Wrexham Supporters Trust complete takeover

Merthyr Town FC wish to congratulate our colleagues within the Wrexham Supporters Trust (WST) for their successful takeover of Wrexham AFC this week. The process has been lengthy but the WST has been diligent in its approach to securing the future of Wales's oldest football club.

As we know at Penydarren Park the best guardians for a club's future are its supporters and we're sure that good times lie ahead for those fans at the Racecourse Ground.

Penydarren Park renovation plan

Merthyr Town Launch project for Penydarren Park Upgrade

On Thursday December 1st the Merthyr Town Board meet supporters of the club at the CANDAC Suite at 7.30 pm to outline the plans to upgrade Penydarren Park . The club has received a substantial grant through the Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council Social Economy team. The grant will be spent to overcome years of neglect at Penydarren Park on an upgrade of basic facilities such as security fencing, shower facilities, heating and facilities for the disabled. It has also enabled the appointment of a Business development Manager, whose role will be to expand the business turnover at the Penydarren Park, and to increase the use of the facilities at the club by the wider community. The club Board will also take the opportunity to inform supporters of all developments over recent months. All who are interested in the continued progress of Merthyr Town are welcome.

Steve Williams - 300 appearances for the Martyrs

Merthyr Town FC was delighted to present a momento to our captain Steve Williams on Saturday prior to our Les Phillips Cup match to commemorate his 300th appearance for the Martyrs.

Congratulations to Steve on reaching this milestone, here's for many more seasons at Penydarren Park.

White Hot Webley t-shirts

To celebrate the 21st anniversary of Merthyr Tydfil's historic 4-1 Welsh Cup win over Cardiff City at Ninian Park the website Cultzeros has launched a t-shirt design of the inconic Dai Webley goal celebration from that match.

If you would like one or would like to purchase one as a Christmas gift for the Martyrs fan in your life please use the following link;

http://www.cultzeros.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=MeT23

Merthyr boxer wears the shirt with pride

Kerry Hope showed his support for his hometown by wearing a Merthyr Town shirt into the ring for his latest fight which was shown live on Sky Sports.

The fight was a British Middleweight title eliminator against Tony Hill at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton. Kerry won the fight.

The Club is very proud to be associated with Kerry and wish him all the best for his next fight when he will once again wear the Martyrs shirt with pride.

Fans elections to the Board at Merthyr Town

Merthyr Town have issued ballot papers to all of its members for the election of 4 Board members as part of the Club's constitution.

There are 7 candidates for the places;

Richard Bennett
Peter Harman
Les Howells
Dave Powell
Meurig Price
Len Sankey
Philip Sweet

Members are reminded that the ballot papers needs to be returned to the independent auditor by 19th November at the latest.

Another successful Minithon

Merthyr hosted its annual Run, Walk or Crawl 5km event on Sunday 23rd October and although numbers were down on last season's inaugural event it was a day enjoyed by all who took part.

Councillor Brent Carter, a regular Merthyr Town FC supporter, started the race at Rhydycar on the Taff Trail and soon the route was full of MTFC players, supporters and families enjoying the scenery on a crisp autumn day.

Danny Carter was present along with captain Steve Williams and physio Russ Jones plus more players to show their support for the Academy teams at Merthyr Town FC.

The race was a deadheat this year between defending champion Andrew Murphy and Liam Bodenham. Lloyd Type finished third.

Our thanks to the players & staff for supporting the Minithon 2011.

Funds are still welcome to support both Merthyr Town FC and its Academy teams, if you wish to donate please contact Mark Evans on wolvesy@yahoo.co.uk

Merthyr Town FC honours legendary supporter

David Miles who supported Merthyr Tydfil FC from its resurrection in 1945 right through to the current supporter-owned club of Merthyr Town FC was honoured on Saturday with the unveiling of the new sign on Theatre End stand at Penydarren Park which now carries his name as one of the greatest supporters of the Martyrs.

David Miles followed the Martyrs from 1945 through the glory years of the early 1950s into the barren years of the sixties then enjoyed the 1970s with John Charles at the helm he was around to enjoy the second glorious era when the Martyrs won the Welsh Cup and entered Europe. The decline of the club to its eventual liquidation in 2010 didn't put David off and he continued to sell Soccalot tickets to the very end.

David sadly died this year but was able to see the Supporters Trust save his favourite club from extinction. He was inspiration to us all with his never ending support for football at Penydarren Park and he will be greatly missed by all.

