Newport County A.F.C.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Full name | Newport County Association Football Club |
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| Nickname(s) | The Exiles, The Ironsides | ||
| Founded | 1912 (reformed 1989) | ||
| Ground | Newport Stadium, Newport NP19 4PT (Capacity: 4,300) |
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| Chairman |  Chris Blight |
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| Manager |  Dean Holdsworth |
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| League | Conference South | ||
| 2008-09 | Conference South, 10th (of 22) | ||
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Newport County are a Welsh football team based in the city of Newport. They currently play in the English Conference South.
They were founded in 1912 and joined the Football League's new Third Division in 1920.
Newport were Welsh Cup winners in 1980 and subsequently reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup, but were relegated from the Football League in 1988 and went out of business in February 1989, only to re-form shortly afterwards and re-enter the English league pyramid system at a much lower level.
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[edit] The Football League years
[edit] Rise through the league
Newport County, originally nicknamed "The Ironsides" due to Newport being home to steel works[1], started out in the Southern League in 1912. The club were first elected to the Football League in 1920. Newport moved into their former home, Somerton Park, in 1932. After almost twenty years in Division 3 South, the club finally clinched promotion to Division 2 as champions in 1939.
[edit] Second Division disaster
Unfortunately, this coincided with the outbreak of World War II, and only three games were played that season. 'County' managed a respectable 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur and a 3-1 win over Southampton, finishing joint 9th out of 22 in the abandoned season.
On the resumption of association football after the war, the club didn't fare so well as a re-shaped team suffered a host of defeats - including a joint Football League record 13-0 defeat at Newcastle United. Legendary Sunderland player Len Shackleton, who at the time played for Newcastle, remarked "they were lucky to get nil". Despite victories over Coventry City, Sheffield Wednesday and Fulham, the club needed four wins out of the last four games to have any hope of safety. Despite a revenge victory over Newcastle United, defeats to Birmingham City, Luton Town and Manchester City sealed their fate. County finished rock bottom of Division 2 and were relegated. However, during this lean period Newport did reach the 5th round of the FA Cup in 1949, the furthest they have gone in the competition. They only narrowly lost the game 3-2 away to Portsmouth, the eventual FA Cup semi-finalists and Football League First Division champions that season. County led the best team in the land 2-1 at one stage and would have earned a home replay if it had not been for a rule then allowing for extra time in the first cup meeting.
[edit] Life in the basement division
After eleven further seasons in the Third Division South, the club narrowly avoided another effective relegation with the creation of the Fourth Division. The bottom twelve teams from Division 3 North and South were placed in the new division, with the remainder forming a new Division 3. County avoided this fate by a mere four points. However, in 1962, with only seven wins all season, the club were to play in the Fourth Division — their home for the next 18 years. In the 1972-3 season Newport missed out on promotion only on goal average.
In the 1959-60 season, County were drawn with Tottenham Hotspur - a top English side - in the FA Cup third round. The game was played in heavy snow at White Hart Lane, and although County lost 4-1 their goal came from an incredible 35-yard effort by Ken Hollyman. This forced the score-line to 1-2, giving County the hope that they could force an upset and inflict a replay or even defeat upon Bill Nicholson's men (who were double winners a year later). However, two late goals for Tottenham ended County's hopes of pulling off a shock result. [1]
In January 1964, County took on another high-profile side - Burnley, the 1960 league champions and 1962 double runners-up - in the FA Cup fourth round, but again suffered defeat. [2]
[edit] Promotion, cup glory and European run
The 1980s heralded both the brightest and darkest moments in the club's history. Len Ashurst was manager from 1978-1982, the club's most successful period. In 1980, promotion was finally achieved from the Football League 'basement', the club only being 5 points from being crowned champions. The team included a young John Aldridge who later became one of the most prolific goal-scorers in English football history. Also in the promotion-winning team was Tommy Tynan, one of the leading lower-league strikers of his era, who scored the all-important goal that sealed County's promotion [3]. This was also the year that County won the Welsh Cup, entitling them to play in the 1980-81 season European Cup Winners' Cup.
The cup run turned out to be quite eventful — the first round against Crusaders of Northern Ireland was won 4-0 on aggregate (4-0 at home and 0-0 away). The second round against Haugar F.C. of Norway was even more convincing: after a 0-0 draw away, the home leg was won 6-0, taking the club into the quarter finals against Carl Zeiss Jena F.C. of East Germany. Despite Aldridge being injured for both matches against Carl Zeiss Jena, the quarter-final away leg was drawn 2-2, with Tommy Tynan scoring both goals. Tynan's equaliser was in the 90th minute. However, despite dominating the home leg, Newport lost 0-1 in front of 18,000 fans at Somerton Park. Carl Zeiss Jena went on to be the eventual cup runners-up, losing the final to Dinamo Tbilisi of the Soviet Union.
