Monmouth Town

Founded: 1930

Ground: Plough Lane, Penperlleni (temporary groundshare with Goytre AFC)

Nickname: Kingfishers

Manager: Scott Russell

By Jordan Forster

The club crest states 1930 as the founding year of Monmouth Town.

There is a report on the AGM of “Monmouth A.F.C.” in the Evening Express from September 1909, noting the club’s affiliation with “the Hereford association” instead of the South Wales League (a predecessor of the Welsh Football League organised by the South Wales & Monmouthshire Football Association).

There is also evidence Monmouth shared the Monmouth & District League title with Clearwell FC in 1926. However, the 1930 date used by the present Monmouth Town indicates there is no formal link between these clubs.

The first major achievement for the Kingfishers came in 1940 when they lifted the Monmouthshire Senior Cup, beating Lovell’s Athletic (the famous Newport sweet factory works team) in the final, who were that season crowned Southern League West Division champions.

Later in the decade, Monmouth made their only appearance in the English FA Cup when they lost to fellow Welsh club Llanelli in the 2nd preliminary round in the 1945/6 season.

There were further successes in the 1950s as the Kingfishers twice lifted the Monmouthshire Amateur Cup and added a second Monmouthshire Senior Cup success, but the next two decades were fallow in terms of silverware.

It wasn’t until the formation of the Gwent County League in 1980 that more success arrived, with a Gwent Amateur Cup triumph in 1983/4.

During this period before the formation of the national pyramid in 1992, Monmouth Town mostly played their football in Wales in Gwent County League, but there were occasional ventures over the border into leagues organised by the Gloucestershire and Herefordshire FAs.

Settled in Welsh football permanently from 1992/3, Monmouth spent nearly two decades in Gwent County football.

They were second division champions in 1995/6 (adding the Gwent Amateur Cup for a Gwent County “double”) but had suffered relegation from division one before the 21st century began.

The Kingfishers dropped into Gwent County division three in 2004 but Andrew Smith’s return to the club sparked one of the most incredible rises in recent Welsh football history.

Promotion back to Gwent County division two was achieved at the first attempt in 2004/5 and a second promotion followed as Monmouth won division two in 2005/6. One year later, the Kingfishers joined the Welsh Football League for the first time in their history as second-place finish behind Newport Civil Service (who were unable to go up) earned promotion.

Monmouth stabilized in the Welsh League over three years and eventually gained promotion as Welsh League division three champions in 2010/11.

The Kingfishers made it back to back titles and promotions with division two success 12 months later and in just their second season in the second tier, Monmouth Town were crowned Welsh League champions in 2013/14 under the management of former Wales international Steve Jenkins.

The Welsh League triumph concluded a remarkable decade for the Kingfishers that had taken them from tier seven to the sporting merit to play in the Welsh Premier League; although the necessity of obtaining the FAW domestic licence prevented any further progress on the field.

Monmouth were unable to sustain that success and the years subsequent to that famous season have seen the Kingfishers fall into steady decline, with a number of mediocre campaigns ending with relegation to Welsh League division two at the end of the 2017/18 season.

Last season Monmouth finished 15th in tier three (re-branded Welsh League division one after the formation of the Cymru Leagues at tier two) but spared relegation by the restructured tier three and founding of the Ardal Leagues.

In order to meet the tier three criteria, Monmouth have agreed a temporary groundshare with Goytre AFC. However, planning permission has been granted recently for the Kingfishers to improve their home at the Monmouth Sportsground with the addition of a 250-seater stand, hardstanding and new dugouts that will bring the facilities in Monmouth in line with FAW Tier 2 Certification.