Rodney Parade
Rodney Road
Newport
South Wales
NP19 0UU
01633 674990
Official Website
Twitter
Rodney Road
Newport
South Wales
NP19 0UU
01633 674990
Official Website
Ground Number: 218
Saturday 29th September 2012
Newport County 0-0 Grimsby Town
Blue Square Premier
NEWPORT COUNTY FC - A BRIEF HISTORY
The first version of the club was officially established in 1912, although there is a record of Newport County playing in the Western League as early as the 1906/07 season. They spent their early years in the Southern League before the First World War interrupted proceedings. They were invited to join the Football League in 1919 as founder members of Division 3 South. They spent a single season back in the Southern League after they failed re-election and were briefly replaced by the short-lived Thames AFC in 1931, but were re-elected after one season, after Wigan Borough folded. By 1939, Newport were 3rd Division South champions, but only got to play three games in Division 2 before the start of World War 2.
Once football resumed in 1946, the club remained in Division 2 but was relegated after one season after finishing bottom. When the Football League was nationalised in 1958, Newport initially made the cut for Division 3 but were relegated to Division 4 in 1962. They remained there until 1980 following a 3rd place finish behind Huddersfield Town and Walsall. The club finished as high as 4th in 1984 and came within four points of promotion to Division 2, but this would be as good as it got. Overspending on players caused significant trouble based on expected crowds of 5,000, but in reality, they got far fewer through the gates, as low as 1,759 on average in their final Football League season. The arrival of American and future convicted fraudster Jerry Sherman in 1986 was the beginning of the end. They were relegated to Division 4 the following year and then out of the Football League altogether in 1988. Bottom of the Conference, and with debts of £126,000, the club was issued with a winding-up order, and by the time of the court case in February 1989, Newport were £330,000 in the red. Despite appeals for more time, they were expelled from the Conference on 27th February 1989 and officially went out of business.
Newport County won the Welsh Cup for the first and only time in 1980, and this gave them qualification to the following year's European Cup Winners' Cup. Crusaders of Northern Ireland were beaten 4-0 over two legs in the 1st Round before SK Haugar from Norway were beaten 6-0 following a goalless draw in the away leg. The Quarter-finals saw the club pitted against Carl Zeiss Jena of East Germany. Star striker and future Liverpool star John Aldridge was injured for both matches, though he was a non-playing substitute in the 2nd leg. The quarter-final away leg was drawn 2–2 with Tommy Tynan scoring both goals, including his equaliser in the 90th minute. However, despite dominating the home leg, Newport lost 1–0 in front of 18,000 fans at Somerton Park, denying them a high-profile semi-final with S.L. Benfica. Carl Zeiss Jena went on to be the eventual cup runners-up, losing the final to Dinamo Tbilisi of the Soviet Union. Other cup achievements of the original club include reaching the FA Cup 5th Round in 1949 before they lost to Portsmouth. They also reached the Football League Trophy Southern Area Final in 1985 but lost 6-0 to Brentford.
THE NEW NEWPORT AFC (1989 - 1999) AND NEWPORT COUNTY
A new club was immediately formed, but due to unpaid rent on their Somerton Park home by the old club, they were forced to play in exile in Gloucestershire after several clubs rejected their groundshare appeal. Moreton Rangers was some 80 miles and 90 minutes away, but they provided a base for the new club to enter the Hellenic Premier, which at the time sat at step 4 of Non-League. They won the title in their first season and with it promotion to the Southern League Midland Division, where they would remain until 1995. The club were now back at Somerton Park, which was in disrepair, but they limped on for a couple more seasons. The next obstacle would be the Football Association of Wales, who fearful of losing the national team following veiled threats from FIFA and UEFA, as the country lacked a national football league and many of its clubs played in the English leagues. The FAW forced any club that played below the Conference in England to play in exile if they spurned the Welsh League's advances. Seven the irate eight as they became known, were Bangor City, Barry Town, Caernarfon Town, Colwyn Bay, Cwmbran Town, Ebbw Vale, Newport AFC & Rhyl would go on to join the Welsh League from Cwmbran who were there from the start to Colwyn Bay who joined in 2019 would give in over time, with only Newport remaining in the English system.
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Forced to groundshare at Gloucester City, a 100-mile round trip, Newport took the FAW to the high court for restraint of trade and won, but by the time they were allowed to return to Wales, the bulldozers had already flattened Somerton Park. Newport finally returned 'home' at the newly-built Newport Stadium, a joint facility shared with Newport Harriers Athletics Club, in time for the 1994-95 season. Their first season back in Wales saw Newport win the Southern League Midland Division title and spend a couple of seasons in the Premier Division. They finished mid-table in their first season before relegation in 1997. A single season in the Southern Division saw the club finish 7th before they were moved to the Midland Division. In 1999, Newport finished as runners-up to Clevedon Town and were promoted back to the Premier Division.
