Welsh football third division club guide – Caerau Ely

Founded - 1955

Nickname - The Young Guns

by Richard Taylor

For several seasons in recent memory Caerau Ely were among the top teams in the old Welsh League Division One, competing for the top honours in the region's second tier.

Recent seasons have been less kind to the Ely-based outfit, however, as their back-to-basics approach has dropped them into the third tier of Welsh football.

It will undoubtedly be a platform, however, upon which the club can look to build once again with a squad largely drawn from young local talent.

Starting afresh in the Ardal League SW division, the club will be led by former Cwmbran and Barry Town star Nathan Cotterall as they look to emulate the achievements of recent times.

Caerau Ely has had a rich history in youth football, initially forming as a youth-based club when joining the Cardiff Combination League junior divisions in 1955. From those roots sprung a senior setup and the club eventually landed a spot in the senior league in 1991.

The subsequent rise has been meteoric.

Seven years later the club entered the Welsh Leagues for the first time, beating Dinas Powys FC in a cagey playoff at Bridgend to secure status in Welsh League Division Three.

Promotion followed again seven years later to Division Two before the Young Guns made the leap to Division One in the 2009/10 campaign.

Following two consolidation seasons the club dropped back into division two before another promotion followed under the stewardship of Welsh League stalwart Nana Baah in 2013/14.

Leaner times have befallen Caerau Ely in recent seasons but Cotterall and his young squad, along with a revamped Cwrt-yr-Ala stadium, will undoubtedly be approaching the 2020/21 season with renewed optimism for the challenges ahead.