In this blog, we have ventured beyond our home county’s borders of Flintshire once again to look at other clubs competing in the Welsh football pyramid and see how they are performing during their respective 2023-24 season. Therefore, our focus has switched even beyond the boundaries of North Wales to look at Wales’ most southeastern city as we interviewed the third-tier club Newport City.
Club Information
- City: Newport / Casnewydd
- Founded: 1963 (as Spencer Works AFC)
- Ground: Newport Stadium (Spytty Park), Newport
- Nicknames: The Steelmen
- Hashtags: #OurClubOurCity
- Colours: Sky blue shirt with white and navy blue trim, navy blue shorts, sky blue socks.
- 2023-24 League: Ardal South East
- Club Website: https://newportcityfc.co.uk/
- Club Twitter: @NewportCity_FC
- Club Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Newportcityfc
- Club Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newportcityfc/
- Club YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@newportcityfc1438
Introduction
Newport City Football Club / Clwb Pêl-Droed Dinas Casnewydd is a South East Welsh club that represents the historical port city of Newport / Casnewydd. Historically located within Gwent and Monmouthshire, Newport is situated on the River Usk / Afon Wysg, near its confluence with the Severn Estuary / Aber Hafren, and it is the third-largest city in Cymru in terms of population with just under 160k people living in the conurbation. Newport has been settled since the Bronze Age due to its strategic location on the Usk with hillforts overlooking the city, whilst the Roman fort of Caerleon is on its northwestern outskirts. The Normans built a motte-and-bailey castle during their early invasions into South Wales before Newport Castle was constructed in the 14th century on the western bank of the Usk.
[IMAGE: Wikipedia]
However, Newport’s status and population rose considerably during the Industrial Revolution as it became the main port for the exporting of coal and iron being extracted and produced in South Wales Valleys and was Cymru’s leading coal port until the 1850s when it was overtaken by Cardiff. Throughout the 20th century, the ports of Newport declined resulting in mass unemployment but these lost jobs were replaced by other important industries coming to the town, such as the Llanwern steelworks which were opened in the early 1960s, whilst important infrastructural links such as the M4 motorway and Severn Bridge were constructed to make Newport one of the best-connected place in Cymru. Although the steelworks declined in the 1980s, technology and service companies came to Newport due to its excellent infrastructure and providing needed jobs for the area. Having been granted its first town charter in 1314, Newport was finally granted city status in 2002 during Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee, making it Cymru’s fifth city (at the time), and is considered one of the fastest-growing cities in the UK.
Naturally for such a big settlement, Newport continues to be one of the big hubs in Welsh football. The city has its own English Football League club in the form of Newport County AFC, who returned back to the EFL in 2012 after leaving the league in 1988 and going out of business in 1989, and continues to compete in League Two. They are also one of two Newport-based clubs to have won the Welsh Cup after beating Shrewsbury Town 5-1 on aggregate in the two-legged 1980 final. The cup win inevitably led to them reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup before losing to East German side Carl Zeiss Jena 2-3 over the two legs. In addition, 32 years prior to County’s cup triumph, the works team Lovell’s Athletic (who were a sweet factory based in the then-town) clinched the 1948 showpiece, coincidentally also overcoming the Salop side 3-0 in Wrexham. They also clinched four Welsh Amateur Cups (now FAW Amateur Trophy) before dissolving in 1969.
Newport City was founded in 1963 as Spencer Works AFC and initially played in the Newport and District Football League, before moving up into the Gwent Premier League. After a couple of Gwent Premier title wins in the early 1970s, the club were then elected to join the Welsh Football League (South) for the start of the 1972-73 season, where they played for the vast majority of their history. Spencer Works rapidly rose up the system and soon found themselves in the Premier Division by the 1975-76 season, and throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the club competed in the middle two divisions of the South Welsh football structure. The club then changed its name to Llanwern AFC in 1988 to reflect the change of name of the steelworks on whose ground they were playing. This coincided with an upturn in fortunes as Llanwern gained promotion to Welsh League Division One (the top tier in the structure) in the 1992-93 season, and they spent the remainder of the decade competing in the top two divisions of the South Welsh League system, achieving their highest-ever league finish of sixth position in Division One in the 1995-96 season and even winning the 2002 edition of the Welsh Football League (South) Challenge Cup by beating Gwynfi United at Neath.
