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Port Talbot Town Football Club News Archive - June 2007
27th June 2007
Swansea City friendly confirmed for July
Port Talbot Town will take on Swansea City at The RE/MAX Stadium on Wednesday, 25th July in a pre-season friendly. The match will also have a special meaning as it will mark the official opening of the new ‘Gerald McCreesh Stand’. Swansea City manager Roberto Martinez has already been busy in the transfer market during the summer and will bring his full first team squad to Port Talbot for the match. Another bumper crowd is expected for the match and recent games between the two clubs have seen huge attendances at the ground. The most memorable game between the two sides came in a competitive match last January however when Port Talbot Town defeated Swansea 2-1 in the quarter final of the FAW Premier Cup in front of over 2,500 people at The RE/MAX Stadium. Kick off time is at 7.15pm and admission prices for the match are yet to be confirmed.
24th June 2007
European defeat for former Port Talbot pair
Former Port Talbot Town players Andrew Mumford and Rhys Griffiths suffered disappointment in Europe on Sunday as Llanelli were defeated 3-1 in Lithuania by FC Vetra in the 1st leg of the opening round in the Intertoto Cup. Andrew Mumford scored Llanelli’s only goal of the game as the sorry statistic of Welsh clubs losing all sixteen away games in the competition continued. Llanelli’s preparations for the match were hampered with injuries to Duncan Roberts, new signing Chris Holloway and captain Lee Phillips and the unavailability of influential Spaniard Jacob Mingorance due to a continuing contract dispute. Llanelli must now look to overturn the result next Sunday, 1st July when they take on FC Vetra at Carmarthen Town’s Richmond Park in the 2nd leg of the tie. Midfielder Craig Williams will have a fitness test ahead of the match having been stretchered off in Lithuania although Llanelli will take confidence from taking the lead through Mumford in the first match and from their opponents making the long journey to Wales.
22nd June 2007
Home derby cup match to start season
In a change to the fixtures, Port Talbot Town Football Club will now start the new season at home to local rivals Neath Athletic in the group stage of the Loosemores Solicitors Challenge Cup. The game has been brouht forward from Tuesday 21st August to Saturday 11th August with a 2.30pm kick off. Port Talbot have enjoyed varied success in the competition over the last few season’s including an appearance in the final in 2005-2006 but suffered a 4-0 defeat to The New Saints. The format of the competition has again changed this season with the eighteen clubs split into six groups of three. Port Talbot Town and Neath Athletic are joined in group six with Llanelli, the side that Port Talbot beat in the semi-final two season’s ago to take their place the final after a penalty shoot-out. The Principality Welsh Premier League season will then start the following Saturday when Port Talbot are away to Caernarfon Town.
21st June 2007
Season tickets on sale with special cup offer
Show your support for Port Talbot Town this season with a season ticket at The RE/MAX Stadium. A season ticket entitles the holder to free admission to every Principality Welsh Premier League match, Loosemores Solicitors Challenge Cup match, Welsh Cup match and FAW Premier Cup match as well as a 10% discount on official merchandise, free entry to all Swansea City reserve matches at The RE/MAX Stadium and priority on official away travel. The tickets are priced at £90 for adults, £60 for concessions and just £10 for children. The price represents the rise in admission this season to £6 and £4 and is equivalent to the holder having free admission to two league games and free admission to all cup games. Tickets will be available to buy on-line shortly or click here for more information.
21st June 2007
Surman commits with new contract
The club are delighted to announce that defender Lee Surman has signed a one year contract with the club.
20th June 2007
Off field changes as club forms Board of Directors
To meet the increasing demands of the Principality Welsh Premier League, Port Talbot Town Football Club have formed a new Board of Directors to take the club to the next level on and off the field. Chairman Andrew Edwards will be joined on the board by local businessmen John Heycock of RE/MAX Estate Agents and Phil Davies of Moderncare together with Secretary John Dawkins and Mark Pitman who will represent the teams within the club and the supporters respectively. In addition the club are delighted to announce that the Leader of Neath Port Talbot Council, Mr. Derek Vaughan, has accepted the position of club president. The new board will work with the football committee of the club to ensure that the improvements made on the field will be matched by strong financial support to allow the club to make further progress in all areas.