His family were present on Saturday to the David Miles Stand unveiled which will serve as a great reminder to future generations of a wonderful supporter.

Martyrs host annual Let's Kick Racism Day

Merthyr Town hosted its annual Let's Kick Racism Out of Football Day on Saturday for the visit of Sherborne Town.

Both teams and match officials wore the campaign t-shirts in the pre=match warm up and pennants were exchanged by the team captains.

Merthyr Town is proud of its inclusive community initiatives and recognises the Kick It Out campaign as part of its vigilance to ensure that racism is not tolerated at our club.

Campaign leaflets were distributed to the 411 fans who attended the match.

2nd Annual Merthyr Town FC Minithon

Merthyr Town FC will host its annual fundraising Minithon on Sunday 23rd October from Rhydycar Leisure Centre at 1pm.

Players, supporters, families and friends will either run, walk or crawl the 5km route from Rhydycar to Abercanaid and back along the beautiful Taff Trail to raise funds for both the Football Club and its Academy structure.

Sponsorship forms for the event can be downloaded via the following link - http://merthyrtownfc.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=618:sunday-minithon-challenge-at-rhydcar&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=28

Last year's event saw over 60 people enjoying a Sunday on the Taff Trail which raised in excess of £2,000.00. Merthyr Town FC would like to exceed that this year.

Andrew Murphy will be defending his title as the Minithon 5k Race winner for 2010 but others will be pushing prams or walking the dog as part of their participation in the event.

All participants are invited back to Penydarren Park after the Minithon for refreshments in the Candac Suite plus a chance to see one of the Academy teams who rely on fundraising to keep them going.

The Under-14 team will play Newport YMCA at 2.30pm.

It's going to be a great day on Sunday, see you at Rhydycar.

Merthyr Town unveil Poppy Day shirt

Merthyr Town FC has unveiled a new shirt to be worn by the Club in November to raise much needed funds for the Royal British Legion. The Supporters Trust at Penydarren Park has made a collection each year to raise funds for our servicemen and so this season we've designed a black shirt with the poppy logo to raise the club's support for this vital charity.

The shirts will be sold for £35.00 with all profits being donated to the Royal British Legion.

Martyrs launch Away Supporters Guide

The away supporters guide to Merthyr Town FC has been re-launched via the following link;

http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1tg3m/MerthyrTownFCVisitin/resources/index.htm

Merthyr in seventh heaven

Merthyr Town completed their return to Penydarren Park on Saturday with a 7-1 win over visitors Odd Down in front of 513 jubilant fans. Penydarren Park was looking excellent for the return of semi-professional football to the town, the Trust's army of volunteers had worked tirelessly through the summer to make sure that the old ground was back to its best.

The Martyrs hit the cup trail on Saturday with the visit of Bitton to Merthyr for an Extra Preliminary Qualifying FA Cup tie.

In other news Merthyr Town will return to the Welsh Cup with a home draw against Caerau.

The final stage of the MTFC revolution nears

At 3pm on Saturday 13th August Merthyr Town will play Odd Down in Western League Premier Division at their Penydarren Park stadium and bring the Supporters' Trust reformation of Merthyr Town FC to its conclusion.

It's nearly seven years since concerned supporters of the South Wales club decided to form a Trust in order to seek an influence in the way their Football Club was run whilst raising funds to support it's development.

Martyrs to the Cause has remained committed to preserving semi-professional football in the South Wales Valleys area and needed to act decisively in the spring of 2009 when the owner of Merthyr Tydfil FC refused to invest any further money to his ailing club.

The Trust acted to take the Club into administration to protect it from its creditors and proceeded to work with the appointed Administrator to run the club on license for the 2009/10 season. A season that culminated in an emotional day at Swindon Supermarine when the Martyrs gained the point required to avoid relegation from the Southern League Premier Division in front of 250 of their travelling fans.

It was obvious that saving the Club was beyond the means of the Trust and in May 2010Merthyr Tydfil FC was liquidated.

Martyrs to the Cause immediately set about reforming the Club as Merthyr Town FC and with the valued support of Supporters Direct they were able to meet the strict requirements of the Football Association to remain in their pyramid structure.

However the lease of their famous old stadium at Penydarren Park remained as an asset for the official Liquidator and therefore the Martyrs needed to find an alternative venue for the start of the 2010/11 season.

Two volunteers spent a day dashing around South Wales looking at options and were rewarded when the wonderful people at Taffs Well FC stepped up to host our flegling club in its first season.