In 2003, Llanwern relocated to the more centrally-located Newport Stadium (also known as Spytty Park) which was constructed in 1994 (and was the former home of Newport County) and is still the club’s home ground today. Sadly, the ground move also coincided with a dip in fortunes as Llanwern suffered back-to-back relegations to end up in Division Three by the 2005-06 season, and they spent the remainder of the 2000s and 2010s competing in either Division Two or Division Three of the Welsh League (South). 2016 proved to be a pivotal year for the club as they were saved from extinction following new ownership and changed their name to its current Newport City FC. Despite suffering relegation that season, Newport City consolidated their position in Division Three and started to climb back up the leagues, finding themselves in Division Two for the abruptly halted 2019-20 season. Due to their position in the third tier of Welsh football, they were allocated to the new Ardal South East league following the reorganisation of the football pyramid in the summer of 2020. In the first full season of competition following the pandemic, the club finished their debut Ardal Leagues schedule in eleventh position in the sixteen-team league.
[IMAGE: Non-League Matters]
Newport City still currently plays in the Ardal South East League, a third-tier regional league in the Welsh football pyramid that theoretically covers the southeastern region of Wales, although realistically it also covers southern Powys / Brecknockshire. As mentioned previously, they were one of the founding members of the regional league when it was created in the summer of 2020 with the 2023-24 season being their fourth consecutive season in the league, and the fifth at Tier 3. Last season, Newport City concluded their schedule in the sixteen-team league in tenth position accumulating 34 points from their 30-game campaign. Improving a position from the previous season, they ended up twelve points behind Chepstow Town in the ninth spot and finishing three points ahead of eleventh-placed side Tredegar Town.
Recent Form
| Date | Competition | Opposition (h/a) | Result |
| 20th Apr | FAW Trophy | Penrhyncoch (n) | 5-4 |
| 13th Apr | Ardal South East | Hay St. Mary’s (a) | 7-0 |
| 6th Apr | Ardal South East | Tredegar Town (h) | 2-0 |
| 30th Mar | Ardal South East | Lliswerry AFC (a) | 3-0 |
| 2nd Mar | Ardal South East | Caldicot Town (h) | 3-1 |
At the time of writing, Newport City were situated in 3rd position in the sixteen-team Ardal North West League. From their twenty-three league games played, they had achieved eighteen wins, two draws, and three defeats to accumulate fifty-six points in their league campaign.
[IMAGE: Non-League Matters]
After having finished in tenth position in the 2022-23 season, it can be agreed that Newport City are having a monumental campaign this season in comparison, finding themselves towards the top end of the table and in a strong position for challenging for the end-of-season Ardal South playoff spot. Sam Houldsworth‘s men started their season in fine form by winning three of their opening four league fixtures before suffering a blip in form during late August and September where they went on a five-game winless streak which included four consecutive defeats in all competitions and saw them knocked out of the Ardal South League Cup and Welsh Cup to Monmouthshire sides Caldicot Town and Abergavenny Town respectively. However, since the start of October, the Steelmen have been near imperious in all competitions drawing only twice (curious both at home to Treowen Stars in mid-November and Risca United in late December) and winning the rest in a twenty-three-game unbeaten run in all competitions.
Since the start of the year, the club has been perfect in the league by winning ten games in a row. They beat city rivals and fellow groundsharers Lliswerry 3-0 at the start of February with first-half goals from Calum Bateman and Rhyse Hudson before a second from Bateman late in the game concluded the scoring in the derby. Newport City then repeated the feat as the “away” side in late March with Bateman scoring another brace. The only difference being Joseph Ogugua scoring Newport’s third of the game. In their last league fixture, they demolished bottom-placed side Hay St. Mary’s by scoring seven goals without reply in the Brecknockshire booktown. First-half goals from Bateman, Cole Jarvis, and Ogugua gave them a 3-0 lead at half time, before second-half strikes from Ogugua and Bateman (scoring his 12th goal in the Ardal SE this season), and a further two from Kofi Rowe and Louis Caramella-Gerrard in injury-time confirmed an impressive afternoon in Southern Powys.
