Holywell Town F.C.: Difference between revisions
Association football club in Wales
Football club
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| Full name | Holywell Town Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Wellmen |
| Founded | 1880 (as Holywell Football Club) |
| Ground | Achieve More Training Stadium Holywell |
| Capacity | 2,000 |
| Chairman | Simon Rose |
| Manager | John Haseldin |
| League | Cymru North |
| 2022–23 | Cymru North, 2nd of 16 |
| Website | Club website |
Holywell Town Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Pêl-droed Tref Treffynnon) is a Welsh football club from Holywell, Flintshire. They are nicknamed ‘The Wellmen’, and play their home games at the Achieve More Training Stadium (commonly known as ‘Halkyn Road’), Holywell. They currently play in the Cymru North, the second tier northern and central regional league in the Welsh football pyramid.
Holywell Town were founding members of both the Cymru Alliance and the League of Wales (now known as the Cymru Premier) and enjoyed their best period in the top flight in the early to mid-1990s, finishing as high as fifth position in the 1993-94 League of Wales table. For the 2023–24 season, they will play in the Cymru North, the fourth consecutive season competing in the second tier after winning promotion from the now-defunct Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) Premier Division in the 2019-20 season.
The 2014–15 season proved to be one of The Wellmen’s best season in its history, winning the old Welsh Alliance League Division 1 title with three games to go at Llanrwst United by ending the league campaign with a goal difference of +100 and winning all but three of their league games. They also won their second FAW Trophy beating fellow Welsh Alliance team Penrhyndeudraeth 4–2 at Llandudno’s Maesdu Stadium, and achieved a Mawddach Challenge Cup victory, beating Llanrug United 3–2 at the Nantporth Stadium in Bangor to complete an unprecedented treble.
In the 2022-23 season, Holywell Town achieved their highest league placement in 24 years when they finished as the runners-up in the 2022-23 Cymru North table after experiencing a 25-game winning streak throughout the league campaign.
Early History[edit]
Holywell F.C.[edit]
Foundations of the Club[edit]
The history of football in Holywell can be traced back to a club that was simply known as Holywell Football Club, which was founded on 25th September 1880 at the King’s Head Hotel in the town.[2] The club’s first game came a few weeks later on 23 October when the “Holywellites” played a goalless draw at home against Denbigh,[1] before playing their first away game versus Rhyl the following Saturday. Sadly, there is no evidence of who scored the first Holywell goal in a 2-2 draw against their opponents (the very first in the club’s history), but the second goal was scored by right-winger E. Bratt to level the scores.[3] The first local derby between Holywell and their fierce, long-time rivals Flint occurred on 27 November 1880, with the Holywellites edging the “very interesting game” by a single goal from J.C. Douglas.[4]
During the early history of the club, Holywell played their football on a ground known as Ffordd Fer (‘Short Way’), which was a short distance from the town centre and located near to where the local high school is now situated. Sadly, the ground no longer exists on Strand Park road[5] with houses having been built onto top of the former football ground. Holywell FC also wore red and white colours as their home strip, the same colours that the current team wears today in its current home kit.
First Welsh Cup Appearances[edit]
Holywell F.C. made their Welsh Cup debut in 1881, almost a year to the date of their first-ever game, when they played in the first round of the 1881–82 Welsh Cup (the fifth edition of Wales’ national cup competition). On 22 October 1881, they took on the ‘A’ team of Northwich Victoria but lost to the Cheshire side 0–3 at Ffordd Fer.[6][7]
Holywell Dee Rovers (also known as Dee Rovers or Holywell Rovers) became the second Holywell-based side to appear in the national cup competition when they competed in two consecutive competitions between 1882 and 1883. In the former tournament, they lost 1-6 away to Dolgelley Idris in the first round, before suffering another first-round defeat in their latter appearance, getting comprehensively demolished 0-16 by Davenham.[6]
It would be another five years before another Holywell-based side competed in the Welsh Cup, with Holywell F.C. returning to make their second appearance. Sadly, they too failed to progress beyond the first round of the 1888-89 Welsh Cup by losing 2-4 at home to Mold. The result was repeated in the 1890-91 version of the cup competition, this time losing 2-3 away to their local rivals.[6]
Holywell F.C. curiously reached the third round of the 1892-93 Welsh Cup without playing a game. In the first round, they…