The Newport County squad for the home leg was: 1 Gary Plumley, 2 Richard Walden, 3 John Relish, 4 Grant Davies, 5 Keith Oakes (Captain), 6 Tommy Tynan, 7 Nigel Vaughan, 8 Steve Lowndes, 9 Dave Gwyther, 10 Karl Elsey, 11 Kevin Moore, 12 Neil Bailey, 13 Steve Warriner, 14 Dave Bruton, 15 Bobby Ward, 16 Mark Kendall.
In the 1982-83 season, Newport County finished fourth in Division 3, just four points behind Huddersfield Town who were promoted to Division 2, along with arch-rivals Cardiff City. County had actually gone top of the table in early April after a win over Cardiff City in front of 16,052 fans at Somerton Park, but a return of only four points from the last seven games handed the promotion to the 'old enemy'.
Newport appeared in the Welsh Cup final again in 1987, this time losing 1-0 to Merthyr after a replay.
[edit] Freefall and bankruptcy
The decade ended in a rather less glamorous way. County were relegated from the Third Division in 1987 and in 1988 finished bottom of the Fourth Division with a mere 25 points, meaning that their 68-year stay in the Football League was over. They failed to finish their first season in the Conference and finally went out of business on 27 February 1989 with debts of £330,000. They were then expelled from the Conference for failing to fulfill their fixtures. Their record (4 wins, 7 draws and 19 points from 29 games) was expunged.
The BBC Wales current affairs programme Week In Week Out broadcast a documentary in 1989 about the winding up of Newport County and its controversial owner at the time, Jerry Sherman.
In June that year, a new team was founded and elected to the Hellenic League (four divisions below the Football League). Since then, the club's main aim has been to regain the Football League status held by the original club.
[edit] The new club
[edit] Exiles succeed in Gloucestershire
The new club adopted the nickname "The Exiles", as a result of the need to play their inaugural season in the north Gloucestershire town of Moreton-in-Marsh at which venue they won the Hellenic 'League and Cup double', winning promotion to the Southern League.
[edit] Return home to Newport
After two seasons back home in Newport at Somerton Park, football politics consigned them to a further two seasons of exile at Gloucester and the club was forced to resort to legal action to protect themselves from being forced out of the English football pyramid. That litigation proved successful, a landmark High Court verdict enabling them to have a permanent home in Newport at the then newly built Newport Stadium. The club’s first season back in Newport, in 1994-95, saw them promoted to the Southern League Premier Division by winning the Midland Division Championship by a 14-point margin; on the way to that championship, the club set a then Southern League record by winning 14 successive league matches.
[edit] Further progress
Subsequent re-organisation of the upper divisions of non-league football saw County take their place in the inaugural season of Conference South, one of the two feeder divisions into the Conference. The club are now only two promotions away from regaining their place in the Football League (and are the only Conference South club to have played at that level).
Newport County established Hartridge Football Academy in partnership with Newport City Council and the club has a youth development programme with around 50 students. The team competes in the South West Counties League and in the 2001-02 season County's youngsters won the English Schools' Football Association under-19 Trophy. In the 2004-05 season they won the FAW Youth Cup. A number of the Academy graduates have progressed to the senior squad.
In the 2001-02 season, Newport reached the first round proper of the FA Cup, drawing Second Division side Blackpool. Holding them to a 2-2 draw away, the home game was drawn 1-1 at the end of normal time, forcing extra time, during which Blackpool scored three times without reply.
In the 2002-03 season, Newport reached the final of the FAW Premier Cup beating Swansea City and Cardiff City along the way before crashing 6-1 in the final against Wrexham.
In the 2006-07 season, Newport again reached the first round proper of the FA Cup but lost 3-1 to fellow Welsh side Swansea City in a spirited effort in which they outplayed Swansea throughout the second half. In the same season, Newport reached the final of the FAW Premier Cup for the second time since the competition's creation, beating Wrexham along the way but losing 1-0 to TNS in the final. 2006-07 also saw an improvement in league form by Newport with the team consistently in the top half of the league and challenging for a playoff place (top 5), having one of the best home records in the league. In the end, Newport finished just one position below the playoffs after losing 2-1 to Cambridge City on the final day of the season.