20th June 2007
Sponsors Evening details confirmed
Full details are available on the Commercial page.
20th June 2007
Challenge Cup fixtures announced
The fixtures for the Loosemores Solicitors Challenge Cup have been included on the fixture list on the 1st Team Page.
19th June 2007
Port Talbot to start league season at Caernarfon
The fixtures for the 2007-2008 Principality Welsh Premier League season have been released with Port Talbot Town taking on Caernarfon Town away from home on Saturday 18th August in what will be Tony Pennock’s first league game in charge of the side. The opening home match of the season is against Newtown on the following weekend before an away match at Haverfordwest County and a home match against Airbus before a visit to the champions The New Saints. Interesting dates include a home and away double header against newly promoted local rivals Neath Athletic on Boxing Day at the RE/MAX Stadium and then New Years Day at Llandarcy Park and the club’s first visit to Llangefni Town on Saturday, 8th December. The fixtures for the Loosemores Solicitors Challenge Cup have yet to be announced but this season’s format will be six groups of three teams playing each other home and away.
17th June 2007
Rees claims double prize in presentation evening
Captain Matthew Rees claimed a double award in the club presentation evening on Friday as he picked up the Supporters Player of the Year and Player’s Player of the Year. Leigh De-Vulgt was awarded the Clubman of the Year award with Chad Bond claiming the Top Scorer award after scoring 14 goals in all competitions during the season.
17th June 2007
Edwards joins Welsh Premier League Board
Club Chairman Andrew Edwards has joined the Welsh Premier League Board of Directors with the responsibility of representing the South Wales clubs in the league. Andrew was unopposed for the position and replaces Carmarthen Town Chairman Jeff Thomas who has decided to step down after nine years. Other new members to the board are Tony Bates of Aberystwyth Town and Phil Jones of Porthmadog. The appointments were made at the league’s AGM at Llandudno on Saturday.
15th June 2007
Player profiles now available
Find out about your favourite Port Talbot Town players with the new player profile section of the website. Every player has their own page with their career history. Links to each profile are on the left menu and also in the 1st Team page of the website. In addition the new ‘Hot Off the Press’ link on the right hand menu features all the latest Welsh football news stories from every newspaper in the country.
15th June 2007
New date for sponsors dinner
The annual sponsors dinner will now take place on Friday 27th July instead of Friday 22nd June. The event will take place in Blanco’s with guest speakers to be confirmed.
11th June 2007
Surman says no to latest Llanelli offer
Defender Lee Surman has once again turned is back on a move to Llanelli to remain at Port Talbot Town. The former Swansea City player has been a target for the Reds for a number of season’s since his release from the Swans but has once again decided to remain at Port Talbot Town despite a lucrative offer and the lure of European football from the West Wales club. “I am delighted that Lee has decided to stay at the club”, said Chairman Andrew Edwards. “He has shown tremendous loyalty and his decision to remain at the club is based on his view that we are assembling a strong squad of players here and will be challenging for honours very soon”. Surman was first touted as a Llanelli signing under their previous manager Nicky Tucker when the club become a professional outfit and current manager Peter Nicholas again followed on from his predecessor in looking to take the left sided defender to the club. Surman showed Llanelli what they were missing in January 2006 when he scored a superb individual goal against them, one of only two he has scored since signing for the club.
11th June 2007
Pennock misses out on Wales semi-pro defender
Paul Keddle, who played under Port Talbot Town manager Tony Pennock in the recent four nations tournament for the Wales Semi-Pro side in Scotland, has rejected offers from three Welsh Premier League clubs including Port Talbot Town to go on trial with Bath City. Keddle made a name for himself as a talented young defender at Merthyr Tydfil before moving to Carmarthen last season where continued impressive performances earned him a place in the Wales squad. Llanelli, Carmarthen and Port Talbot Town attempted to sign the talented defender but he has decided to take his chances in the Conference South with Bath City in what is their first season in the division.
11th June 2007
Presentation this Friday night
The annual club presentation evening will take place this Friday night in the clubhouse. Entry is £5 which includes a buffett, disco and live entertainment. The evening starts at 7.00pm.
