Goytre United F.C.
Goytre United Football Club is a Welsh football club based in Goytre, near Port Talbot. They play in the Cymru South. Despite winning Division One of the Welsh Football League in 2005–06 and 2007–08 they were not promoted to the Welsh Premier League.
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| Full name | Goytre United Football Club | ||
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| Ground | Glenhafod Park Stadium, Goytre | ||
| Capacity | 4,000 (350 seated) | ||
| Manager | Laurie Marsh | ||
| League | Cymru South | ||
| 2022–23 | Cymru South, 12th of 16 | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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Their home stadium is the Glenhafod Park Stadium.
History
In the spring of 1963 what funds the club had were handed to football secretary Boris Suhanski. Utilising these funds Goytre United Football Club was reborn. The club were members of the Port Talbot and District Football League but were promoted to the South Wales Amateur League in the late sixties. After a successful opening spell things became more difficult and the club was eventually relegated back into the Port Talbot League in the late seventies.
In 1982 the Goytre United AFC Social Club opened.
A period of ten years passed when the club competed in the Port Talbot and District League. During this time the club grew in stature on and off the field and in 1988 was re-elected back into the South Wales Amateur League. In the 1989–90 season the club secured promotion to the First Division of the South Wales Amateur League. Also in this year a 350 all-seating grandstand was built.
In the 1990–91 season the club were promoted to the Welsh Football League and on 24 August 1991 played their first match against Milford United. Since the club's elevation into the Welsh League, steady improvements have been made both on and off the pitch and in 2000 floodlights were erected. In the 2003–2004 season the club attained its highest position within the League when it ended the season in the runners-up spot in division one and just missed out on promotion to the Welsh Premier League.
In the 2004–05 season the club won the League Challenge Cup for the first time at Ton Pentre. Further history was made in the 2005–06 season when the club lifted the Welsh League First Division Championship, only losing three games. However, they chose to remain in the Welsh League First Division for the 2006–07 season. Normally, the top clubs from each of the two feeder leagues (the Welsh League First Division and the Cymru Alliance) are promoted subject to an application for membership of the Welsh Premier League being received and accepted and the stadium and infrastructure safety criteria of the League being met. Goytre United elected not to apply for promotion, and the First Division runners-up, Neath Athletic, failed to meet the stadium criteria and had their bid for promotion rejected.
In the 2006–07 season, the reserve team won the Welsh League Reserve West Division for the first time in the club's history, guided by former team player/manager Paul Wiseman.
In 2007–08 they won the Welsh Football League again, but once more they declined to apply for promotion to the Welsh Premier League.
In 2008-09 the same situation occurred with Goytre winning the Welsh Football League for a third time, but were still denied promotion.
In the 2022/23 Season in the Cymru South Goytre started off the season with Mark Pike as the manager. Goytre got off to a bad start with the first game of the season which was in the Nathanial MG Cup taking a hefty defeat to Trefelin which ended 6-1 with Youngster Alex Walters scoring the only goal. Things were looking promising after taking 4 points from out first 2 games against Swansea University and Cambrian and Clydach Vale. The season took a turn for the worst after picking up 4 points out of a possible 30 in the next 10 games which had us sitting in the relegation zone with the possibility of relegation for the first time in 20+ years. At the start of December the clubs chairman Lyndon made the hard decision of parting ways with the current coaching team to bring in the previous seasons winning manager Karl Lewis and his team of coaches. Karl got off to a great start by beating his old club Llantwit Major 4-3 who were sitting in the top half of the table. From the 18 remaining games Karl had to rescue Goytre from the relegation zone he managed to take 24 points and secured Goytres place in the Cymru South for the 2023/24 season. A fantastic job done by Karl and the team who now focus on bringing Goytre back to where they belong. Also big credit to Lyndon and all involved who acted fast with the best interest of the club in mind.
