A Brief History of Football in Llay
by
Vic Tyler-Jones 

The model mining village of Llay (Llai) near Wrexham was built by the Llay Main Colliery Company in the early 1920s. The company was keen to foster sporting activities among the miners and 'Llay Main' football team was  entered the Ffrith and District League during 1921-22.

Llay Main had difficulty fulfilling its fixtures because as the club chairman put it - 'Owing chiefly to the working hours of Llay Main Colliery it is most difficult for many of our players to turn out at match hours'  [Wrexham Leader Friday 17th April 1922,  p12] .Llay Main lost to Oak Alyn Rovers 3-2 in the Second Qualifying Round of the Welsh Cup in the 1923 - 24 season and played in the Wrexham Amateur League between 1929 and 1931.

The village soon grew to 2,000 inhabitants and with a colliery workforce of approaching 3,000 there were plenty of potential soccer players and other local teams sprang up. Those we know of are Llay Pals (1923), Llay Rangers (1925), Llay Institute Rovers (1925). The last two mentioned played in the Wrexham and District Amateur League.  A mile from the village, Llay Hall FC based at the colliery of that name played in the North Wales Alliance League.

Later teams included Llay Wednesdays who played in the 1930s in a mid-week league for shop and shift workers in the Wrexham Area and Llay Methodists who played in the Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) after the second world war.

LLAY WEDNESDAY F.C. c 1937

Back row; Em. Baines, Ken Rowlands, Arthur Jones, Baldwyn, Roberts, Cliff Davies, Albert Finney. Front row; Lawrence Evans, Alf Morris, Peter Davies, Gren James, Gwilym Owen.

Llay Methodists c 1943 (Llay 'Meths')

Back Row; Raymond Jones, Cliff Hughes, Bert Hartley,  Norman Tudor, Ted Lewis Middle Row; Jackie Tudor, George Williams, Ken Salisbury, Fred Jones, Walter Lewis, Tom Jones (Yorkie) Front Row; Jack Suckley, Jimmy (Den) Owens, Ned Jones

In the 1950s the colliery's administrative staff formed a team played in the Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) and the colliery workshops also had a team.

Llay Main Colliery Offices  c 1953

Back row;  Albert Rathbone (trainer), Geoff Edwards, Alan Roberts,  Ben Jones, Ron Crewe, Sam Jones, Iorwerth Davies, Wilf Jones, Noel Rogers Front row;  Phil Roberts, Gwyn Jones, Austin Owens, Don Griffiths, Bill Jones

The colliery closed in 1966 but soccer in Llay continued to flourish. In the seventies Llay Royal British Legion became a force to be reckoned with in the Wrexham Sunday League. Their success encouraged them to enter a team in the Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) and after climbing through the lower divisions they reached the Premier division in 1986.

Of all the Llay teams two are outstanding - Llay Welfare F.C. and Llay United. 'The Welfare' was formed when the magnificent Miners' Welfare Institute and recreation grounds were completed in 1931. Both club and institute are still in sound health today but Welfare's bitter rivals in the Welsh National League Llay United are long gone. United were favoured by the bottom half of the village, Welfare's supporters came largely from the colliery houses near their ground at the top of the village. Nowadays it is hard to believe that hundreds and sometimes thousands of people thronged to their matches in the 1940s and 1950s.

Llay Welfare F.C. Llay Welfare joined the Wrexham and District Amateur League in the 1932-33 season, it is likely that they were the successors of the 'Llay Main' team. They soon established themselves and were runners up in the league in their second season 1933-34. The Welfare's greatest achievements were during the 1935-36 season. Although they lost to Newtown 2-1 in the final of the Montgomeryshire County Infirmary Cup, Welfare beat Treharris of South Wales 3-1 to win the Welsh Amateur Cup in a replay at Oswestry after the first game at Newtown was a 1-1 draw. Their next season was almost as good. In the Welsh Cup after beating Llay United 2-1 in the second round, Welfare went on to beat Hereford United  4-3 in the fourth round before falling to the eventual winners Crewe Alex 2-9 in the sixth round. Llay Welfare joined the Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) which was formed in 1945, inheriting clubs from the disbanded Wrexham Amateur League.  In 1949 Welfare again reached the final of the Welsh Amateur Cup but this time they lost 2-0 to Caerau Athletic at Aberystwyth. Welfare won the league title in 1962-63 and the North-East Wales FA Cup in the late 1970s. Llay Welfare F.C. 1951 - 52 Back row; Ivor Davies, Harold Williams, J. Price, Haydn Thomas, Raymond Jenkins, H. Ellis Front row; R. Holmes (Capt.), Les Jones, Peter Holmes, Raymond Rogerson, Stan Valentine

