This weekend sees the first round proper of the Welsh Cup played across Wales. The annual cup is the premier knockout competition in Welsh football, tracing its origins to to 1877 and is believed to be the third oldest national competition in the world, pre-dated only by the FA Cup and Scottish Cup.
Nowadays the Welsh Cup involves only clubs that play in the Welsh national pyramid but in years gone by Wales’ big professional clubs competed for the famous trophy, providing a route into European football that would have been otherwise excluded to clubs usually competing in the lower reaches of the English pyramid. Until 1995, English clubs were also invited to participate in the Welsh Cup with clubs from the border counties in England often present in the draw (although they could not represent Wales in Europe as winners).
This legacy is reflected in Wrexham (23 wins), Cardiff City (22) and Swansea City (10) as the three most successful clubs in the competition’s long history. Shrewsbury Town are England’s most successful outfit in the competition, lifting the trophy on six occasions.
40 ties will be played on Saturday involving clubs from south, north and mid-Wales leagues and including for the first time this season teams from Welsh Football League Division One and Huw Grays Alliance (tier 2 of the Welsh national pyramid). There are a number of ties worth looking out for, including recent social media sensations Ynysddu Welfare of the Gwent County League hosting Welsh League Division One side Taffs Well. Elsewhere, the lowest ranked side left in the southern draw Cornelly United (South Wales Alliance League D1) travel to play Welsh League Division Three side Treharris Athletic Western.
The Welsh Cup played a big part in the history of the former professional club Pontypridd AFC which inspired the identity of our own, therefore with the competition proper now upon us it feels like a good time to start looking back at some of those past adventures.
The professional Pontypridd AFC was established in 1911 with one aim, to “promote first-class association football in the Pontypridd district”. After share issues raised funds for a side of professional players from across Britain to be formed, Pontypridd AFC’s debut competitive campaign was in the Southern League in the English football pyramid at the start of the 1911/12 season. Their first league campaign was an admirable one, resulting in an 5th place (out of 16) finish that year. However, it was in the Welsh Cup the side really excelled and they came close to a remarkable triumph in their first attempt at the competition, losing to Cardiff City in the final.
The road to the final began against Barry District in the extra preliminary round. After a goal-less draw in the Vale of Glamorgan, Pontypridd came through 3-1 in the replay at home. In the preliminary round Pontypridd were drawn against Aberdare, a tie that would spark controversy and be decided in peculiar circumstances.
The draw saw Pontypridd away to Aberdare and the match in the Cynon Valley ended as a 2-2 draw. The replay at Taff Vale Park saw Pontypridd come through with a 2-1 win. However, Aberdare protested the result on the basis that Pontypridd’s ground was unsafe due to the proximity of the concrete track around the pitch used for athletics. The FAW upheld Aberdare’s appeal and the result was declared void. A third match was arranged to be played at Penydarren Park in Merthyr Tydfil. Any sense of injustice at having the earlier victory expunged was dispelled as Pontypridd scored a 1-0 win to progress.
In the first round proper, Pontypridd travelled to the capital and defeated Cardiff Corinthians 4-2. The next round saw Mardy visit Taff Vale Park and they were despatched 3-1. The third round brought another home draw and visitors from north Wales in the form of Connah’s Quay & Shotton FC – finalists the previous season. The journey south proved too much for the visitors though and they were sent home on end of an 8-0 thrashing.
The quarter-final draw saw a reversal in circumstance, Pontypridd were forced to travel to north Wales to take on Llandudno Amateurs. In arguably the best result of the run, a depleted Pontypridd – missing five first team regulars – returned to south Wales with a 2-0 win and a place in the semi-finals. Wins on the road such as this were a real achievement in those days when travelling from south to north was even worse than it is today, sometimes involving days in transport.
In the semi-finals Pontypridd faced Ton Pentre. In those days Ton Pentre were among the best sides in south Wales, competing in the Southern League alongside Pontypridd and often drawing big crowds for matches at Ynys Park. When the sides met they could not be separated and the match ended 0-0. A replay at Tonypandy was scheduled, but Pontypridd were too strong on this occasion and won 3-1 to secure a place in the final.
The final against Cardiff City – at Ninian Park – was historic for a number of reasons. It was the maiden Welsh Cup final for both clubs, the first held in south Wales and the first final not involving a club from north Wales. As if to emphasis the growing popularity of football in south east Wales, the Ninian Park match drew a reported crowd of around 18,000.
Despite Cardiff having the not insignificant advantage of playing the final on their home ground, Pontypridd held firm in the game and with no goals scored in the match at the final whistle a replay was required. The replay took place in Aberdare (in front of 6,648 fans according to contemporary reports), a venue that may have represented an advantage for Pontypridd. However, on that day Cardiff City proved far too strong and defeated The Dragons 3-0 to claim the Welsh Cup trophy for the first time.
Later in the season we will continue our look back at Pontypridd’s relationship with this fantastic competition.
Sources
fchd.info
welshsoccerarchive.co.uk
Harris, G. (2004) Pontypridd AFC (The Dragons): The Glory Years
