This year marks a significant milestone in the history of Barry Town United as they celebrate the 70th anniversary of their first success in the JD Welsh Cup.
The club have won the competition on six occasions in total, but the trophy arrived at Jenner Park for the very first time in May 1955 as a 4-3 victory against Chester City in a replay of the final at Ninian Park delivered success for what was a very talented team of that era.
Jackie Goodfellow scored the second goal that day, and has nothing but fond memories of his time at the club.
2025 JD Welsh Cup Final
“I was going into the Army, and the place that I was going to be registered was near Barry, so it all made sense,” explained Goodfellow – now the only surviving member of the cup-winning team – to FAW.cymru from his London home.
“I enjoyed it very much and I liked all the people who were at the club, they were very nice. I had a residence that was near the football club, just across the road from the ground.”
Goodfellow arrived at Jenner Park from Scottish club Burnbank Athletic in July 1954 and made a big impression at the club, scoring 21 goals in his first season.
Barry Town boasted a wealth of attacking talent back then including the likes of Gwilym Cain, Stan Richards, Bryn Allen, Charlie Dyke and Idris Niblett, but Goodfellow was still able to command a place in the side, assisted by an off field ally.
“I remember it well,” explained Goodfellow, who is now in his 90s. “The lady that had the house I lived in, she used to serve the tea in the club when the matches were on, and if anyone said anything bad about me, she wouldn’t give them any tea! It was a nice time, a really good couple of years. It was lovely.”
Although he scored 21 goals in that first season, Goodfellow is best remembered for the goal he scored in the Welsh Cup Final, his only goal in the competition.
Barry Town and Chester City had played out a 1-1 draw at the Racecourse in Wrexham a few days before, but goals from Dyke, Goodfellow and a double from Niblett sealed the 4-3 win in the replay in front of a reported 8,450 fans in the capital.
“I remember scoring the goal,” Goodfellow added. “I’ve still got photographs of it and I still have the small trophy that we were each given after the game too, which was lovely. I went to London after that and kept playing football, but Barry was completely different to other clubs. I remember the club well. I can’t forget about Barry Town.”
Goodfellow would spend three seasons at Jenner Park with Barry Town competing in the Southern League at the time.
During that Welsh Cup run they defeated Merthyr Tydfil, Lovell’s Athletic, Pwllheli & District and then Wrexham to book their place in the final. However, it would be almost 40 years before they repeated that success, winning the competition for the second time in 1993/94.
Another four triumphs would follow over the course of the next decade as Barry Town dominated on the domestic front, and a few years ago Goodfellow returned to the club and received a very warm welcome.
“I went back there with my son,” he explained. “The people were lovely and looked after us well. I can’t believe it’s been so long. They’ve had some ups and downs, but they’re still going, and that’s the main thing.”