Merthyr Town FC now registered as a Community Sports Mutual, the only one in Wales, set about upgrading the Rhiw Dda'r ground to match the Western League criteria. Following a site visit Merthyr Town FC were placed in Division One, a drop of three leagues from the Southern League Premier Division.

Merthyr Town FC had a great season under the management of Gary Shephard and his assistant Danny Carter and the title and promotion was won. The Martyrs were on their way back.

The great work continues to this day with the Trust-run Club committed to serving its communities and bring a sense of pride back to watching the Martyrs.

On Saturday we return home to our ground and complete a remarkable chapter in the story of our Club.

We own our football club!

The Boys are Back In Town

Merthyr Town FC has on the eve of the new season launched its Boys Are Back In Town campaign to remind our community that we are back at Penydarren Park.

The stadium has been transformed by the club's ever-willing army of volunteers and with a newly refurbished Candac Suite we are ready for the start of the new season on 13th August when Odd Down become the first club to take on the supporter-owned Martyrs in a Western League match at Penydarren.

10,000 fixture cards will be distributed throughout the South Wales Valleys to show that Merthyr Town FC is back at the centre of our community!

Merthyr rocks in the park again

Penydarren Park hosted the annual Rock In The Park music festival on Saturday and once again the local community responded with over 600 persons enjoying the event.

Limehouse Lizzy headlined the event but were supported by local bands to once again showcase the talent available in South Wales.

The event raised much needed funds for the Martyrs and provided an opportunity for the Trust run club to present its stadium as a venue for the whole community.

Merthyr supporters show their support for Godre'r Coed fields

Merthyr Town FC expressed its support for the campaign to save the school field at Cefn Coed today with the first appearance of its supporters cricket team to take on the Cefn Social club team who are organising matches on the threatened community facility to widen its use and also show the benefits of exercise.

The school field site has been earmarked as a possible venue for the new Ysgol Y Graig school however locals are concerned that one of the few green field sites in the villages would be lost whilst other venues for the new building are available.

Further information could be seen via the following newslink - http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/south-wales-news/merthyr/2011/04/14/cefn-coed-residents-protest-at-plans-to-build-primary-school-on-popular-playing-fields-91466-28514702/

The 20/20 cricket was a low scoring affair with the Football club team struggling to 31 all out despite a great performance with the bat by Lee Normanton.

The Cefn Social team also struggled with the lively wicket but managed to knock off the runs to win by 3 wickets.

It is hoped that the Merthyr Town FC cricket section will play a few more matches during the summer.

(Captain Jason Scanlon is pictured above inspecting the wicket before today's match).

Martyrs back at Penydarren Park

It's been a long road for the Supporters Trust at Merthyr Town FC but finally the end of the struggle to resurrect our famous club is near.

This weekend saw the first friendly match of the pre-season with Llanelli the visitors to Penydarren Park for the club's return to its home.

A season in exile twenty miles away in Taffs Well did not deter the club from gaining promotion from the Western League Division One and now the faithful supporters can return to their normal pre-match routines as the Martyrs return home.

The first match was a tough return for Merthyr Town who faced a Llanelli team preparing for their Europa Cup tie with Dynamo Tbilisi (a creditable 2-1 win last week for the Reds!), it was the West Wales team who took the spoils with a handsome 9-1 win.

No one seemed to mind at the game as we were home.

Tuesday evening saw the return of Dean Clarke to Penydarren Park as the Martyrs took on local rivals Newport County in a benefit match for the combative midfield who has played over 370 matches for us over 10 years. A great servant to the club and it was great to see 500 supporters fill the stands to pay credit to his career.

The pre-season will continue but all eyes in the town are now fixed on 13th August when Dawlish Town provide the opponents for the first competitive match for the reformed club at its spiritual home.

Up the Town!

Merthyr Town FC supports local Homeless project

Merthyr Town FC has placed its support behind the Bling Cafe project being undertaken at the old Flooks store on Pontmorlais Circus.

The project being undertaken by the Llamau charity won a £60,000 people's lottery grant last week with many of our supporters taking part in the telephone vote.

For more information on the project please visit the following link;

http://www.llamau.org.uk/

It is hoped that the Flooks project will be the start of the renovation of the Pontmorlais area of the town whic of course includes Penydarren Park.

We will be working with our colleagues on the Town & Park Communities First Partnership to support future projects that help to revitalise our community.

