishing bottom of the table. The club entered a decline in the ensuing years that saw it suffer seven relegations in ten seasons, ending its playing days playing in the Gwent County League Division 3. It withdrew from the league in August 2013 after agreeing with local side Govilon FC to merge and form a new club Abergavenny Town FC. The ground Penypound Stadium is run and maintained by the Thursday’s Trust, thus preserving the history of the club.


History

Records show that organised football was started in
Abergavenny Abergavenny (; cy, Y Fenni , archaically ''Abergafenni'' meaning "mouth of the River Gavenny") is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a ''Gateway to Wales''; it is approximately from the border wi ...
during the 1890s with the founding of Abergavenny Rangers. The team later became known as Abergavenny Rangers Thursdays before dropping Rangers from its name altogether in 1908. The Thursdays, who were unconnected to the first team formed in the town, were founded in 1927. The club's name derived from the fact that many Welsh towns gave workers a half-day on Thursdays, leading to the founding of many social clubs due to the free time. The club won promotion to the top tier of the Welsh Football League in 1951. They won the Welsh Football League Cup in 1952 after defeating Caerau Athletic in the final. Eight years after entering Division One, the club won its first Welsh Football League title during the 1958–59 season, finishing 15 points clear of second placed side Cardiff City reserves after winning 28 of their 36 league matches. They retained the title the following year. They also reached the semi-final of the
Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...
during their second title winning season, the furthest the club ever advanced in the competition, suffering a defeat to
Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
in a replay. Thursdays' strong performances in the Welsh leagues led to an invitation to join the
Southern Football League The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English fo ...
, part of the
English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...
. The club eventually declined the offer in the hope of a Welsh national league being formed, an idea put forward by
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. ...
after their request to join the Southern League was declined by the
Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; cy, Cymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Wales national football team, Welsh national foo ...
(FAW). Although there was strong support in the north of Wales for the idea, southern clubs playing in the English league system, such as
Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...
and Barry Town, believed that the standard of competition was too low and resisted the move leading to its collapse. Several of the Thursdays' players during this era went on to join
English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...
sides after performing well for the club, including Brian Evans and
Danny McCarthy Danny McCarthy is an American actor best known as Agent Danny Hale on ''Prison Break'' (2005–06). Career He has acted in plays with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company and the Famous Door, and has performed twice at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotl ...
. In the 1960s, the team remained in the top tier and finished as runners-up on three consecutive occasions between 1963 and 1965, losing out to Swansea Town reserves each time. Thursdays reached their second Welsh Football League Cup final in 1963 but suffered a defeat to Brecon Corinthians. They suffered consecutive relegations at the start of the 1970s, dropping into Division Two and did not return to the top tier of Welsh football until 1988.


League of Wales and decline

Success returned to the club in the 1990–91 season, when the club won the Welsh Football League for the first time in 31 years, and they retained the title a year later. As such, they became one of the founding 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 ...
, a new national division which promised European football for the highest-placed teams. However, prior to the start of the inaugural season, the club was required to provide a bond to the FAW as security to ensure that floodlights would be installed in time for the start of the campaign. Although Thursdays obliged, the money put a considerable strain on the club's financial resources and the ensuing huncertainty as to whether the club would be competing in the League of Wales led to a mass exodus of players, as well as the resignation of manager
Ray Warren Raymond Warren OAM (born 11 June 1943) is a retired Australian sports commentator, known for his coverage of televised professional rugby league matches on the Nine Network. He is known as the "Voice of Rugby League", and called 99 State of O ...
and coach John Lewis. Kyle Holmes, one of the few senior players who remained, was appointed player-manager in their place and quickly assembled a team in preparation for the start of the season. They suffered a 1–0 defeat against
Bangor City Bangor City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Bangor) are an inactive Welsh football club from the City of Bangor, Gwynedd. They started the 2021–22 season in the Cymru North the second level of the Welsh football league system, but ...
on the opening day of the season before securing their first point a week later with a 1–1 draw with
Porthmadog Porthmadog (; ), originally Portmadoc until 1974 and locally as "Port", is a Welsh coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd and the historic county of Caernarfonshire. It lies east of Criccieth, south-west of Blaenau Ffest ...
. However, Thursdays ended the first season of the League of Wales with relegation after finishing in last place. Thursdays dropped to Division One of the Welsh Football League and finished 14th in their first campaign. Their second year brought some positive results back to the club after they finished fourth but another mass exodus of players followed and hope of a return to the League of Wales were soon forgotten. After low placed finishes in the following two seasons, Thursdays suffered a disastrous campaign in the 1997–98 season, failing to win any of their 36 league matches and conceding 210 goals which led to relegation to Division Two. After finishing 12th in their first season, the club entered a severe decline in which they suffered four successive relegations, dropping from Division Two of the Welsh Football League to Division Three of the regional
Gwent County League The Gwent County League (known as the Autocentres Gwent County FA League for sponsorship reasons) is a football league in South Wales, consisting of 3 divisions, named the Premier Division, Division One and Division Two. The Premier Division is a ...
, during which they conceded 675 goals. Their final relegation season, saw the club collect only two points in the Division Two of the Gwent County League as they failed to win a game. In 2004, a supporter's trust, named The Thursdays Trust, was founded with the intention of taking over control of the club in an effort to stabilise its financial future. The trust included former manager Kyle Holmes and several former players. The trust took over ownership of the club and renovated several areas of the ground. Tentative approaches were made over a potential merger between the Thursdays and local side Mardy in 2006 but were eventually dismissed. The club's last 11 seasons were spent in the Third Division of the Gwent County League. In August 2013, Thursdays withdrew from the Gwent County League days before they were due to play Pontypool in their opening match of the 2013–14 season, citing a lack of players. The problem had been a longstanding issue within the local area and the Thursdays had struggled for consistent levels for a number of seasons. Within a year of the old club's demise, a new club was formed to represent the town of Abergavenny –
Abergavenny Town F.C. Abergavenny Town Football Club is a Wales, Welsh association football club based in the town of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, The team play in the Cymru South, tier 2 of the Welsh football pyramid. They play at Pen-Y-Pound Stadium in Abergavenny. ...

being renamed from their former name of Govilon FC.


Honours

Welsh Football League Division 1 *Champions: 1958–59, 1959–60, 1990–91, 1991–92 Welsh Football League Cup *Winners: 1951–52 *Runners-up: 1962–63


References


External links

* () {{Welsh Premier League Defunct football clubs in Wales Association football clubs established in 1927 Association football clubs disestablished in 2013 Sport in Monmouthshire Abergavenny 1927 establishments in Wales 2013 disestablishments in Wales Cymru Premier clubs Welsh Football League clubs Gwent County League clubs