Briton Ferry Llansawel - Old Road

Briton Ferry Llansawel FC

Old Road

Briton Ferry

Neath 

SA11 2BU

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Ground Number: 1251
Friday 8th December 2023
Briton Ferry Llansawel 1-0 Llanelli

Welsh Cup 4th Round

BRITON FERRY LLANSAWEL FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was formed in 2009 after the merger between Briton Ferry Athletic and Llansawel. The club's crest uses the colours green, red and yellow, which represent the colours of the two merged teams. For 2009–10 the home colours were the traditional Briton Ferry quartered red and green shirt, green shorts and red socks. The away colours were the traditional Llansawel yellow shirt, black shorts and hooped yellow and black socks. In September 2008 representatives of Briton Ferry Athletic and Llansawel entered into a discussion about the possibility of merging the two clubs. After a lengthy period of consideration, it was announced on 28 April 2009 that the two clubs had merged to form Briton Ferry Llansawel. They were to play their first season in the Welsh Football League Third Division, replacing Briton Ferry Athletic. A 3rd place finish in 2012 was enough for promotion to Division 2. In 2014, they were runners-up to Cardiff Met Uni, earning promotion to Division 1. A couple of seasons were spent here before a single season back in Division 2. Following a couple of seasons back in Division 1, they were elected as founder members of the Cymru South in 2019. They remain there to this day with two third-place finishes to date.

The club is based in Briton Ferry (Welsh: Llansawel), a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. The Welsh name may indicate that the church, llan, is protected from the wind, awel. Alternatively, Sawel may be a derivative of Saul, St Paul's earlier name. He once landed at Briton Ferry. The current population is just under 6,000. The town is twinned with Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.

MY VISIT

A couple of weeks ago, following another pitiful defeat to Reading, I decided it would be a good time to have a few games break from Wycombe Wanderers. This was exacerbated by another miserable defeat to lower-division Morecambe in the FA Cup the following week. Thankfully, I was in Newark on that occasion, so it all went over my head. My morale was far better for it as a bad showing from the Chairboys tends to put a sour note on my weekend. However, the options were not that exciting and I could get a free ticket as my Mum wasn't able to go. The list of games on Saturday was not that exciting and with the weather and train strikes likely to play a part, I wasn't overly keen. The decision to stick with Wycombe was confirmed on Thursday night when I agreed to take fellow hopper Colin to Briton Ferry. It was a long old way, but I'd already done team research for my blog. I checked for any closures on the M4 - there were none. I checked the weather and there was minimal rain. In any case, I had backups at Aberbargoed Buds, Ammanford & Swansea University.

I'd had this planned for their game against Taffs Well last April. It was part of a treble and was the last leg. But in the end, we opted to head Eastwards for an early kickoff at Abertillery Excelsiors. I had done 80 grounds in the eight months since, a figure which surprised me so much that I had to go back and double-check. I had an OK night's sleep before the game, though I'd have liked to go back to sleep when my alarm went off. An energy drink later and I was ready for work. I'd hoped to fill up with petrol in the morning but I arrived at the 24-Hour station to find all the pumps coned off. Luckily there would be bags of time after and I planned in a backup petrol station in case my first choice was closed later.

It was not a bad day at work although very busy. The sandwich cabinet had been well-raided so I settled on a McDonald's wrap meal. I got changed and left at 2, meeting Colin. After getting fuel, we were on our way. It was a leisurely journey down with me prioritising fuel economy over speed. There was the standard delay between Newport and Cardiff with us getting there at 5.50. A sit-down meal in Neath Wetherspoons would have been possible had we had bags of time but had to settle for a takeaway. After a stroll, we chose Adil Masala where I had Chicken Naga Dhansak and Rice for £9.95. This was great and a new try for me with us eating our meal in the stand once we got to the ground. A guy who spotted our Wycombe badges was the dad of the Kitman at Adams Park. It was all very friendly and sociable and he recommended the curry from the tea bar. My meal had been large but I still had room for more. The only downer was the mobile Internet which was very slow. Llanelli had come from even further West and aside from some unkind words about the town on YouTube videos, the Travelodge always seemed great value at just over £30 a night.

Though it was a Welsh Cup game, it was 2nd v 1st in the Cymru South. Both teams had won four and drawn one of their last five with the hosts beating Llantwit Major 5-0 in their last game and the visitors triumphing 3-0 at Afan Lido. To get this far, Briton Ferry had won 3-0 at Aberfan and 2-1 at Airbus UK Broughton. Llanelli had beaten Llantwit Major 4-0 and beaten Penybont on penalties following a pulsating 3-3 draw. It was a fairly equal opening with Llanelli having a close-range effort ruled out for offside on 8 minutes. There were half chances for either side before half-time, but nothing clear-cut. On 52 minutes, Briton Ferry took the lead, the visiting keeper coming for but failing to gather the ball and Luke Bowen was on hand to profit. Llanelli then had a few decent chances, coming close from long shots twice but missing an easy chance. No further goals came and so Briton Ferry had a Welsh Cup Quarter Final to look forward to.

It had been a great night meeting several friendly people. The game had not been the greatest but both sides had young groups of ultras vocally supporting their team. It was great to see and cemented my love of Welsh Football. There were 387 people in total and I reckon most of them agreed with me. We left at 9.30 and were on the M4 within a few minutes. It was a good journey home, though the rain was torrential at times. I dropped Colin off at 12.25 and was home 15 minutes later. Despite having been up since 5 am, I was still wide awake and so got on with some jobs like putting the washing on. A couple of ciders were enjoyed whilst I sorted pictures and typed my blog with an estimated bedtime of around 3. It was Wycombe Wanderers v Shrewsbury Town the next day and I was struggling to get motivated. Though I support a fantastic club, it's all too commercialised nowadays and I longed for the closeness and simplicity of the non-league game.

THE GROUND

OLD ROAD is a delightful ground with plenty of character. The Old Road Stand is the first area that you meet, a long stand with a few rows of seating. This has a recently installed camera gantry in the middle. The clubhouse stand has a small area of cover but is mainly open. The Macron strand on the far side is the common metal stand, holding around 75. The far end contains no supporter accommodation. The clubhouse is smart but small and appears to have a decent range. The tea bar is the same, with superb value and good reviews, though I didn't sample the wares. Pin badges are available at the turnstile, Car parking is provided opposite although there are few restrictions. Within 20 minutes walk are a few pubs and Takeaways with Adil Masala being great, although maybe give your hard-earned to the club instead.