Glynneath Town will look to continue their incredible run in this season’s JD Welsh Cup when they host Trearddur Bay in Round 3 on Saturday (KO 14:00).
‘The Germans’ compete in the Neath & District League Premier Division and are the only club from the fifth tier left in the competition.
“This cup run has put us on the map,” explained Luc Watts, who acts as both club chairman and secretary, to FAW.cymru this week.
“It’s something I’ve noticed since the qualifying rounds. I’ve seen people who wouldn’t usually come and watch us, the people who generally go and watch the rugby, they are coming to our games now. It’s had a big knock-on effect within the community. It’s been massive for us.”
Few people are better qualified to talk about Glynneath Town than Watts. His story with the club began as a junior player in 2009 before he progressed into the senior ranks, playing for all three teams and eventually becoming captain and then manager. However, the pandemic hit the club hard, as Watts explains.
“Just after COVID we started struggling for numbers and we ended up having one side but barely being able to field a team. We had to call off quite a few games and financially we had nothing. I had to put my own money into the club to keep it going, and I ended up taking over as manager because no one else would do it.
“For one season I was manager, secretary and chairman. That was a bit too much. But we had a bit of a resurgence and a few former players returned, and since then we’ve been improving every year. In fact, the team we have now is probably the best team that we’ve ever had at the club.”
Glynneath Town FC manager Johnny Harris has a long association with the club
Johnny Harris took over as manager during the summer having achieved success with the club’s second team, and with a number of experienced players added to the ranks, Glynneath have suffered just one defeat in all competitions this season – on penalties against Afan United in the Dragon Signs Amateur Trophy.
“Johnny’s been with the club for close to 20 years and he’s done pretty much every role in the club,” explained Watts. “He’s been manager of the third team and the second team, and now he’s been driving the first team forward this season. I don’t think anyone’s as passionate about the club as he is.”
A penalty shoot-out victory over Cardiff Corinthians in July marked the start of Glynneath Town’s JD Welsh Cup campaign, and they followed that success with wins over Margam YC, Tredegar Town and Garden Village.
“The win over Cardiff Corinthians was an eye-opener for a lot of people who might not have known about us,” Watts added.
“I think we surprised a lot of people with that result, even ourselves to a degree. As the game went on, we became more and more confident, and after beating them in the first qualifying round we’ve gone into the next games against higher-ranked clubs with a lot more belief and a lot less pressure on us.”
Trearddur Bay are the next test for Glynneath Town. The side from Anglesey compete in the Lock Stock Ardal North West, two levels above their opponents, and have seen off Llangefni Town, Berriew and Broughton United to reach this stage of the competition. They now make the long journey south to Abernant Park, the home of Glynneath RFC, for Saturday’s tie.
Glynneath Town celebrate their win over Tredegar Town in the JD Welsh Cup
“We know that some of their players have played a very good level,” explained Watts. “Even though they’re a bigger club than us, we do sort of fancy our chances. Are they really going to want to spend five hours travelling down to play on a rugby pitch in the freezing cold? Hopefully that’ll work to our advantage.”
Glynneath can also expect plenty of home support on Saturday, with their JD Welsh Cup run already attracting new interest in a club that has progressed on and off the field over the last couple of years. Their success is a deserved reward for those who helped keep the club alive during those recent tough times.
“This year, more than any other, we’ve had some really, really good people join the committee,” Watts added. “We’ve had massive support from the local community too, and the atmosphere at our games has been brilliant.
“We’ve been around for a long time, we were founded in 1910, but we’ve always been a small club so the prize money from this cup run alone is a massive thing for us. Just getting to this round has put us in a position we haven’t been in for years and years. It’s given us financial stability moving forward.”
(Photos by Michelle Curry & Alan Ahearn – Courtesy of Glynneath Town FC)
