Bryntirion Athletic F.C.

History

Bryntirion Athletic football club was formed in 1956 by Mr Bill Rosewell with the help of Mr Tom Evans and Mr Percy Pudge. The club's first trophy, the Open Cup, was won in the 1959 season after drawing the first game 3–3 and winning the reply 3–0. Then, in 1964, Bryntirion entered the South Wales Amateur League. Mr Bill Shales then became extensively involved in the club and without his intervention the club, arguably, would not have survived.

In 1972 Ray Warner joined the club and was to serve Bryntirion for 25 years before handing over the reins to Vic Carpenter.

The early years were a struggle to survive with the club having to seek re-election due to poor playing performances. However, in 1981 the club won the 2nd division Championship. Life in Division 1 was to last just 3 seasons before relegation occurred after a huge battle was lost to survive the 1983–84 season.

In 1986–87, Bryntirion took the decision to ground share with Bridgend Town which was to be their 1st team home for the next 10 seasons. Promotion was won at the first time of asking and in 1988–89 season saw Bryntirion finish in 4th place, their highest ever placing in the 1st Division. However, between 1990 and 1994 they suffered a somewhat "yo-yo" existence between the two divisions, but then between 1994 and 1998 the club regained stability.

But, to progress further up the Pyramid System, Bryntirion would have to develop their own ground. in the 1996–97 season, land was acquired courtesy of Bridgend County Borough council and a local developer and Bryntirion Athletic formed a steering committee to embark upon a massive fund raising exercise. Lottery funding was obtained and further financial assistance was also gained in the form of a loan from Brains Brewery, but more importantly £120,000 was raised by donations and gifts from Dennis and Sally Evans of Regal Travel, Vic Carpenter of Ocean Construction, Dai Brett of Rapide Transport and Emlyn Phillips of Mid Glamorgan Provisions Ltd.

In 1997 the club returned to Bryntirion Park only to find the drainage system did not extend to the 1st team pitch. Further expenditure to rectify this resulted in the projects costs spiralling past the £400,000 mark. Despite this and major building costs, the doors of the clubhouse finally opened on 23 December 2000.

In 1998 Bryntirion recorded their first ever Corinthian Cup win with a 3–2 extra time victory over British Steel. In 2000 Bryntirion reached the final of the FAW Trophy, but were beaten by Trefelin Boys Club.

After winning the South Wales Amateur League Championship in some style in 2002 and having met the strict ground criteria imposed by the Welsh FA, Bryntirion were forced to play-off against South Wales Senior Champions, Bridgend Street. Bryntirion recorded a convincing 4–0 victory with goals from Lee Stevens, Darren Nota(2) and Nigel Jordan.

The first season in the Welsh League ended in a commendable 5th position despite being among the frontrunners for the majority of the season.

The 2004–05 season was to prove to be one of Bryntirion's greatest seasons with the 1st team capturing the Third Division Championship and the Youth team becoming only the 3rd team to win the McWhirter Youth League at the first team of asking under the management of Jason Bekker and Owen Roberts. The only other 2 teams being none other than Cardiff City and Swansea City.

This achievement followed on from the Youth teams previous Cup and League double in the South Wales Youth League when the management consisted of Harry McLean and Richard Duckfield.

In 2006 Vic Carpenter stepped down as Secretary after 14 years, handing over control to Clive Layne. Clive's administration experience with the Bridgend League and Brynna F.C. has stood him in good stead and he settled in well, quickly establishing a relationship with both players and management. Clive is also a qualified referee.

In the same year the club also welcomed a new manager in the form of Francis Ford. Francis played for Cardiff City in the Football League and has both managerial and playing experience at a number of Welsh League clubs, most notably Bridgend Town and Barry Town. Francis is now starting his 5th season for Bryntirion AFC.

In the 2007–2008 season, under the guidance of Francis Ford and Matthew Bishop, the side finished fifth in Division One, reached the Nathaniel Car Sales Welsh League Cup Final, narrowly losing out to Goytre United and were just edged out by League of Wales side Welshpool Town in the fourth round of the Welsh Cup. The Reserve team also had a great season with joint managers Derrick Jones and Matthew Lewis winning their League and reaching the final of the Harris Printers Shield where they also narrowly lost out, this time to Caerleon.

Not to be outdone, the 3rd team, playing in the Bridgend & District League, also had had their share of success. Peter Goodwin's side reached the semi final of the League Cup and achieved promotion to the Premier Division.

Additionally, Bryntirion's Home Guard or Vic's Vets as they became known, won the inaugural Welsh Veterans Championship Cup beating a strong Abercarn side 3–1 in a memorable final.

In 2008–2009 the club signed Harry McLean as first team coach and Gareth 'Gaz' Morgan as MacWhirter Under 19's Welsh League Youth coach. McLean was well known to the club through his links with Cardiff City and the Pencoed Football Academy. Gaz was in charge of Llantwit Major Youth winning the South Wales Football Association Under 18's League before joining Bryntirion FC.

The 2009–2010 season saw the club match their highest ever finish in the Welsh League Division 1 in what was one of the tightest League run in for many a season. The facilities at Bryntirion Park saw the club host two youth International matches in August 2010, with Wales Under 16's Schoolboys playing Switzerland Under 16's and then Wales Under 17's Ladies v Belgium Under 17's.

The last 4 years have seen major changes to the facilities at Bryntirion Park. The club installed new floodlights around the first team pitch, a new all seater stand and with the aid of an FAW grant laid two flights of steps and a concrete pathway around the pitch together with disabled access direct from the car park to the stand. They also finished installing a new perimeter fence to fulfil League of Wales criteria. The start of season 2010–2011 saw the ground enhanced further by demolishing the old block dugouts which seated 4 in each to new perspex dugouts which seat 8 people. New advertising boards have been introduced thanks to the club's partnership with Nathaniel Car Sales which now incorporates the new main stand.

Merger

It was confirmed in 2013 that the club will merge with local rivals Bridgend Town to form Pen-y-Bont given them access to one million pounds of funding. The new club is based at Bryntirion Park and started life in Welsh Football League Division One from season 2013–14.