Merthyr Town FC Supporters' Six-a-side success

Merthyr Town FC supporters returned to the prestigious Queens Park Sixes tournament this weekend after an absence of well over a decade, the youthful squad surprised everyone (including themselves) by going unbeaten in their qualifying group matches with wins over supporters teams from Worthing, Oxford United, Queen's Park, Tottenham Hotspur (Scotland) and Jalgpallihaigla (Estonia).

A quarter-final win over a young Leyton Orient team raised hopes of winning the tournament but our supporters were beaten 4-1 by eventual winners from Troon at the semi-final stage.

The Queen's Park event is more than a football tournament. With over 40 teams present it was an opportunity for supporters to share experiences and relive memories of previous events.

It was great to tell the story of our unique community club to friends from Orient, Peterborough, Tranmere, St Johnstone, Edinburgh City and Motherwell amongst many others.

We're hopeful of welcoming many of those clubs' supporters to Penydarren Park for the 2011/12 season as we return to our famous home stadium.

Heritage Day at Merthyr Town a complete success

Yesterday's heritage day at Merthyr Town FC was a great success with the Club's new Mobile Museum Panels being welcomed by everyone who visited the Candac Suite.

Supporters were able to view exhibits from the club's origins right through to the present day.

The mobile museum project had been funded with a grant from the Communities First Trust Fund and has taken over 12 months of research to piece together the ten panels that take the viewer through the story of football at Penydarren Park from 1908 to the present day.

The Trust-run Club believe that the mobile exhibition will help to promote itself within the community. The mobile museum is now on the road for the summer with visits planned to local schools and clubs.


The Heritage Day was enhanced by Philip Sweet who made a great presentation on the Managers who were in charge of Merthyr Town from 1908 to 1934 which uncovered a few unknown facts about those who have sat in the hot-seat at Penydarren Park.

Many thanks to everyone who donated items on the day and who expressed an interest in the forthcoming digital archive project.

The mobile exhibition has already attracted attention and will be on display from 1st-12th September at Rhydycar Leisure Centre and from 13th September to the 3rd October at Dowlais Library. Look out for the panels at a venue near you.

Merthyr Town FC - New Sponsor for season

Merthyr Town Football Club was full of the joys of spring this week as the club’s board finalised a new lucrative shirt sponsor deal with Trade Centre Wales for next season. The Neath based company has sponsored the club in the past, but this announcement is linked to the recent opening of the new Trade Centre Part Exchange Outlet on June 1st at the former Kwiksave store adjacent to the A465 in Pant, Merthyr Tydfil.

Trade Centre have worked closely with Merthyr Tydfil Borough Council in establishing the new venture, which should see the introduction of up to 30 jobs in the area, and are keen to develop working partnerships with the business community and the community of Merthyr as a whole, by doing some good in the area. The first step on this road is the sponsorship of Merthyr Town Football Club.

Martyrs management team Garry Shephard and Danny Carter were at a recent sponsors evening with the club’s new kit for next season, with the new Trade Centre Wales logo. The agreement was reached following an approach to the club by Trade Centre, following a phone in on Real Radio, with Garry Shephard, Merthyr stalwart Anthony Hughes and former Cardiff City star Jason Perry, father of Merthyr goalie Joe Perry.

Merthyr Town club captain Steve Williams expressed his joy at hearing about the new deal. Steve was pleased that the sponsorship from Trade Centre Wales has supported the club for the return to Penydarren Park next season.

Trade Centre Wales have a long history of supporting sport in south Wales, and currently sponsors 20 sports clubs in the region, so the first port of call in supporting the local community is the Martyrs.

Merthyr Town FC - Rock at the Park 2011 - The Boys are back in town

Penydarren Park will host the third Rock At The Park event on Saturday 23rd July to raise funds for Merthyr Town FC.

The Club has continued its policy of looking for the best of local talent coupled with a top headline act;

Weekend Legacy - This year's young show opener
Flaming Ferrets - Up and coming Rock band
Celtic Pride - Merthyr's Metal Masters
Minnie's Chuff - Rock/Pop Maestros
Four Wheel Drive - featuring Graham Williams

Limehouse Lizzy - Britain's premier Thin Lizzy tribute act will headline and bring the show to a close.

Gates open at 12 noon and the event runs through until 8.00pm.

Bar & Food stalls available.

The day is sure to attract another large crowd for one of the events of the Merthyr music calendar so make sure you get your ticket in advance, only £12.00.