However, what makes Newport City’s perfect form in the Ardal South East even more impressive is that they have been also been juggling their league games with progressing deep into the FAW Amateur Trophy. The Steelmen started their cup run with an impressive 6-1 defeat over fellow Ardal SE side Brecon Corries before another high-scoring victory over Garden Village in Round 4, winning 5-2 over the West Wales Premier League side. Round 5 was another high-scoring encounter, this time beating Aberdere-based side AFC Llwydcoed 4-1 at the Ardal SW’s ground in mid-December. Despite conceding within the first quarter of an hour of the game, goals from Rowe, Jarvis, Adam Kaplan, and Frederick Stevens confirmed progression to the last 16 of the competition. In one of their best performances of the season, they headed up to the North Welsh coast to take on Ardal NW highfliers Y Rhyl 1879 in the next round. Bateman failed to convert a penalty after half an hour before James Bloom opened the scoring for the visitors eight minutes later. The crescendo to the cup game would be enthralling as the hosts levelled the scores in the first minute of injury time before Calum Bateman made up for his earlier miss by hitting the winner in the 93rd minute to send Newport City into the quarters.
It was another Ardal North West side as opposition in the last eight, this time at home against CPD Llannefydd. Owen Cuddihy hit a quick-fire brace within the opening 15 minutes before the Conwy County Borough side halved the arrears in the 62nd minute. The game was a nervy affair before Joseph Ogugua settled any anxiousness with four minutes remaining and then Caramella-Gerrard sealed a memorable result in injury time to confirm a 4-1 victory. In the semi-finals held at The Bont Playing Fields in Penydarren, Newport City took on Ardal SW side Cefn Cribwr and it would prove to be a highly entertaining match. The Bridgend County-based team took the lead after just six minutes before Hudson, Jarvis, and Bateman turned the game around during the first half to make it 3-1, although another Cefn Cribwr strike meant the game a 3-2 at the break. It would remain that scoreline until nearly the conclusion of the game when Martyn Mickiewicz converted Newport’s fourth of the evening. An injury-time third from the opposition led to a nervy conclusion to the game but the Steelmen managed to hold on and reach their first-ever FAW Trophy final.
In the final held at Newtown’s Latham Park, Newport City squared off against Ardal North East leaders Penrhyncoch and the match would become a thoroughly entertaining contest between two excellent teams. Newport took the lead after just five minutes through Calum Bateman before the Roosters equalised fifteen minutes later through a superb 25-yard strike, and the game would head into the break with the scoreline at 1-1. However, the “magic of the cup” was in full show in the second half of the FAW Trophy final. Firstly, Penrhyncoch found themselves 3-1 up within the first ten minutes of the half, before Newport levelled the score within the next four minutes through Cole Jarvis and Richard Noyes. The score stayed at 3-3 until the final few minutes of the game when Joseph Ogugua poked the ball home to make it 4-3. He then seemed to have settled the tie in the first minute of injury time when Ogugua scored his second goal and completed a three-minute brace. Nonetheless, their opponents refused to concede defeat and scored their fourth of the afternoon to make it a nervy few minutes of injury time for the Steelmen. Fortunately, they were able to hold onto their lead and lift the FAW Amateur Trophy for the first time in their history, and the first club from Newport County Borough since Caerleon in 1966.
Questions to Newport City
Q. Firstly, how has this season gone for Newport City in the Ardal South East league?
It has been a fantastic season! It’s been a long one already and feels almost like two seasons in one. I mean this from the players we have now compared to the start of the season, we basically have a new team compared to what we had in September. I thought our recruitment in pre-season went well, however, we were not in the place we wanted to be and quickly acted to get it fixed. With the team we have now I am confident we would be in a better position if we had started the season with this squad. We are in a great place right now, I just hope we can get promotion.
Q. What has been the best performance or result from the club so far this season?
[NOTE: The interview took place before the FAW Trophy final.]
This is a tough one. We have had some fantastic results, the 2-1 away win at Y Rhyl 1879 [in the Sixth Round of the FAW Trophy) was great as it was a last-minute winner, a 7-0 home league win to Abercarn United [in late November] where we were superb, also the 4-3 FAW Trophy semi-final win to Cefn Cribwr was great. But the standout for me was the 5-0 away win to Goytre AFC [in mid-October]. The performance was spot on, we played them off the park, and fully deserved the win, plus the debut goal from Cole Jarvis was the icing on the cake.
