Saturday 20th March 2010 | Martin Williams
Pre Llangennech AFC
The first mention of football being played in the village dates back to 1921 when a soccer team was formed mainly compsosed of English persons who had come to live in the area. They played on one of Tyfrys Fields know as Cae Rhydlidd, which at that time was situated on the left hand-side as one travels up from Rhandir Terrace, towards the large roundabout on the Llanelli-Hendy link road. On one occasion, they played a game against the rugby team and lost by more than 10 goals. Apparently, they disbanded after a few years.
As far as is known, no further organised football was played in the village until 1956 when the Morlais Colliery workers formed a team which played on Morlais Field which is between Maes Road and the River Morlais. The field was owned by Talyclun Farm and was kindly lent to the team for matches. The pitch was said to have the maximum dimensions allowed for the sport and was regarded as the best in the area. Sheep continued to graze on the field between matches to keep the grass cut, the goalposts were made by the workers in the wagon shed of the colliery, while no nets were used. The pitch markings were made by players digging the earth and turning it over and they also had to cut down the thistles using syckles before they could play there. The team played in blue and white strips, with their B team playing in green and white quarters, being known as 'Bryn.' They would change in the Castle Inn before walking over to the field for the match and they owned just one ball which was preciously looked after by the captain John "Jack" Samuel.
Morlais Colliery football team (1956) from left to right:
Back row: Bill Jarman (Selector), John Cartwright, Ronald Williams (Atôl), Peter Williams, Dilwyn Bowen, Tom Samuel.
Front row: Harry Sturgis, Ken Rees, J Walker, John Samuel (c), Alun Lloyd, David Cartwright.
Llangennech AFC - The Beginning
The idea of forming a village club was thought up in the bar of the Bridgend Inn on a wet winters Sunday morning.
Our former Chairman Barrie Williams was entertaining Wyndam Evans and his wife Janet to Sunday lunch at his home. A break in the weather meant that Wyndam and Barrie could escape to the pub for a pre meal drink.
For those of you that don't know, Wyndam was then a Swansea City player and had gone through the divisions firstly with Harry Griffiths and then to the First Division under the legendary John Toshack (also in that team was John Mahoney who went on to become Manager of Llangennech).
When enquired about how the village side had faired the previous day he was gob smacked when Barrie informed him that there was no village side.
Huw Johns, an ex Llanelli player happened to be in the pub at the same time and was quickly in on the debate. Wyndam was adamant that a village the size of Llangennech should have it's own football team.
By 2 o'clock and a stewed lunch waiting the idea of "Llangennech A.F.C." had been formed.
Wyndam was obviously unable to participate any further because of his commitments at Swansea, but had a lasting message for Barrie that the first kit should be in the same colours of Llangennech R.F.C. of red and black.
Our first game was a friendly away at Bwlch Rangers, where the side played in an all grey strip. The game itself was a quite forgettable affair, but Huw Johns is convinced that we won. He also swears that Barrie Williams played a blinder!
Following the game the first club kit was purchased - red and black of course!
The Early Years 198#-1990
Although the club kept very little records during this period...
Famous Names and Champions
The club has been honoured to have some big names associated with it over the years. As has been mentioned, former Swansea City player Wyndham Evans had a part to play in the founding of the club, but two more former Swans players have had spells in the managerial hotseat. Former Leeds goalkeeper Glan Letheran was first to arrive in the mid nineties and also played a number of games for the club. Then in 2002 the club shocked the local football community when it appointed 51 cap Wales international John Mahoney as its' new Manager. John, whose Bangor City side faced the might of Athletico Madrid in 1992 spent two years with Llangennech.
Despite big name managers, it was a relative unknown who guided the club to its' first league championship. Weston's side delivered the Carmarthenshire League Division Three title in 1997.
2004/2005
Llangennech started the season with high hopes of promotion from Division Two after a promising Star Cup performance. However the first game of the season (a 5-2 defeat to Llandeilo after leading 2-0) optimised the season that followed with inconsistency being the main theme. John Mahoney resigned as Manager and left the club in October with Richard 'Jack' Thomas agreeing to take over until the end of the season. The First Team finally finished in 7th position.
2005/2006
This season is best remembered for the amount of debuts handed to youngsters from the previous season's under 16's. Former player Ray Thomas was appointed to the vacant position of Manager but unfortunately the club struggled against relegation for most of the campaign, eventually securing their safety with an emphatic 5-1 victory away to Llanelli Radicals in the penultimate game of the season.
2006/2007
The season started brightly for Ray Thomas' side with back to back wins from their first two games, an achievement they could not replicate as they fell into Division Three after a miserable season. Simon Davies was appointed Manager in February but despite a remarkable effort could not halt the team's decline.
2007/2008
With Simon Davies resigning as Manager due to family reasons, Richard Coslett was given the chance to move into the Managerial hot seat at the club at the beginning of the season. Five wins from the first six league games had everybody at the club believing promotion at the first attempt was a real possibility but the form was not maintained and key players departed. However these departures paved the way for the youngsters to stake their claim with Michael O'Mara and Paul Thomas particularly impressive as they helped steer the club to a 6th position finish. This season also saw the creation of a new Junior Committee which helped start 3 new mini-football teams in the village and earned FAW Accreditation.
2008/2009
Richard Thomas and Simon Davies were appointed joint Managers of the First Team at the start of the campaign and quickly recruited several players to strengthen the side. The early signs were good with a giant killing in the Star Cup, beating Premier Division side Dafen in the group stage. That form continued into the league season with Llangennech winning 25 of their 28 league games acheiving promotion back to the Second Division and missing out on the Championship only on goal difference.
2009/2010
Following the promotion from the Third Division, Davies and Thomas' side initially struggled in the higher division and at Christmas time found themselves bottom of the division. However a stark turn around in form saw them finish a respectable 5th place in Division Two. In contrast to the First Team, the Seconds started with blistering pace soaring to the top of the table by November. However their form fell away and ended up finishing 4th.
The season will best be remembered for the achievements of the two junior teams particularly the Under 12's team. In their first season playing on the full pitch the boys reached the JH Evans Under 12's Cup Final and on 24th April 2010 became the first Llangennech side ever to run out in a cup final. Unfortunately they lost the match to Kidwelly Town who also pipped them to the league title but it was a huge positive step for the club. The club also formed a new under 14's team for the season and gradually improved throughout the season culminating in them winning the Bancffosfelen Plate Tournament playing in a tournament against teams one year older than themselves.