Please contact the following persons for details and ticket sales;

Wayne - 07852769467
Phil - 07882066625

Merthyr Town FC Heritage Day - 18th June 2011

Merthyr Town FC will host its first annual Heritage Day in the Candac Suite at Penydarren Park from 2pm on Saturday 18th June 2011.

The event will also launch the Club's mobile museum project which has been funded with a grant from the Communities First Trust Fund, the mobile exhibition is comprised of ten individual panels outlining the history of football at our famous ground from 1908 up until the present day.

The panels will provide a backdrop for the story of football in our borough to be told via presentations and memorabilia.

Supporters are invited to bring any artefacts from the Clubs' histories to the event to be copied or scanned for inclusion in a proposed digital archive.

Merthyr Town unsuccessful in FAW Futsal Finals Day

The Finals day of the inaugural FAW Futsal Cup on Sunday proved to be a huge challenge to the young Merthyr Town team as they suffered three defeats in their group matches in Cardiff.

Merthyr Town Futsal were placed in a group with CSKA Talybont, Connah's Quay and The New Saints which was a tough group which was proven by both North Wales teams from the group facing each other in the Final which was won by TNS who will now play in the UEFA Futsal Cup in August.

Jon Henderson, the team coach, can be justifiably proud of his young team who performed admirably in this new format of the game and surely the event will prepare them for another assault on European glory next season.

Young Merthyr team through to Wales Futsal Finals

Merthyr Town continued it's successful season as our youngsters triumphed in Sunday's FAW Futsal Cup qualifying round.

http://www.faw.org.uk/news/2187

The Martyrs only had to play one match due to withdrawals from the inaugural Futsal tournament but they comfortably overcame Rhayader Town 7-4 to book their place in the Finals tournament in Cardiff on 5th June.

Dan Richards was accredited with scoring the goal of the event displaying some great technique to outwit the Rhayader keeper for one of the Martyrs' goals.

Good luck to the lads as they seek to emulate the team of '87 and qualify for Europe.

Merthyr Town unveil new kits for next season

Gary Shephard and Danny Carter unveil the new playing strip for Merthyr Town's promotion push from the Western League Premier Division next season.

The club is run by its members and at this season's AGM it was decided that the club would return to playing in black & white after a debate amongst the supporter and a subsequent vote.

The new replica shirts are available to purchase by supporters via Mark Jones in the Club Shop on emmawathan@talktalk.net

Merthyr Town Futsal

Merthyr Town were drawn today in Group 1 of the Southern Conference for the inaugural FAW Futsal Cup to be played in Cardiff on Sunday 22nd May.

The Trust-run Club will need to top the group including AFC Llwydcoed, Port Talbot Town and Rhayader Town to progress to the National Finals to be played next month.

Jon Henderson, the Merthyr Futsal team manager, has welcomed the draw and is continuing the squad's preparation for the tournament.

The winners of the National Finals will represent Wales in the UEFA Futsal Cup 2011/12.

Merthyr v Cardiff but Fred Keenor Appeal is the winner

The Supporters' Trust from both Merthyr Town and Cardiff City clashed on Thursday evening in a skittles challenge to raise funds for the Fred Keenor Statue Appeal that is close to the hearts of both Cardiff City and Welsh football fans.

The match was played at the Taffs Well Ex-Servicemens Club which has hosted Merthyr Town supporters during their season in exile.

The match was a close affair with the Merthyr team eventually prevailing with a 322-301 result.

It was a fun night to share stories of the season so far and to raise £156.00 for the appeal.

Merthyr Town FC wishes the Cardiff City Supporters Trust every success with the Appeal.

Merthyr Town back in Welsh Cup?

Merthyr Town FC is delighted to hear that the FAW is to invite them to re-enter the Welsh Cup for the 2011/12 season. The club would obviously love the opportunity to bring the famous old trophy back to Penydarren Park for a fourth time. The Club is looking forward to receiving more information from its governing body on the competition rules and will advise its loyal supporters accordingly.

Fred Keenor Appeal Skittles Night

Merthyr Town supporters have laid down a challenge to the Cardiff City Supporters Trust for a skittles match at Taffs Well Ex-Servicemens Club on Thursday 28th April from 7.30pm.

The match will be held as a fundraiser for the Fred Keenor Statue Appeal currently being raised by the Cardiff City Supporters Trust to recognise the player who represented both his Club and Country so proudly and culminating in him lifting the FA Cup for the Bluebirds in 1927 (the picture above shows Fred Keenor bringing the FA Cup to Penydarren Park five days after the Final; Merthyr won 1-0 that day).