Llay United Thought to have been formed in 1931 our earliest photograph of Llay United is of the team of 1931-32. It is believed that they played in the Chester League at this time. Whether this was a deliberate ploy to keep them apart from 'The Welfare' is not known. They were quickly into their stride and won a large cup, as yet unidentified in 1933. In the Welsh Cup of 1935-36 they lost 3-1 in the second round to Cross Street. The 1936-37 season proved successful as the team won the St. Martin's Charity Cup and were crowned Chester Amateur League champions. After the war they joined the Welsh National League in 1945-6 and made an immediate impact winning the league title at their first attempt. In the same year they reached the final of the Welsh Amateur Cup, the first final after the Second World War. A crowd of 3,500 saw them lose 1-5 to Caerau United at Machynlleth. In the 1946-47 season they reached the fourth round of the Welsh Cup before losing to Oswestry town 1-0.  In the same season they again reached the final of the Welsh Amateur Cup and unfortunately there was a similar outcome to the previous year as they lost 0-5 to Troedyrhiw at Llanidloes. Not  to be disheartened by their losses in the Welsh Amateur Cup, United came back strongly to win it in the 1948-49 season, their victims being  Hanwood Welfare, who were beaten 2-0 at Wrexham Racecourse. Llay became the only village in Wales to have two different teams win the Welsh Amateur Cup. Llay United F.C. Welsh Amateur Cup Winners 1948 / 49 Back row; Cecil Davies, Ivor Davies, Harold Rogers, Dennis Povah, Trevor Roberts, Matt Davies Front row; John Edwards, Estyn Griffiths, Stan Valentine, Cyril (Alec) Davies , Gwilym Williams This is the 1950/51 third round line-up of Llay United's Welsh Senior Cup 3rd round home tie line up against Blaenau Ffestiniog, which the visitors won 2v1. United's final season was 1956, their last match being against Cefn Druids. Their pitch on Pentre Lane was sold for house building. The name lives on however for Llay United Junior team was formed in 1980. Robbie Savage was a team member.

There were other teams such as  Llay Rangers and more recently Llay Royal British Legion in the seventies/ eighties.

Llay United Ladies c 1948

Llay Junior School, Llay Central (Secondary) School and Llay Boys Club also had successful teams.

Llay Boys Club  Soames Cup Winners 1954 at Wrexham Racecourse

Back row; Gerald Davies, Arthur Ashfield, Trevor Salisbury, Ken Rogerson, Bryan Davies, David Tudor Front row; Reg Smith, Noel Ralphs, Richard Vaughan, Raymond Rogerson, Iram Morgan, Mascot; Glyn Powell

Llay Junior School Football Team 1953 / 54

Three of these boys went on to play professionally. Seated with ball is Terry Hennesey, a Welsh International who played for Birmingham City, Derby County and Nottingham Forest. To his left (our right) is Graham  Bent of  Aston Villa and Wrexham, and on Graham's left is Ron Roberts of  Wrexham and Tranmere Rovers.

I would be grateful to know of any historic material mentioning Llay sports teams.

Acknowledgements Many thanks to the following for their information on Llay soccer teams - Ken Davies, John Cunnah, and the online Welsh Football Data Archive http://www.wfda.co.uk Vic Tyler-Jones   Llai Local History Society  7.9.2010 email: tylerjones@btinternet.com   tel. 01244 677658

A crowd of about 3,500 at Machynlleth on Saturday saw Caerau from South Wales win the Welsh Amateur Cup which they had previously held in 1918-19 and 1938-39, by defeating Llay United from North Wales 5-1, following a 2-1 lead at half time. Typical cup-tie football was played, the first half in fine sunshine and a breeze and most of the second half in a cold drizzle of rain.

