WHILE some Montgomeryshire villages pride themselves on their footballing tradition others are totally unaware of their proud past.

Last summer saw the death of Defaid Du Football Club - a club with humble beginnings and one which ended with a £200 fine, following their 11th hour resignation from the Spar Mid Wales League.

However the real tragedy could still lie in wait should history repeat itself.

For the last time Llandrinio Football Club folded it sparked a 25 year sporting blackout in the border village.

While local rivals Four Crosses are now the undisputed kings of the border, it was actually Llandrinio who first formed in 1946 - less than a year after after the Second World War hostilities had concluded.

In their first season they ended second to Llanfair Caereinion, but glory was soon to follow with back-to-back Montgomeryshire League titles in 1949 and again in 1950.

In both seasons Llandrinio won the league by outscoring their opponents, with even the mighty Llanfair side of the day unable to match the villagers’ goal threat.

The club were well-known as a cup side as well, with the Welshpool Knockout Cup also lifted in their formative years, when future British light-heavyweight champion Dennis Powell was in the line-up.

Powell remains the village’s most famous son, having beaten George Walker in Liverpool in 1953 to become British champion in one of the most vicious blood and guts brawls in boxing history.

It is only fitting that the man still commemorated with a plaque in the village was also one of the club’s most successful footballers.

While Powell was winning the hearts of the nation, his beloved Llandrinio Football Club sat out 1953 but were back a year later.

However in their absence a new power had emerged in the borderlands.

Llanymynech-based Rodney Rovers - one of the most beloved names from Montgomeryshire sporting history - won five successive league titles from 1954 to 1958, while Llandrinio’s fortunes waned.

This culminated in another 12 month break from competitive football in 1964 and despite a few years of struggle the club ended sixth in 1969, to earn a place in the first division of the newly formed two tier Montgomeryshire League.

Despite surviving relegation the club dropped the bombshell that they would resign in 1970.

The next 25 years saw Llandrinio disappear further into the history books, while local rivals Llanfyllin Town and Four Crosses went on to enjoy league and cup success.

In 2004 Crosses won the second division of the Montgomeryshire League, while Llanfyllin Town ended in a record high of fifth in the Spar Mid Wales League, while also winning the Central Wales Cup for the first time.

Finally a quarter of a century after folding rumours of reforming began to circulate with the founders the most unlikely of candidates.

For many years local footballer Robert Scott had entered a team in the popular summer knockout at Llanfechain and interest in the team had reached such a level it was decided to enter a team in the Montgomeryshire League.

The club immediately earned an unflattering but galvanizing nickname, which became the new club’s identity - Defaid Du -translated to the Black Sheep in English.

Player-manager Scott assembled a highly promising side, including players such as Sean Butler and Carl Lewis who had played at a higher level, only to find themselves unable to prolong their top flight careers.

The club soon found nationwide notoriety when they played local rivals Four Crosses Reserves in the final of the 2007 J T Hughes Consolation Cup at Llansanffraid.

A majority of the squad had less than spotless criminal records and the Wimbledon of Montgomeryshire football soon appeared in national tabloids, who were all keen to report on the most unlikely of sporting institutions.

Du’s fourth place of 2007 was repeated in 2009, but a massive points deduction robbed the club of the promotion to the first division of the Montgomeryshire League they had always craved.

The club continued to build with the 2009 Village Cup brought back to Llandrinio.

Last season the club ended seventh but a shock application to the expanded Mid Wales League set-up was accepted.

Player-manager Scott hoped the move would galvanize the community into supporting their village team.

However with just days to go to the start of the season, the club withdrew their application due to a lack of support from players and officials.

 

Nowadays the club’s ground lies untouched and with no word on reforming it seems Llandrinio is facing another long spell in the sporting wilderness.