Penydarren Boys & Girls Club
The Bont
History
Penydarren Boys & Girls Club was initially formed in 1985. The club was originally based at St. Johns Church Hall at Penydarren in Merthyr Tydfil, where the main activities were table tennis and board games. The club then became members of the Boys & Girls Club of Wales. Two children’s football teams were formed using local council grounds to play their games. Due to refurbishment of the church, the club then relocated using the old Gelifaelog School as a base.
In 1994 the club was successful in gaining a lease to the current site known as ‘The Bont’. With the aid of funding from a variety of sources, work started to remove the old black ash type surface of the original pitch to provide a first-class playing area and a clubhouse with changing rooms. The facilities are admired by many throughout Wales and are held in high regard by all visiting teams. There are also plans in place for a new 3G surface with new floodlighting & changing facilities.
Club membership continued to increase in the late 90s with the club providing teams from Under 10’s to Under 18 level. Next was the introduction of the senior team, which after playing in local leagues gained promotion into the South Wales Senior League. In 2015-16 Penydarren became members of the South Wales Alliance League following merger of the Senior League with the Amateur League.
After two seasons of consolidation, 2017-18 was to prove to be Penydarren’s season, after an unbeaten league campaign brought the prize of Welsh League Football, winning promotion at home to Cardiff Draconians 2-0 in front of a bumper crowd at The Bont, with six games to spare. The club won 27 and drew 3 of their 30 league fixtures, scoring 117 goals and conceding just 14 in the process.
The club also went on two epic cup runs reaching the quarter finals of the JD Welsh Cup and semi-finals of the FAW Amateur Trophy. The Welsh Cup run saw Penydarren knock out Penrhiwceiber Rangers (5-3), Brecon Corries (3-1), Cardiff Corinthians (4-0), STM Sports (2-1), Llandudno Junction (4-0) and Pontypridd Town (2-1) before losing to Bangor City (7-0).
Penydarren’s Welsh League debut season went down a storm, with the club romping to the Third Division title, winning 24 of their 30 league games. They won the title with a 3-1 win at Ely Rangers, with Connor Keating, Sam Gamble and Alex Long sealing the silverware. While they also clinched the double, beating Ynysygerwn to win the Welsh League Cup at Port Talbot, by a 3-0 scoreline.
Penydarren kicked off 2019-20 season in Welsh League Division One, due to pyramid restructuring and were well placed for a promotion push, with several games in hand on their rivals, when the pandemic struck. The season was curtailed and Penydarren finished in 4th place on the points per game average, just missing out on a promotion spot to Port Talbot by 0.09.
Further restructuring saw Penydarren placed in the Ardal Southern League, South West Division for 2021-22, finishing in 5th place under Kerry Mullin’s astute leadership. The club is proud of what it has achieved since its formation and has Tier 2 ambitions for the future.