Nerves evidently affected Llay United, who never settled down. With their forwards woefully inept against a sound defence, The United's defenders were overworked and faltered badly at times. Three of Caerau's five goals were as a result of defensive blunders. The United had chances to score more than once, but their forwards could do little with a lively ball on a dry ground and frittered them away by their poor shooting.

The half-time score of 2v1, was a fair reflection of Caerau's superiority in the first half, in which the defences on both sides were on top. Twelve minutes after the start, the Llay goalkeeper fumbled a shot from Pearce and Evans who had followed up scored the South Walians' first goal. After eighteen more minutes of ragged play, Hughes equalised with the best goal of the match, a lovely header. Three minutes before the interval, Evans put Caerau ahead again.

Caerau improved in the second half, and with  the United's defence tiring, play was easily one sided. The South Walian's right wing instigated many attacks and with their pattern weaving attacks led them to scoring three more goals. McCluskie increased the lead for Caerau in the second hlf and scored again about 15 minutes later. Five minutes from time, E. Evans headed in Caerau's fifth and last goal

Llay United fought back and for a brief period looked as though they would reduce the deficit, but Caerau renewed pressure.
Teams;
Caerau;  G.A. Fishburn; H. Simons, J Nicholas; G. Williams, W. Williams, W. Williams; L. Jones, P. Pearce, B. James, K. Evans, W. Dawkins, M. McCluskie.
Llay United; W. Davies; K. Davies, M. Davies; H. Rogers, F. Griffiths, J. Williams; R. Hughes, I.G. Davies, A. West, W. Jones, G. Williams
Referee; Mr A.I. Davies, Aberystwyth.

With practically the same team which contested the final of the same competition last year, Llay United were never in serious danger of losing the match with Gwynfi Welfare in the Welsh Amateur Cup semi-final, played at Welshpool. Despite the atrocious weather there was a large gate, including eight bus loads of Llay supporters.
Llay pressed resolutely from the start and were  placed in the lead after 5 minutes of play by Rogers. Between then and Llay's second goal 20 minutes later, again by Rogers, Gwynfi's goalmouth  was the scene of several desperate struggles. The Gwynfi forwards broke away on several occasions but there was always a Northwalian at the other end to deprive them of the ball. Just before the interval, G. Williams scored Llay's third goal.
In the second half, the South Walians made a plucky attempt to reduce the deficit and scored their only goal 20 minutes after the resumption through I. Lewis, but 8 minutes later, G. Williams put the Northerns three goals ahead.
Teams;
Llay; Walker; Williams, Ivor Davies; M. Davies, Griffiths, Jenkins; G. Williams, C. Davies, Rogers, T. Davies, Hughes.
Gwynfi Welfare; J. Jones; K. Rogers, T. Lewis; E. Morgan, R. Jones, G.A.W. Lloyd, D.T. Rees, I. Lewis.
Referee; A.E. Davies, Aberystwyth

The final of the Welsh Amateur Cup was played at Llanidloes on Saturday, where a  large crowd saw Troedyrhiw victorious in a keen game, by five goals to nil. The South Wales team were strong in both defence and attack and deserved their victory.
Llay were quite good in defence but with the exception of C. Davies at inside left, the forwards were weak and lacked thrust. Davies was actually the best forward on view and often made good openings which were wasted by his colleagues.
Play was evenly contested for the greater part of the first half and both teams missed several changes before Reynolds opened the scoring at the end of 30 minutes play.  
Encouraged by this success, Troedyrhiw attacked strongly and before the interval a penalty for hands enabled Thomas to net their second goal.
During the early part of the second half, Llay had to defend for a considerable period and their goal fell for the third time, when Reynolds took advantage of a defensive lapse to net with a hard drive.
Llay improved for a short time but after Rogers had shot across the goal, Troedyrhiw again took command and following a lovely run, Dyke got their fourth goal.
Walker made two grand saves before Llay broke away to be awarded a penalty. Jenkins however shot against the post and nearing the end, Troedyrhiw attacked strongly for Reynolds to complete the scoring. 
Teams;
Llay United;  Walker; T. Davies, H. Williams; R. Jenkins, E. Griffiths, M. Davies; R. Hughes, T.G. Davies, H. Rogers, C. Davies, G. Williams.
Troedyrhiw; C. Byfield; R. Samuels, G. Manning; D. Davies, C. Rees, D. Evans; C. Dyke, W. Saunders, T. Reynolds, M. Thomas, A. Lewis.
Referee; Mr W.J. Gow, Swansea
Linesmen; R.E. Jones, Aberystwyth, T. Davies, Rhayader.