Supporters of both clubs are welcome to attend the match to help raise funds for this worthwhile cause which is close to our hearts at Merthyr Town FC.

Our thanks go to Taffs Well Ex-Servicemens Club for hosting the event and also for providing excellent hospitality to Merthyr supporters during our current season in exile at Rhiw Dda'r.

Football Association of Wales Roadshow at Merthyr

The FAW will host a roadshow at Penydarren Park today as part of its consultation process with the Associations's strategy for the next five years.

Jonathan Ford, Chief Executive of the FAW, will be taking questions from clubs, referees and supporters on all matters of the Association's business.

The Candac Suite will host a meeting for the South Wales region to discuss the priorities for the FAW.

The meeting starts at 7pm, please be there to make your statement on Welsh football.

Champions in our first year

Merthyr Town FC celebrated its first Championship on Saturday with a 5-1 win over Gillingham Town at our temporary home in Taffs Well. A record crowd of 501 basked in the spring sunshine to witness Wales's only community mutual football club take the Western League Division One title.

The Club has overcome numerous hurdles to reach this point but can now look positively at the future and an imminent return to Penydarren Park, it's historic stadium in the town.

The support this season has been amazing with an average crowd in excess of 300 making the 40 mile round trip to Taffs Well to ensure that the Martyrs remained on course to continue their resurrection under their main stakeholders; their own supporters via the Martyrs to the Cause Supporters Trust.

Our thanks go to the management team of Garry Shephard and Danny Carter for providing the team to match the supporters' ambitions. The team has been excellent all season and have deserved to win the Championship.

Next season we return to Penydarren Park where we belong. There's a lot of hard work to be done but with our players and our supporters there's nothing we cannot acheive.

Minithon Update - Gol charity announcement

The JustGiving account for the Minithon held in October has now closed with just over £1,000 raised for both Merthyr Town and the Gol charity.

The Gôl charity has booked flights today for four Montenegrin Orphans, plus two carers to visit Wales for the Wales v Montengro game on 2nd Spetember 2011.

It will be a trip of a lifetime for Vasilija Durkovic, aged 12, Valentina Salihi, aged 14, Bojan Siskic, aged 13 and Danilo Korac, aged 12. They were all born in Podgorica apart from Valentina who was born in Bar and they now all live at the only orphanage still in existence in Montenegro, in Bijela, where Wales supporters representing Gôl visited last September along with the British Embassy.

The four youngsters will act as Mascots for the Wales v. Montenegro match in September.

This will be the third time Gôl have brought orphans to Wales after the previous successful visits of children from Azerbaijan in 2003 (two children) and 2005 (four children).

Gol has publicly thanked Merthyr Town for their donation to their funds as it helps fund the outstanding work being undertaken both home and abroad.

Merthyr Town FC - No return to Penydarren Park yet

MERTHYR Town must wait until next season to start playing home league matches again at Penydarren Park.

A three-man Football Association panel yesterday upheld a Western League decision to turn down the club’s request to return to the Merthyr ground.

That means the Martyrs will keep playing home games at the Rhiw Dda’r ground in Taffs Well where they’ve been since the start of this season.

If the FA had overturned the Western League’s decision, the club say they would have been ready to play at Penydarren Park as early as this weekend.

Despite hosting matches in Taffs Well, Merthyr have been allowed to use Penydarren Park as their base with friendly fixtures, under-18 games and college teams playing there.

A permanent move back would have eased the financial burden on the club as they are currently paying Taffs Well to hire Rhiw Dda’r and shelling out money for the upkeep of Penydarren Park.

And although frustrated by the FA’s judgement, club spokesman Anthony Hughes said everything bodes well for a summer return.
“On the playing side of things I don’t think it makes a great deal of difference,” he said.
“It just means that our fans will keep having to make a 40-mile round trip for no reason as we see it.
“If the decision had gone in our favour we would have played at Penydarren Park as soon as Saturday. It is frustrating but we are 100% certain we will be playing there at the start of next season.
“We are based there now and have played some friendlies, we just won’t be allowed to play the rest of our home games there this season.”

Merthyr had already agreed a compensation deal with Welsh League outfit Taffs Well before their original request to the Western League was rejected.

Hughes added that the FA has said the club can submit another application to move back to Merthyr by May 1 when they would need to sign a new lease on the ground to secure the tenancy, something they believe the local authority would look at in their favour.