In the 2007-08 season, Newport won what may be the last-ever FAW Premier Cup beating Llanelli 1-0 in the final. For the second consecutive season a last-day defeat prevented County reaching the Conference South playoffs.
On Sunday 27 April 2008, Peter Beadle was sacked as club manager. On Sunday 18 May 2008, Dean Holdsworth left his post as manager of Redbridge to take up the manager's position at Newport County. After an initial poor start to the first season under Holdsworth, Newport improved in the second half of the season to finish 10th in the league.
[edit] Honours
- See also: Newport County A.F.C. records and Newport County A.F.C. seasons
- Football League Third Division South champions 1939.
- Southern League Midland Division champions 1995; runners up 1999.
- Hellenic League champions 1990.
- Welsh Cup winners 1980; runners up 1963, 1987.
- Welsh League winners 1928, 1937, 1955, 1975, 1980 (Reserve team).
- FAW Premier Cup winners 2008; runners up 2003, 2007.
- Southern League Merit Cup joint holders 1995, 1999.
- Hellenic League Cup winners 1990.
- Monmouthshire/Gwent Senior Cup winners 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1954, 1958, 1959, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005.
- Gloucestershire Senior Challenge Cup winners 1994.
- Herefordshire Senior Cup winners 2000.
[edit] History
- Record Attendance: Somerton Park: 24,268 vs. Cardiff City, 16 October 1937 (Football League Third Division South); Newport Stadium: 4,616 vs. Swansea City, 11 November 2006 (FA Cup 1st round).
- Record League victory: 10-0 vs. Merthyr Town, 10 April 1930.
- Record FA Cup victory: 7-0 vs. Woking, 24 November 1928.
- Record League Cup victory: 6-0 (8-1 aggregate) vs. Exeter City, 14 September 1982.
- Record European Cup Winners' Cup victory: 6-0 vs. Haugar (Norway), 4 November 1980.
- Record League defeat: 0-13 vs. Newcastle United, 5 October 1946.
- Record FA Cup defeat: 1-8 vs. Brighton & Hove Albion, 19 September 1955.
- Record League Cup defeat: 0-5 vs. Swansea City, 15 August 1978.
- FA Cup progress: Fifth round (last 16) defeat 3-2 after extra-time vs. Portsmouth, 12 February 1949.
- Year Formed: 1912 (reformed 1989).
- Previous Names: 1912 Newport County A.F.C; 1989 Newport A.F.C; 1999 Newport County A.F.C.
- Previous Grounds: Somerton Park, until 1991.
[edit] Current squad
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[edit] Notable former players
[edit] Players with over 200 Football League appearances for Newport County
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[edit] Players with over 100 Football League appearances for Newport County
[edit] Other Notable former players
Inclusion criteria: Attained international caps or is notable for a specific reason.
[edit] Former managers
- Sam Hollis 1913-1917
Davy McDougall- Harry Parkes 1919-1922
- Jimmy Hindmarsh 1922-1935
- Louis Page 1935-1936
- Tom Bromilow 1936-1937
Billy McCandless 1937-1945- Tom Bromilow 1948-1950 (2nd spell)
- Fred Stansfield 1950-1953
- Billy Lucas 1953-1961
- Bobby Evans 1961-1962
- Billy Lucas 1962-1967 (2nd spell)
- Leslie Graham 1967-1969
- Bobby Ferguson 1969-1970 (player-manager)
- Billy Lucas 1970-1974 (3rd spell)
- Brian Harris 1974-1975
- Dave Elliott 1975-1976
- Jimmy Scoular 1976-1977
- Colin Addison 1977-1978
- Len Ashurst 1978-1982
- Colin Addison 1982-1985 (2nd spell)
- Bobby Smith 1985-1986
- John Relish 1986
- Jimmy Mullen 1986-1987
- John Lewis 1987
- Brian Eastick 1987-1988
- David Williams 1988
- Eddie May 1988
- John Mahoney 1988-1989
- John Relish 1989-1993 (2nd spell)
- Graham Rogers 1993-1996
- Chris Price 1997
- Tim Harris 1997-2002
- Peter Nicholas 2002-2004
- John Cornforth 2004-2005
- Peter Beadle 2005-2008
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Newport County official website
- Amber Army (Supporters' Trust) official website
- Newport County Supporters Club official website
- Bar Amber (social club) official website
- Unofficial Message Board
- The Amber Terrace - photo & archive site
- Newport County playing kits archive
[edit] References
- ^ "Newport County - Historical Football Kits". http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Newport_County/Newport_County.htm. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
- Newport County Archives
- Football Club History Database
- Amber in the Blood: History of Newport County F.C. ISBN 1874427402
