Neath Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Castell-nedd) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in

Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a po ...

last playing in the

Welsh Premier League 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 20 ...

. The club was formed in 2005 following the merger between

and Skewen Athletic. Originally known as Neath Athletic A.F.C. the club played its first two seasons in

Welsh Football League Division One The Welsh Football League Division One, known as the Nathanielcars.co.uk Welsh League First Division for sponsorship reasons, was a football league in South Wales. It formed the top division of the Welsh Football League and the second level of ...

before being promoted to the Welsh Premier League. The president of the club was

Peter Hain Peter Gerald Hain, Baron Hain (born 16 February 1950), is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2005 to 2007, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2007 to 2008 and twice as Secretary of State ...

M.P., the life vice-president was David Maddock who had been associated with the club and its predecessors (as player, committeeman and secretary) for over 56 years.

History

The club was formed in 2005 as ''Neath Athletic'' after

and Skewen Athletic agreed to merge in an attempt to mount a better challenge to 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 ...

Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

title. Playing at the old ground of Neath F.C., Llandarcy Park, the new club proved a formidable force in the league, finishing second to Goytre United at their first attempt. Goytre United declined to step-up into the Welsh Premier League, meaning Neath Athletic could take their place. However, due to Llandarcy Park not meeting the required Welsh Premier League ground criteria, Neath was refused entry. During the 2006–07 season, Neath Athletic won the Welsh Football League Division One. With this success and the improvements to Llandarcy Park, Neath Athletic was eligible to play in the Welsh Premier League. Success in the Welsh Football League was followed by a placing of seventh in their first season in the Welsh Premier League. During summer 2008,

Neath RFC Neath Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Castell-Nedd) is a Welsh rugby union club which plays in the WRU Championship. The club's home ground is The Gnoll, Neath. The team is known as the All Blacks because of the team colours: black with onl ...

agreed to allow Neath Athletic to share its home ground

The Gnoll The Gnoll ( cy, Y Gnol) in Neath, Wales is a sports ground, with a capacity of 6,000 (formerly 15,000). It is used primarily for rugby union and rugby league, although it has also been used previously for association football and cricket. The stad ...

. With the move to a new home, the club also decided to rename itself ''Neath F.C.'' Following Neath's first match at The Gnoll against

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

, the two clubs announced a partnership that would enable Swansea to send players on loan to Neath to gain first team experience. The first such players to join Neath were Kyle Graves, Dion Chambers and

Kerry Morgan Kerry David Morgan (born 31 October 1988) is a Welsh people, Welsh Association football, footballer who plays as an attacking winger for Merthyr Town F.C. (2010), Merthyr Town. Career Morgan was born in Merthyr Tydfil, but came through the y ...

. On 23 April 2009, just a couple of days before the end of the 2008–09 Welsh Premier League season, Neath announced plans to go full-time for the 2009–10 season to challenge the likes of Llanelli AFC and

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...

for the Welsh Premier League title. On 13 July 2010, Neath announced the double signing of two marquee players in readiness for the 2010–11 season, former Swansea City favourites

Kristian O'Leary Kristian Denis O'Leary (born 30 August 1977) is a Welsh football coach and former professional footballer. He is best known for his spells both as a player and coach at Swansea City. He formerly managed Welsh sides Carmarthen Town and Neath, an ...

and

Lee Trundle Lee Christopher Trundle (born 10 October 1976) is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Cymru South side Ammanford. He also works as the club ambassador and youth team coach for Championship side Swansea City. Trundle's career bega ...

. A year later came the signing of

Matthew Rees Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chi ...

a former Swansea defender and ex Port Talbot Town captain. Several other key signings followed transforming Neath into title contenders with a minimum expectation for the club's first European qualification. Attendances at The Gnoll doubled for the 2010/2011 season as a combination of high-profile signings and good results appear to be paying dividends. On 21 May 2011, Neath defeated Prestatyn Town 3–2 at The Gnoll in front of a club record 1,000 fans in the first ever Europa League Play-off. Chad Bond put Neath ahead after 12 seconds before two late goals from long-serving Andy Hill secured Neath's debut in Europe. At the end of the 2011–12 season the club were refused both FAW domestic and UEFA licences for the 2012–13 season and were declared ineligible to participate in the end-of-season Europa League play-offs. On 28 May 2012, the club was wound up, at the High Court.

League history

Source:

'
P = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points;

Stadium

When first formed, the club had a choice of both grounds of the merged clubs, Llandarcy Park of Neath F.C. and Tennant Park of Skewen Athletic F.C.. As Llandarcy Park was the better of the two Neath Athletic decided to call it home.

Honours

League

** 2006–07

European record

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

References

External links

* {{Football in Wales Defunct football clubs in Wales Cymru Premier clubs Association football clubs established in 2005 Sport in Neath Association football clubs disestablished in 2012 2005 establishments in Wales 2012 disestablishments in Wales