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Rebranded as Newport County, the club was more successful this time, finishing as high as 5th in 2002. When the Conference South was established in 2004, the club had finished high enough to make the cut. By 2010, they were champions with 103 points, returning to the Conference National where the old club had gone bust some 21 years earlier. Three seasons were spent here and despite finishing as low as 19th in 2012, they won promotion the following season after a 3rd place finish in their first season as groundsharers at Rodney Parade. A 2–0 aggregate win over Grimsby Town in the two-legged play-off semi-finals saw Newport County reach the 2013 Conference Premier play-off final at Wembley Stadium. The final versus Wrexham was the first Wembley final to feature two Welsh teams, and Newport County won 2–0 to return to the Football League after a 25-year absence with promotion to League Two. They have been there ever since, though at times they have struggled. The club was taken over by the supporters' trust in 2015 and finished high enough to reach the playoff final in 2019, where they lost to Tranmere Rovers and then again in 2021, where Morecambe were the victors. They are currently staring down the relegation barrel, having narrowly avoided going down last season.
The 2018/19 season saw a remarkable FA Cup for the Exiles, so named after their temporary period in England back in the 1990s. They beat Metropolitan Police 2-0 before beating Wrexham 4-0 in a 2nd Round replay. Newport won their home FA Cup third round tie against Premier League club Leicester City 2–1. The subsequent Fourth round drew Newport in an away match against Championship club Middlesbrough, in which they achieved a 1–1 draw, winning the replay 2–0. County progressed to the most high-profile fixture in their modern history, the FA Cup 5th round, which they had not reached since 1949. The Exiles were rewarded for their success with a home fixture against reigning Premier League champions Manchester City. They lost the match 4–1 with striker Pádraig Amond scoring a late goal. Amond finished the competition as joint-top scorer with Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus. The club also reached the FA Trophy Final in 2012, losing to York City at Wembley Stadium. They also won the FAW Premier Cup, being Llanelli 1-0 in the 2008 final.
MY 2012 VISIT
I had met my Grimsby mate Sam at the Sheffield Wednesday v Wycombe game at the end of last season, and we got on so well that we agreed another meet was a must. We were initially planning on going to Manchester City v QPR on the first of September as the City Of Manchester Stadium was one we were both keen to visit, mainly to contribute towards us completing the 92. But Sam wanted to go to Hereford v Grimsby that day, and so after arranging another time to go to City, in March v Wigan, we looked at the fixture list to plan something else. I looked at Grimsby's away games as I was also looking to do every ground in the Blue Square Premier and spotted Newport County away on a day that I was free, and so it got pencilled in. I had previously been to the old ground at Newport on the way to Swansea (the year we got to the League Cup Semi Final) to take pictures, but this would be a whole new ground for me as they had moved to share with the Rugby club in the town, at Rodney Parade.
On the day I set off around 8.40am. I wasn't feeling at my best, my stomach felt bad, and I was worried about feeling crap for the whole day. However, I didn't need to worry. A rare treat of a breakfast sub from Subway and a couple of Belgian Buns from ASDA soon settled things down, and I felt much better. So come 9.30, I was ready to leave Wycombe. But instead of going down the M4, which was the quicker route, I opted to go up and through Oxford to save myself the ludicrous £6 entry into Wales, via the Severn Bridge. It was roughly the same mileage and only half an hour extra, a sacrifice I was prepared to make. It was a bit slow going at times, but after a few small delays, I was in Newport just after 12. As it was just under 2 hours until the Grimsby supporters' coach was due to arrive, I walked into Newport and had a look around the traditional-looking town centre, buying a can of Belgian Elderflower cider at B&M Bargains before making my way to the local Wetherspoons. I had a great pint of Gwynt Y Draig Gold Label cider, which was a new and very nice tipple for me. By now, it was getting on for 1.30, so I made my way back to the ground, stopping off at my car to pick some stuff up on the way.
I had arranged to meet Sam and his mate, whose name escapes me at the moment. We agreed to meet at the club shop at 2.15 and had a good chat about our teams. I was pleased to meet another decent footy fan as well. Normally, we would get a pennant or something from the shop, but Newport were asking silly money, so we left it and took some pictures of the outside of the ground. After meeting another Mariners fan, Will, whom I had spoken to on Facebook, we found some decent seats for the game and settled down, with around 20 minutes to kick off. The game kicked off, and after two minutes, Grimsby keeper James McKeown was called into action as former Wycombe player Andy Sandell's free-kick was heading for the top corner. He may have left Wycombe under a cloud, moaning that he didn't want to play left back anymore and wasn't enjoying his football. But he would walk into the current Wycombe side, and for my money, he was Newport's best player. Newport had more chances than Grimsby, but the visitors were still holding their own. Newport's best chance game after McKeown came out to make a brave save, but lost the ball, was left stranded, and it was up to Nathan Pond to clear off of the line to keep the score level at the break. At halftime, I heard that Wycombe were losing 1-0 at Dagenham, Gareth Ainsworth making several changes from the team that lost to AFC Wimbledon a week previously. Back to the game in hand, the second half started with Grimsby having the better of the game. They had their best chance of the game on 60 minutes when Joe Colbeck's shot was smartly saved by home keeper Lenny Pidgeley. Newport had their chances in the second half too, but it was Grimsby that looked the most likely to score in the dying moments.