Q. Who have been the standout players, and is there any individual player who you think the readers should keep an eye on for the remainder of this season and potentially next season?
We have a lot of good players at the club right now. Usually, I would say it’s harsh to pick just one, however, I don’t think the players would mind me saying the name Cole Jarvis. He’s only 22 and, when he signed, he fitted us like a glove. He’s a top lad, works hard every week to better himself, and the sky’s the limit for him. I honestly believe he will be playing Cymru Premier football very soon and I look at someone like Will Evans making it with County and Cole is the closest I have seen to a player who can potentially reach these heights. He’s superb! I chose him due to his age as well, but we also have Calum Bateman who is right up there for strikers at this level, Louis Caramella-Gerrard who’s been outstanding since coming in, and we have players such as Riccardo Mackenzie, Tyrelle Webbe, and Lewis Ellis who have come in later than the others but have instantly bought into what we do as a club.
[IMAGE: Mac Morgan via Newport City Facebook]
Q. Newport has a fervent football and sporting culture but has yet to see a club from the city compete in the Cymru Premier. How significant would such an event be for the city (and Gwent in general) if you were able to reach the top tier?
I think having a team from Newport and Gwent hit the heights of the Cymru Premier is really important, not only for the city, but also for Welsh football in general. We have some great clubs in Gwent, and I would love us to hit the heights of Cymru Premier football, however, at the same time I need to be realistic. We are at tier 3 of the pyramid, and our main focus is gaining promotion this season. If we can get over the line and move to Tier 2 we can move onto our next steps as we have a clear pathway that we are working towards. We now have a structure at the club and a team in place to help us reach our visions, but at this level, it’s not that simple. Lots of teams have thrown a lot of resources at reaching Tier 1 but there’s so much behind the scenes that needs to be done and goes under the radar. Huge credit to those clubs who make it and stay in Tier 1, and hopefully, one day we can see Newport City involved.
Q. Newport County seems to be heading into an exciting era in its history with its new owners and encouraging form in the EFL – does it benefit you (and all Newport-based clubs) to have a successful County within the city and do you have any kind of working relationship with the League Two club?
Newport County are in an exciting period as they have new ownership under Huw Jenkins and I feel he will help football in the area if he follows his previous model which he had at Swansea City and the Academy. Their FA Cup runs, beating the odds in the league, and having a local Welsh league player in Will Evans will do as well as he has really captured the support of the people of Newport.
We would love to work closer with County as we don’t currently have much of a relationship, and we have tried previously to work closer together but I think the gap in level is too large. However, if we can continue the progress we are making, I think we hold some value to a working relationship with such a large club. The more clubs that come together can only benefit the next generation of players in Newport and the surrounding areas. Gwent football deserves more credit than it currently gets, and we need to shine a light on the city to promote the talent we have hidden here. Not enough young players, in my opinion, get the opportunity they probably deserve. We would like to play our part in helping this happen.
Q. Recently, the club has created successful women’s and youth setups – how important is it to maintain its strong systems, and how has the club benefitted from these in recent seasons?
Creating a pathway at the club isn’t just about the first team. Our women’s teams have been excellent in terms of numbers for three seasons, but this year the quality has come through due to new management. We were a little inexperienced initially and had someone in charge of the side who had very little experience in our first season, but when he moved on, it made way for Jason Tahanha who has worked hard to create a philosophy and style of play which I admire. Our women are having a fantastic season and there are some big plans in place to see them progress up the leagues.
At the moment, one thing that is blocking us is the facilities in Newport as there’s a lack of progression when it comes to facilities and a huge lack of space. Usually, the biggest issue is funding, but we are finding the main issue is available free land which we can develop to upgrade/build facilities. The city council needs to get behind sports clubs more, and to help our u6-u19s sides we need the council to understand the part in which sport plays for young children when it comes to wellbeing. We have a project and feel we can provide a safe environment for all young players, male and female, to come and play football. It’s exciting times for our club and for football in Newport!
[IMAGE: Mac Morgan via @NewportCityWFC]
Q. How crucial is it for the club to be a main community hub for the city and the local area, and what plans do you have to help the club further develop that partnership with the community?
