Historic South Wales football club Blaenrhondda makes sad decision to fold
Blaenrhondda, Wales 9 July 2021. JD Welsh Cup Qualifying Round One match between Blaenrhondda AFC and Ynyshir Albions. Credit: Will Cheshire / Y Clwb Pel-Droed
After 88 years, Blaenrhondda will no longer run a senior football team after announcing its decision to fold.
The Rhondda Cynon Taf outfit have withdrawn from the South Wales Alliance League with just over three weeks until the start of the season.
Blaen had finished ninth last season and were due to begin their competitive season on Saturday, August 6 against Porthcawl Town Athletic, but now the division will run with 15 teams.
They had appointed Ryan Davies as manager in late June but were unable to assemble a squad for the upcoming year with only two players committed to the club.
A few players like Shane Davies, Kristoffer Rees, Jarrad Walters, Michael Jones, and Aled Mogg, made the move across the borough to join former manager Liam Williams as Ton Pentre.
A club statement read: “The club is disappointed to announce that as of today it will cease to exist.
“We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the 88 years of its existence but there have been too many barriers to overcome to be guaranteed to field a team in the coming season as well as sustain the club in to the future.”
Blaen were founded in 1934 and had continued on through various divisions having gone on a rollercoaster of the pyramid.
The winners of the Welsh League before the first major restructure of Welsh football following the introduction of the League of Wales, the club went through a number of ups and downs.
They had been a Welsh League club from 1956 to 2006, lasting fifty years in the setup but suffered back-to-back relegations.
A few years were spent in the South Wales Amateur League but they were relegated and spent three years in district league football.
They returned in 2017 however and won back-to-back promotions, going from Division Two of the Alliance League to the Premier Division, earning a sixth-place finish in the truncated 2019/20 campaign.
