Newtown F.C. was an

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 t ...

club from

Newtown, Powys Newtown ( cy, Y Drenewydd) is a town in Powys, Wales. It lies on the River Severn in the community of Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn, within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It was designated a new town in 1967 and saw population growt ...

, active in the 1870s, and (indirectly) a progenitor club of the current Newtown club.

History

The earliest reference to the club is of its members playing a match between themselves - divided into "Reds" and "Blues" - on the Cunnings in Newtown on 5 February 1875, with a few spectators enjoying the action. Newtown was playing other clubs by the end of the year, occasionally leading to some confusion with fellow Newtown club

White Stars ''The Dancers at the End of Time'' is a series of science fiction novels and short stories written by Michael Moorcock, the setting of which is the End of Time, an era "where entropy is king and the universe has begun collapsing upon itself". T ...

, although the local newspaper considered it a "most unimportant subject". Newtown entered the first

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 mo ...

in 1877–78 but lost in the first round to

Druids A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...

. The club suffered a tragedy at the turn of the year, when one of its players, George Cornish, died on 19 January 1878 of an illness caught when playing for Newtown at

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 county ...

at the start of the year. The club broke even at the end of the season, with income of £27 1/ and expenditure of £26 8/. The following season it reached the semi-final, where it was drawn to play the White Stars. The tie was played on neutral ground in

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads. The town was the administrative headquarters of the Boroug ...

, and Newtown took the lead in the first half, A. Morgan heading a free-kick through his own goal; the White Stars equalized with a quarter of an hour remaining. Newtown had home advantage for the replay, but the Stars were two up inside half-an-hour; Newtown pulled one back soon after half-time after Jones dropped a Morris shot into his goal, and Morris drove a free-kick through the Stars' goal near the end, but at the time all free-kicks were indirect, so no goal was given. The Stars went on to win the final and the two clubs met at the end of April in a hastily arrange friendly after Wrexham disappointed the town club; Newtown gained a measure of revenge with Morgan scoring the only goal of the game. It was however the last match for the club. In August 1879, the White Stars' secretary wrote to the club with a view to fielding a combined club in the Welsh Cup. The next month, a new club -

Excelsior Excelsior, a Latin comparative word often translated as "ever upward" or "even higher", may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * ''Excelsior'' (Macedo ...

- was duly formed, with other clubs invited to pitch in their lot. Most of the Newtown players, including captain Edward Morgan, goalkeeper Hibbott, full-back William Woosnam, half-backs Edmond Oliver and Astley, and forwards D. Williams and George Woosnam, joined the new combine, and, although White Star continued a separate existence, Newtown F.C. came to an end.

Colours

The club wore amber and black.

Ground

The club's practice matches were played on the Cunnings; by the time it was playing other clubs, it had gained tenure at the Newtown Racecourse Ground. The highest recorded attendance was 2,000 for the Welsh Cup semi-final replay against the White Stars.

Notable players

Harry Hibbott Harry Hibbott (born 1859) was a Welsh international footballer goalkeeper. He was part of the Wales national football team between 1880 and 1885, playing 3 matches. He played his first match on 15 March 1880 against England and his last match on ...

, goalkeeper, later capped twice for Wales while an Excelsior player.

References

{{reflist Defunct football clubs in Wales Association football clubs established in 1875 1875 establishments in Wales 1879 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Association football clubs disestablished in 1879 Sport in Powys Newtown, Powys