Caernarfon Town - The Oval

Caernarfon Town FC

The Oval

Marcus Street

Caernarfon 

Gwynydd

Wales

LL55 2HT

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Ground Number: 1593

Friday 23rd October 2026

Caernarfon Town 3-1 Briton Ferry Llansawel

Cymru Premier

CAERNARFON TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

Caernarfon Town were established in 1937 and have played at their Oval ground since their inception. They were the sixth attempt at a football club in the town, following Carnarvon Athletic (1887 - 1893) and the delightfully named Caernarvon Ironopolis (1895 - 1903) and Caernarvon Colts and Caernarvon Royal Fusileers, which came together to form Caernarvon United from 1906 until 1930. From 1937, Town played in the Welsh League North, which they won four times and were runners-up a further three times. Their last title here came in 1979.

In 1980, Caernarfon were granted permission from the Welsh FA to move across the border to the English system. They started in the Lancashire Combination, winning the title in 1982. The league was merged into the North West Counties League and the club was placed in Division 2. They were promoted in their first season after finishing as runners-up to Radcliffe Borough. Then, in 1985, they were Division 1 runners-up, again to Radcliffe. This saw them promoted into the NPL with a best-placed finish of 3rd in the Premier Division in 1987. This was the second tier of non-league at the time. Results declined, and they were relegated to Division 1 in 1990.

When the Football Association of Wales (FAW) created the League of Wales (now the Cymru Premier) in 1992, they issued a strict ultimatum: any Welsh club playing in the English non-league pyramid had to either join the new domestic league, or they would be banned from playing on Welsh soil and be forced to take exile in England. Caernarfon Town were one of the 'Irate Eight' that held firm. The Canaries had to move their home fixtures roughly 100 miles away to Tameside Stadium, home of Curzon Ashton in Greater Manchester. For three full seasons (1992–93 through 1994–95), home games meant a 200-mile round trip for local supporters. Attendance plummeted, gate receipts dried up, and operating costs soared, putting massive financial strain on the club. The legal dispute culminated in the clubs taking the FAW to the High Court of Justice in London, arguing that the ban on playing in Wales was an unlawful restraint of trade.

Despite winning their case, following stagnation in the NPL D1, Caernarfon Town opted to switch back to the Welsh system and play in the League of Wales. Five seasons were spent here, including 4th and 5th place finishes before the club was relegated to the Cymru Alliance in 2000, but they bounced back straight away, winning the Cymru Alliance on the first attempt. For a long time, Caernarfon only finished in the bottom half of the Welsh Premier and were relegated again in 2009 following a bottom-place finish. The decline continued, and the club suffered a second successive relegation in 2010 to the Welsh Alliance Division 1. They finally bounced back as winners in 2013, their 5th place finish in 2011 at tier 3 representing their worst ever finish in the Welsh system. Despite winning the Cymru Alliance in 2016, Caernarfon were denied promotion due to licensing and administration issues. With the issues resolved, they were allowed up in 2018 and have remained in the Cymru Premier ever since. They have finished 4th four times, equalling their best ever Welsh system finish, which was initially achieved in 1997.

Caernarfon Town were regular entrants into the English FA Cup from 1979 until 1995. They embarked on a miracle run during the 1986/.87 season. After beating Marine, Winsford United, Eastwood Town and Chester Le Street Town in the four qualifying Rounds, they met Football League opposition in the form of Stockport County. The 1st Round saw them drawn at home and in front of 1,800, Austin Salmon scored the decisive goal to send them through to a tie against York City. After drawing the home game 0-0, they won the replay at Bootham Crescent three days later; the non-league side produced a sensational display, winning 2–1 thanks to goals from Steve Craven and Austin Salmon. After those two remarkable victories, their reward was a game against Division 2 side Barnsley. Again, they held the South Yorkshire side 0-0 at home. The memorable run finally came to an end in the replay at Oakwell, where Barnsley narrowly edged out the Welshmen 1–0 via a second-half goal from Rodger Wylde. This was under manager John King, more well known to me for his time at Altrincham, where he faced Wycombe Wanderers during my early years of supporting the club. Caernarfon also enjoyed several mildly successful years in the FA Trophy.