Honours
- Champions: 2005–06, 2007–08, 2009–10
Port Talbot League Challenge Cup
- Finalists: 1985–86, 1988–89
Port Talbot League Premier Division
- Runners-up: 1988–89
South Wales Amateur League Division 2
- Runners-up: 1989–90
Port Talbot Challenge Cup
- Winners: 1992–93
Welsh League Division Three
- Runners-up: 1993–94
Welsh League Reserve Division
- Runners-up: 1994–95
Welsh League Division Two
- Runners-up: 1995–96
Welsh League Reserve Division Cup
- Finalists: 1996–97
Welsh League Division One
- Runner-up: 2003–04
Welsh League Shamrock Travel Cup
- Winners: 2004–05
FAW Reserve League South West
- Winners: 2022-23
First Team Squad
As of July 23 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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First Team Staff
- Manager:
Laurie Marsh - Assistant Manager: Michael Waters
- Coaches: Owen Roberts , Cory Kingdom
- Physio: Jordan Discombe
- Kit and Equipment Manager:
Tristan Parker - Social Media Officer: Ryan Harding
- Chief Operating Officer: Craig Humphrey’s (CxJ building services)
Reserve Team History
With the success of the first team, in the summer of 2010 founded by Daniel Jenkins and Ryan "Gammon" Williams the Goytre United Reserve squad was made. The squad entered the Port Talbot Reserve Division and claimed a respectable 8th-place finish in the league as well as a quarter final spot in the Port Talbot knockout cup. Notable acclaims for the season included beating champions Bay View 4–2 at the Glenhafod, Bayviews only defeat of the season. The 2011–12 season started off with big signings for the club in the form of Mikkel Mccalmon, Liam McGinley and Richard Phelps. With the new additions the reserve squad won not only the league but also the Port Talbot knockout cup beating local rivals Tata Steel 3–0 in the final. The 2012–13 season ended on 9 May with Goytre yet again doing the double with the league and cup. Goytre played Cornelly in the final with the scoreline at 5–2 to Goytre.
The start of the 2013–14 season saw the Goytre Reserves promoted from the Port Talbot Reserve division to the Port Talbot & District Premier Division. Masked with the challenge of playing larger and more experienced teams Goytre made signings including center forward Liam Williams however the side lost key players such as Mikkel Mccalmon, Richard Phelps & Josh Beckingham to the Baglan Dragons. The season started slow for Goytre but the side got its usual rhythm back with the blossoming partnership of David "Bolt" Jones & Liam McGinley up top. The club finished in a highly respectable 3rd place in the new top flight division as well as narrowly missing out in the semi-finals of the Port Talbot Challenge cup to eventual winners Glyncorrwg FC.
The 2014–15 season saw the return of previous players Mikkel Mccalmon, Richard Phelps & Josh Beckingham from the Baglan Dragons however saw the transfers of John Ashcroft and Rhys Harris to TATA Steel & the departure of goalkeeper Peter Watkins. Once again the team had a relatively slow start to the campaign managing only draws with bottom ranked side Fairfield Wednesday and Port Talbot Tigers however in Goytre fashion the season come down to the last few weeks with Goytre going unbeaten in their last 5 games to win the Port Talbot Premier Division Title for the first time. The league went neck and neck with last years runners up Glyncorrwg FC who after a loss to Goytre on the penultimate game of the season again went on to slip to another loss to Gwnfi United. This meant Goytre needed a win to secure the title which they completed with a 1–0 win against Croeserw Athletic. The sides run in the Port Talbot Challenge Cup came to an end in the second round after losing on penalties to Trefelin BGC First team after a 1–1 draw in 120 minutes despite playing a majority of the match with 10 men.
The start of the 2022-23 season saw the Goytre Reserves crowned champions of the FAW reserve league South West. Faced with the challenge of playing larger and more experienced teams Goytre made signings including center back/ right back Matthew Andrews, Goal keeper Morgan Selway and all rounder Mark Evans. The season started well for Goytre scoring 23 goals in the first three games. They then continued to score another 7 goals in the next 2 games but these ended in a draw both times. The club battled long and hard with Trefelin who battled it down all the way to the last game of the season where they drew 3-3 to Baglan dragons consequently handing the league title to Goytre. In conclusion the Reserves had an outstanding season with a record of 15 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses. Scoring an outstanding 124 goals (38 more than the next highest) and only conceding 40. Congratulations to the boys on the outstanding season.
Reserve Team Squad
As of Season 22/23
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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As of Season 22/23
Reserve Team Staff
- Manager: Robert Davies
- Coach: Paul Cardy