Carmarthen Town A.F.C.
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| Full name | Carmarthen Town Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Old Gold, The Town | ||
| Founded | 1948 | ||
| Ground | Richmond Park Priory Street Carmarthen | ||
| Capacity | 3,000 (1000 seated) | ||
| Chairman |  Jeff Thomas | ||
| Manager | Deryn Brace | ||
| League | Welsh Premier League | ||
| 2006-07 | Welsh Premier League, 7th | ||
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Carmarthen Town F.C. is a football team, playing in the Welsh Premier League. Their nickname is "The Old Gold" referring to the colour of their shirts. They are sometimes referred to as "The Town" also.
The club was founded in 1948 and plays at Richmond Park, Priory Street, Carmarthen, which accommodates 3000 spectators (1000 seated).
The team's first choice strip is old gold shirts, black shorts and socks. The second choice strip is white & blue shirts and shorts, and white socks.
History
Carmarthen Town was founded as recently as 1948 and moved to their current ground Richmond Park in 1952.
The club was elected to the Welsh League in 1953 and gained promotion from Division Two in 1960. In 1996 Carmarthen won the Welsh League and the Cyril Rogers Cup. Carmarthen were promoted to the League of Wales in the same year. They have maintained their place in the League and shown gradual improvement, reaching the final of the Welsh Cup in 1999, but losing on penalties. They also reached the final of the Welsh Cup in 2005 losing 1-0 to TNS. Carmarthen reached their third final on 1 April 2007 after a 1-0 win against Llanelli.
The appearance in the Welsh Cup final was enough to earn the club a UEFA Cup spot for 2005/6 as TNS had already won the Welsh Premier title and thus qualified for the UEFA Champions League. The ensuing campaign pitted the Old Gold against Football League of Ireland side Longford Town F.C. in the first round. Despite losing the first leg 2-0 away from home, Carmarthen put in a whirlwind performance at Newtown's Latham Park to beat their Celtic counterparts 5-1 and advance to the second round, winning 5-3 on aggregate.
That result earned them a tie against Danish giants F.C. Copenhagen. Carmarthen were big underdogs for this encounter, but put in a creditable display despite losing 4-0 on aggregate and bowing out of the competition.
The 2006/7 season saw Carmarthen qualify for Europe again via the Intertoto Cup, finishing fourth in the Welsh Premier. However, the result was not so good, Town suffering an 8-1 thrashing at the hands of Finnish side Tampere United.
The current league season has seen the Old Gold finish in a slightly disappointing 7th. position. However a fine Cup run saw Town edge out Llanelli AFC 1-0 at the semi final stage to reach the Welsh Cup Final for the third time in their history.
With a 3-2 win over Afan Lido FC at Stebonheath Park Llanelli (06.05.07) Carmarthen Town lifted the Welsh Cup for the first time in their history and with it secured their third consecutive foray into European competition.
Trivia
Welsh international Mark Delaney, currently of Aston Villa, is a former Carmarthen Town player.
Season 07/08
Carmarthen lost 14-3 on aggregate to S.K. Brann in the UEFA Cup First Qualifying Round. The home tie was played on the 19th of July which Camarthen lost 8-0. In the second game Carmarthen lost 6-3 at Brann Stadion in Bergen.
Honours
- Welsh Cup:
- Winners: 2007
- Finalists: 1999, 2005.
- Welsh Premier League Cup:
- Winners: 2005
- Finalists: 2004
- Welsh League Division 1
- Champions: 1997
- Welsh Football League Cup
- Winners: 1996
- West Wales Senior Cup:
- Winners: 2004
- Finalists: 2003, 2006
Players
Goalkeepers
Mark Poole (09/11/75)- Neil Thomas (16/01/73)
Defenders
- Deryn Brace (15/03/75)
- Kris Thomas (16/01/83)
- Liam Hancock (29/07/82)
- Richard Hughes (11/12/86)
- Neil Smothers (08/12/77)
Midfielders
- Gregg Coombes (01/03/88)
- Nathan Cotterall (15/12/76)
- Paul Fowler (02/08/85)
- Nicky Palmer (11/06/81)
- Sasha Walters (20/06/84)
Forwards
- Richard Adams (15/05/79)
- Mattie Davies (08/01/76)
- Jamal Easter (15/11/87)
- Tim Hicks (05/04/83)
- Danny Thomas (13/05/85)
Biggest victories and losses
- Biggest win: 14-0 v Bryngwawr Inn in the FAW Trophy.
- Biggest defeat: 0-9 at Scully, Welsh League.
- Biggest League of Wales win: 9-1 v UWIC Inter Cardiff 21/10/00 & 8-0 v Cardiff Grange Quins 10/12/05
- Biggest League of Wales defeat: 0-6 v Barry Town 08/10/96 & 1-7 Llanelli 29/10/99