In 2026, Caernarfon Town won the Welsh Cup when they beat Flint Town United 3-0 in the final at Newport County; this was their biggest Welsh honour to date. Other domestic cup honours include the FAW Intermediate Cup/ FAW Trophy in 1978 & 2013, four Cymru Alliance League Cups and the Lancashire Combination Cup in 1980. They have entered Europe twice. In 2024, following a Welsh European Playoff win, they qualified for the UEFA Conference League. They overcame Northern Irish side Crusaders on penalties following a 3-3 aggregate draw.  Their run came to end in an abrupt fashion following an 11-0 aggregate defeat to Polish outfit Legia Warsaw in the 2nd Qualifying Round. Their Welsh Cup win in 2026 gave them another chance, but they were beaten 10-0 on aggregate by FCI Levadia Tallinn at the first hurdle.

Caernarfon is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. The community (which includes Caeathro) has a population of just under 10,000. Abundant natural resources in and around the Menai Strait enabled human habitation in prehistoric Britain. The Ordovices, a Celtic tribe, lived in the region during the period known as Roman Britain. Caernarfon contains a Roman fort, Segontium, and a Norman motte-and-bailey castle was built at the mouth of the River Seiont. Caernarfon's historical prominence and landmarks have made it a major tourist centre. As a result, many of the local businesses cater for the tourist trade. Caernarfon has numerous guest houses, inns and pubs, hotels, restaurants and shops. There are many old public houses serving the town, including The Four Alls, The Anglesey Arms Hotel, The Castle Hotel, The Crown, Morgan Lloyd, Pen Deitch and The Twthill Vaults. The oldest public house in Caernarfon is the Black Boy Inn, which remained in the same family for over 40 years until sold in 2003 to a local independent family business. The pub has stood inside Caernarfon's Town Walls since the 16th century, and many people claim to have seen ghosts within the building. The most famous person from Caernarfon is David Lloyd George, who was Prime Minister of the UK from 1916 to 1922 and has an uncanny resemblance to TV legend Des Lynham.

MY VISIT

When I booked this time off in June, I was expecting to go abroad for a weekend away. However, six weeks ago, when I came to look at flights, the prices were sky-high. I soon discovered that this was due to half term starting. Families have long been victims of greed and surge pricing, but this was the first time I had encountered it, having previously avoided school holidays. However, my purchase of a season ticket at Wycombe Wanderers had restricted me to what weekends I could take off. It just happened that I drew the short straw, and I have stopped enjoying going to Wycombe because of the micromanagement and interference in first team affairs of our 'chief football officer ', Dan Rice. I resigned myself to a UK weekend, but there was the chance to visit Caernarfon Town. I knew Colin was keen, but he took five days to reply to my message. As a result, a room at £70 in Caernarfon itself was gobbled up, and we were forced to look further afield. The novelty of staying in a Wetherspoons was a big lure, so I booked a room in Ruthin for £99. This would get another Spoons ticked off, and £99 was the best deal I could get, taking into account the extra mileage to get to more distant places. It was a good day to do Caernarfon, being able to leave early morning and not having a Wycombe game the following day.

So, with it all booked a month before the game after Colin said he was 100% coming, I was disgusted when he video called me less than two weeks before the game, when I got a video call from Colin saying he was pulling out due to going up to his parents to get his tablet updated. A terrible reason, and I told him what I thought. He told me he didn't care because I barely give him any lifts nowadays, since I've done so many more games than him. He moaned that I'd done so many grounds before I met him and said that I was stupid for doing so. I have been trying to get through to him for six years, but he has lacked respect and consideration for others for a long time now, and I get taken for granted. He was with Martin at the time and thought that he would get him at his beck and call. Martin pointed out to him how poor his behaviour was, as did many hoppers. After a call with PuffPuff, he phoned his parents and rearranged to go up to them on Sunday. He subsequently apologised and sent me his half of the hotel money, a rare moment of self-awareness.