At the end of the game, Mr Milwyn Jenkins introduced the mayor of Llanidloes (Alderman G.F. Hamer) who presented the cup. The medals were presented by Mrs G.F. Hamer

Llay's Wrexham A.F.C. Connections

NEWTOWN
S. Evans   B. Rimmer

Welsh Amateur Cup
6th Round
CARDIFF CORRIES 2
NEWTOWN 2
(at Latham Park)

THIS WAS THEIR FINEST HOUR
Although Newtown's equalising goal game 30 seconds from the end, they were the better side throughout.
In 5 minutes, Newtown centre half Jim Evans brought the ball though from a fine defensive interception, stabbed it forward to David Powell, who cleverly whipped it across to Iori Oliver, and the ball was in the net before the Cardiff keeper could move. 1-0. 
Right back Glynn Lumsden was in fine form checking Cardiff's attacks.

Cardiff brought out the best out of B.F. Jones in goal with a brilliant dive at the feet of Riley, who looked certain to score.
In the 39th minute, Cardiff bundled the goal into the net, but a penalty was awarded. They scored. 1-1.
Cardiff took the lead from a corner.1-2.
In the last half minute, Austin Davies, Newtown's 18 year old left back who was the finest attacking half back  on the field, threw himself into the attack. He combined with Powell and Oliver, whose clever interplay tangled the defence to allow Rimmer to equalise. 2-2.

NEWTOWN 2
CARDIFF CORRIES 1
(replay)
NEWTOWN ARE IN SEMI FINAL - THANKS TO "E.P'S" LATE GOAL.
Within two minutes, Austin Davies put Stan Evans in possession. He slipped it  to David Powell, who charged at the defence and left the Cardiff keeper helpless with a low drive into the net.1-0
Cardiff, attacking against a hesitant defence, equalised with a brilliant header, giving Jones in goal, no chance. 1-1.
25 seconds left to play. A Newtown corner. Edgar Williams prepares to take the kick. The ball sails into the air above Evans, Powell and Oliver, touches the keeper's hand and goes in to the net. Williams has scored direct from the corner. 2-1

Welsh Amateur Cup Final
NEWTOWN 4
CHIRK AAA 2
(after extra time)
(at Welshpool)

CHIRK FORCED EXTRA TIME - BUT THE ROBINS MAKE THE MOST OF IT.
The first 20 minutes was crammed with earnest endeavour and a display of nervous energy on both sides. Then Riley put Chirk ahead booting the ball in along the grass. 0-1.
Newtown winger Stephens was brought down in Chirk's penalty area, and Keith Bowen made no mistake from the spot. 1-1
Stephens later  fastened on to a long forward pass from Stan Evans whose shot went past the keeper. 2-1.
Chirk flung themselves forward and grabbed an equaliser after about 80 minutes. Extra time. 2-2.
Stephens scored his second to give Newtown the lead again, 6 minutes into extra time. 3-2.
Stan Evans made the Cup safe for the Robins with a fine goal with 6 minutes remaining. 4-2.

NEWTOWN WIN THE WELSH AMATEUR CUP.

Left; Brian F. Jones makes a fine save.
Bottom left; Glynn Lumsden boots the ball clear from a Chirk attack.
Bottom right. Jones makes another brave save

WELSH AMATEUR CUP FINAL 1955
Anticipation

Standing; Glynn Lumsden, Jim Evans, Brian Jones, Austin Davies,
Keith Bowen.
Seated; Iorrie Oliver, David Powell, Stan Evans, Edgar Williams, Ken Lewis, Gordon Stephens

WELSH AMATEUR CUP FINAL 1955
Celebration

Newtown won the Welsh Amateur Cup in 1954/55,
beating Chirk 4 v 2 after extra time.
The game was played at Welshpool on the 16th April 1955 and in charge of The Robins was Ted Rigby (ex-Manchester City, Barrow and Hereford)
who had been signed as the club professional at the start of the season.
The late David Powell was a player in this team with goals coming from Gordon Stephens 2, Stan Evans  and K. Bowen, one goal each.