When I got back to the car, I was surprised to find that I could pick up BBC Three Counties Radio, despite being 200 miles away from the transmitter. I was disappointed to hear that Wycombe had lost 3-0 and would be even more depressed when I read and heard about how bad it really was. As ever, the radio coverage of us was poor, and we, in fact, got more mentions on BBC Radio Bristol than we did on our own local station. I had decided to stop at Westbourne United FC on the way home to take pictures. Getting back on the M4, I made quick progress and was back in Wycombe by 7.30. After stopping off to get a few cans and a curry, I went home and had a relaxing evening, having had a good day with some great people.
MY 2025 REVISIT
Newport County had long been a club on my revisit list as I really wanted to delve into their peculiar history and also, as a fan-owned club, I had a soft spot for them. I've always liked the Welsh clubs in the Football League too, as well as the excellent Welsh League system and grounds and must have been the only Wycombe fan that hoped to get Newport County away in our cup draws. Sadly, that hankering came long after Wycombe last played them in 2017, but I was always keen to revisit in very specific circumstances. The opportunity came along this Boxing Day, with very limited match choices, I opted to head for Wales. A new ground was essential, and I got that with Cardiff Draconians kindly kicking off at 12. With no new ground in the standard kickoff time, it was a perfect time for a revisit. The only slight dampener was the ticket price, £23 and more on matchday, but considering that Dagenham charged £22 for Conference South football, it was more a case of football eating itself. As a fan-owned club, I was more sympathetic to their plight, especially as they are paying up to £1m a season to play at Rodney Parade. Despite being owned by the fans, the chairman Huw Jenkins was under scrutiny from the fans and, for me, bore an all too similar name to a disgraced BBC newsreader.
From my game at Cardiff Draconians, it was an easy 20-minute drive to Newport. I hoped to get some street parking, but the few roads I checked were full. I made my way to the Clarence House car park, which was over a quid more than expected according to Parkopedia. Not the end of the world, but it was a pretty grim place. From there, it was just over a five-minute walk to the ground. Not knowing where the ticket office was, I ordered online, which was a right faff. Registration, countless Captchas where you had to pick out motorcycles and fire hydrants and then a £2 surcharge for paying on the day even though I didn't trouble the ticket office staff. I got in ten minutes before kickoff and considered getting food. Prices were pretty high, and with me not being hungry, I didn't bother. Overall, pre-match wasn't what I was hoping for, though it was on me for not checking the finer details.
Newport County were rock bottom of League 2 and had only won three games so far this season. They were six games without a win, their last victory coming on 25th October when they won 3-0 at relegation rivals Harrogate Town. Barnet were in 13th, having won, drawn & lost seven games apiece and were on mixed form. Newport had all the early play in the first ten minutes, but couldn't put away their chances. The hosts then had a shot cleared off the line, with many thinking it had gone in. They had more half-chances, but Barnet improved towards the end of the half and started the second period the better side. It was a credible attendance of 4,219 for a side bottom of the football league. Newport contrasted strongly with a good first half as they were restricted to the odd chance in the second, though Barnet looked equally clueless. A few wayward shots came from Newport near the end, but it seemed inevitable that I was going to get a second 0-0 at Rodney Parade. Worse news was coming from the Wycombe game, with us 4-0 down at Luton in what sounded like a horrific performance. This bore out as I listened to our local station on the way home. I was back at 7.20, having a few drinks & dinner whilst I typed this blog.
THE GROUND
RODNEY PARADE is the original home of Newport Rugby club, Newport County having moved in at the start of the season. The ground is a mixture of new and old. The most impressive stand is the one we were in, a modern stand holding around 3500 from which the views and facilities are excellent. To the left, there is just a small seated area for disabled fans and their helpers, along with some buildings. Opposite is the old main stand, which has seats in its top tier with a terrace below. Whilst at the other end is an uncovered terrace. There is a bar and an overpriced club shop at the ground, and alcohol is served in the ground too. Though the bar looked pretty basic and so you would be better off taking the short 10-15 minute walk to the town centre.
2025 PICTURES