Having got back from Leicestershire at midnight on Wednesday morning, it took me until past 1 to get to bed and get to sleep. I woke at 3 for work with less than two hours of sleep, but felt fine after two big cans of energy drink throughout my six-hour shift. I was still wide awake by midday, by which time I had got my blog up but couldn't go for my walk because of the torrential rain. I got into bed to watch TV for half an hour, then slept for just over two hours to catch up. By 3, the rain had eased, so I had lunch before walking a few miles and getting my 10k in. I then caught up with some admin, starting work on this blog and research for the weekend. The club research took me a good couple of hours, such was their fascinating and complicated history. Thursday started well, with £140 landing in my bank account due to my claim for illness, which prevented me from going to France and Malta. It was also a good day at work, with me looking forward to time off. I was in a good mood until I started checking tyre pressures and noticed a bulge in a tyre wall, damage done by a poorly marked speed bump near Colin's whilst I was under the speed limit, by the way. It could have been worse and put the trip in jeopardy, but luckily I have a good local garage where I can just turn up and get things sorted, whereas many insist on an appointment. The bad news was that there were no budget options, so a £140 mid-range option it would have to be. It would have been stupid to have driven 500 miles this weekend, so I was glad that it could be remedied without having to rely on the spare. I was worried when I was left in the waiting room for an hour. I feared complications, but it just turned out to be poor communication by the staff. The manager apologised, and that was good enough for me; mistakes happen. I was gonna have a sober Thursday, but after that cost, I treated myself to a cider. A damn good one too, the 2024 Raison D'etre which was epic.

I got an early night and woke up around 6. After watching TV for a bit, I started tomorrow's blog, researching Ludlow as I thought I was going there. However, closer investigation revealed that Futbology was incorrect and I'd wasted an hour researching their history. Better than only finding out when I got there, though. I was surprised when Colin called to say he was at the bus stop at 9.15 and we were able to leave early. I was expecting the worst, traffic-wise, but there was only 20 minutes delay on the M42 and M6. I took it easy, knowing we had plenty of time. It was torrential rain most of the way up, but we got to Wellington at 12.20. It was a reasonable town; best of all, parking was free. It was a few minutes' walk to Wetherspoons 558, the William Withering. There I had Shawarma chips and lime cordial for under £6.50. We left at 1.30 and made our way to Ruthin. The Castle Hotel was the first Wetherspoons I've ever stayed in. I grabbed a free parking spot, less than ten minutes away and walked to the hotel. After checking in, I had a bottle of Old Crow cider before going up to the room. Colin had yet another sleep after sleeping most of the journey up, but the peace was welcome. I got on with my research for my replacement game tomorrow at Shawbury, even though the weather might put it in doubt. We left at 4.30 and walked ten minutes to the car. The roads were crap at first, but we soon made good progress on the A55 apart from a brief delay due to a lane closure. We were parked up near the ground at 6.10 and walked the 20 minutes into town. There was a lovely castle, but the target was Tafarn Y Porth Wetherspoons, where I had spicy chicken pizza and a pint of Black Dragon. We walked back to the ground, arriving at 7.20. It was a tenner to get in; sadly, not much merch was on sale owing to supplier issues with their new badge. I did manage to get a scarf, though, to celebrate completing the Cymru Premier. I also got a burger and a can of Fanta as the smell was enticing. It did taste as good as the aroma, with plenty of flavour, though I could have done with an extra patty or two.

 

Caernarfon were in 4th place having won eight, drawn two and lost three. They were in decent form, having only lost one of their last seven. Their last league game a couple of weeks ago was a 2-1 win at Haverfordwest; last week they won 3-1 at Flint Town United in the Cup. Briton Ferry were in 11th, having won three, drawn three and lost seven. They were in mixed form, but had beaten Afan United 5-0 in the Cup last week. They had travelled from South West Wales, four hours or 151 miles; such is the road network in Wales. It was an end-to-end game. Caernarfon took the lead in the 27th minute, a low shot from Sion Bradley. It was 2-0 on 31 minutes, Harry Charsley blasting home from the edge of the area. Briton Ferry had a couple of chances at the start of the second period but didn't take them. On 69 minutes, Charsley got his second to make it 3-0. Briton Ferry got a goal right at the death, deep into injury time. I didn't have the best view of the goal as it was down the other end. At least there was something for the 20 or so visiting fans that made up the crowd of 604.

THE GROUND

THE OVAL is a decent setup with seated stands on three sides. The main stand along the side holds around 250 and sits on halfway. There is also seated stands of around 400 behind each goal, one covered and one uncovered. The other side has dugouts and a scoreboard. The tea bar and bar at the ground are both decent, although there is no club shop. Merch is available upon request. There was no car park that I saw, but plenty of street parking. The town is 15 minutes walk away and is very scenic with a nice castle and a Wetherspoons.