Our club has survived the last ten years due to the community. Local sponsors have helped keep our club afloat, and we have been very lucky with the volunteers we have had who put their time in over and over again and now they can see their hard work starting to pay off. There’s a long way to go though, there are clubs such as Newport Corinthians, Newport Saints, Pill… the list goes on, who are brilliant within their communities. We are always trying to improve as we need to connect more with those around us. We have made a huge stride in the right direction through the mini and junior section and we hope next season to reach out further as we look to develop futsal into the programmes and create match day experiences that will provide opportunities for all local schools to come down and be part of the club’s growth.
We also have a coaching pathway which will include us heading into schools to provide free coaching, we appreciate the foundations of the club will be built on local talent in the future. It’s tough right now to do this as we find ourselves ahead of our plan, we genuinely didn’t expect to be in the position we find ourselves in, but we haven’t taken our eyes off what we want to do. We want to fully integrate ourselves into the community and I believe we will do so as our committee are all from Newport and have been involved in Gwent football for well over 20+ years.
Q. Overall, what are the club’s aims for the rest of this season, and likewise, what are the long-term aims for the club?
[NOTE: The interview took place before the FAW Trophy final.]
The aims for the remainder of the season start Saturday as we hope to win our first FAW Amateur Trophy versus a large club in the form of [Ardal North East league leaders] Penrhyncoch. This cup has shown our progression and to get ourselves to the final is a huge achievement but we don’t want to just be finalists, we want to go and win it!
Our main aim though is promotion. The cup is a welcome bonus, but we all know that to keep this squad moving forward, we need to be playing Cymru South football. We are in the driving seat for second place in the league and have to hope that Trethomas Bluebirds slip at some point, and as long as it’s mathematically possible to win the league, we will not give up. Winning every game of 2024 puts us in a good position to achieve this goal but it’s not going to be easy. I’m proud of the club this season, and it has all of the ingredients to be a hugely successful season if we keep maintaining our concentration and work rate.
Long term, we want to be the largest club in Newport and lead the way in the Welsh football pyramid in Gwent. We can’t look too far ahead when it seems so far away, but what we can do is set the bar high. Within the next five years, I would love the club to be knocking on the door of the Cymru Premier for both our men’s and women’s teams, but to do this we need to get our academy in place and, more importantly, find ourselves some training facilities which can cope with the number of teams we will have. We also need to set the bar high on these facilities as we want to have the best in class available and will strive to have this in place as soon as we can. It is exciting times at the club that’s for sure.
Q. Finally, if someone was considering coming to the Newport Stadium to watch or follow the team for the first time, what do you think is the club’s greatest asset to encourage them to return?
Well, we have had some great crowds this season and we peaked at 570 people which was a great atmosphere. I would encourage those who haven’t been down to come along as they will always get goals at the stadium. They will get to see some very good football for this level, and it’s only £5 entry. More importantly, we are very welcoming. You’ll find Lea on the gate with two club legends in Alan and Dai, and you won’t find two more loyal people within a club. They have had to endure a lot of dark times at the club, but they put as much as they can into a club they love since the days when the club was a big part of the steelworks.
We now have children at games who bring a great family atmosphere on a game day, and we have a few lads who bring along their own drum and it’s brilliant. Also, we have a fan who hasn’t missed a game for over two years and he is exactly what we want at the club, but, we also want to see new faces come along. We encourage the people of Newport to be part of their local club, whether this be us or another local team, as you can’t beat it. Anyone supporting us means the world to us, it’s what the game of football is about, us sharing our passion with others who want to go and feel a part of something, those looking to get out of the house, those people who just want to get away from other aspects of life for 90 minutes and be around new faces. We would love to have more people at the stadium and we won’t let you down for entertainment, that’s for sure!
[IMAGE: Mac Morgan via @NewportCity_FC]
A massive thank you to the Ardal South East side Newport City for answering our questions on their 2023-24 season so far and their future goals. We wish all sections of the club the very best of luck for the rest of the season, the whole of 2024, and the seasons ahead! Remember you can find Newport City’s social media accounts in the links towards the top of the blogpage.
If you have any comments, suggestions, reactions, or even your own answers to the above questions, please write them in the comments box below. Likewise, you can either email us at the94thmin@gmail.com or send a message at @The94thMin on Twitter/X.
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