8th June 2007
Merthyr claim Williams signature for new season
Merthyr Tydfil have announced that Port Talbot Town midfielder Dane Williams has signed for the Southern League club ahead of the new season. The news was announced by the club’s directors at a trust meeting at Merthyr Tydfil on Thursday evening and that Williams will make a return to the club after leaving Penydarren Park to sign for Port Talbot Town midway through the 2006-2007 season. Williams made 21 appearances for Port Talbot and scored one goal from his midfield position and has hit the headlines on the front page instead of the back page in recent weeks with ex-girlfriend Laura currently starring in the Big Brother house. Port Talbot have a ready made replacement for Williams following the signing of Gareth Phillips last month, ironically from Merthyr Tydfil.
8th June 2007
Afan Lido friendly confirmed
Port Talbot will visit local rivals Afan Lido for a pre-season friendly on Tuesday, 7th August. Kick off is at 7pm.
7th June 2007
Holmes back in charge at Lido
Following on from Phil Holmes resignation as manager of Afan Lido on Saturday, he and assistant Paul Evans have returned to their positions at the club following meeting on Wednesday evening.
6th June 2007
Edwards slams speculation over John offer
Port Talbot Town Chairman Andrew Edwards as dismissed reports in the South Wales Argus that Newport County have tabled an improved offer for Lee John and that their current bid falls way short of the attacking midfielders value to the club. “Newport County have made the same offer as the one that was turned down previously”, said Edwards. “The £10,000 that they offered originally was way short of Lee’s value to our club. Newport offered more cash upfront as opposed to staged payments and that is the only change in their offer. Newport County have persisted in pursuing Lee John for months despite our refusal to let our best asset leave the club. If they were to double their offer to £20,000 we would still refuse. Lee John is not for sale and we as a club do not appreciate Newport’s efforts to unsettle our best player”. The story of an improved offer featured in today’s South Wales Argus newspaper.
6th June 2007
A look back at our Under-13 team’s recent successes
To start I would like to say a huge thank you from myself and on behalf of the players to RE/MAX Estate Agents of Morriston for their sponsorship this season, their support has played an important part in our success and we are extremely grateful. Our Under-13 side have enjoyed an absolute cracker of season yet again and more than followed on from their success of the previous season. After winning the treble last season the side again dominated and remained undefeated over the course of their league campaign with seventeen victories and a single draw, once again claiming the double. The squad have been together since the tender age of six and have been absolutely magnificent each and every season, to win the UEFA Mitre Cup last summer, win the league and cup double in two consecutive seasons, being undefeated in the league and reaching the final of the South Wales Cup are all magnificent achievements and I am extremely proud of the side. The biggest highlight for me personally however was the brave step to take the side to France for an invitation only tournament last Easter and compete against some of the biggest clubs in Europe. The first European victory at the tournament was a massive boost for the players who showed great courage to finish the tournament in a credible eleventh place, just behind AFC Bournemouth and in taking the tournament favourites all the way in a game they could and should have won. There is nothing better than seeing talented kids stepping up and performing on the big stage.
Mark Pike, Team Manager.
2nd June 2007
Former captain Holmes resigns as Lido manager
Phil Holmes and his assistant Paul Evans have stepped down from their positions at Afan Lido despite a successful first season in which the club reached the Welsh Cup Final for the first time in their history. Holmes played an important part in Port Talbot Town gaining promotion to the Welsh Premier League and made 14 starts for the club in 2000-2001 after playing for the club for a number of seasons in the Welsh League. Holmes is one of a number of former players and managers in the news over the last few weeks as Mark Jones parted company with Carmarthen Town, his last match in charge being against Afan Lido and Phil Holmes in the Welsh Cup Final that Carmarthen won 3-2. Also in recent weeks former goalkeeper Simon Rayner has been released by Lincoln City and former defender Martyn Giles has been released by Hereford United. Another former playing making his first step into management this week is Gavin Chesterfield who has taken charge of Barry Town, Chesterfield made one appearance for Port Talbot in the 2000-2001 season.
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