Abergavenny Thursdays F.C. - History

History

Successive Welsh League championships in the two seasons leading up to the formation of the League of Wales in 1992, ensured Abergavenny’s participation in the inaugural season of the country’s new national league, but there the problems began. Before a ball was kicked in 1992/93, the FAW requested that the club put up a bond as surety that their floodlights would be erected in time for the commencement of the League Cup competition. Thursdays supplied the bond to the detriment of the club’s resources. Unfortunately, the uncertainty as to whether the club would be competing in the League of Wales led to the loss of many players and the team manager.

A new manager and assistant were appointed and Abergavenny Thursdays started the new campaign on time, though losing 1-0 at home to Bangor City in their first match. When the first victory of the season arrived, it triggered off a run of eight undefeated matches during which Thursdays accrued eighteen points. Sadly, afterwards only seven further points were gained from 22 matches and relegation began to look increasingly likely, but it only became a certainty after two other teams staged eleventh hour revivals of their own.

The problems encountered in the summer of 1992 put an end to any hopes the club had of establishing itself at the highest level. Losing their best players to other League of Wales clubs severely weakened Thursday’s playing resources and, despite the efforts of those who featured in the 1992/93 season, relegation back to the Welsh League was confirmed.

The ten succeeding seasons were not kind to Abergavenny as the club slipped downwards through all three divisions of the Welsh League into the Gwent County League. A brief respite in 1994/95 saw Thursdays finish as high as fourth in the Welsh League Division One before a further damaging exodus of quality players led to a dreadful season in 1997/98 when they secured only three points and conceded an astonishing 210 goals in thirty six league fixtures. Relegated to Division Three in 2000 things went from bad to worse as Thursdays continued to plummet into the Gwent County League First Division and right through that trap door too, after just one season. In the course of five seasons, Abergavenny Thursdays suffered four relegations and conceded 675 league goals. The final relegation came at the end of the 2003-04 season, when Thursdays finished bottom of the Gwent County League Second Division and slipped into the Third Division.

Abergavenny Thursdays ended the 2004-05 Gwent County League Division Three campaign in fifth place, and finished tenth the following season; although the 2005-06 season was seen as a disappointment as Thursdays had led the table in the autumn, but finished much lower in the final table due to a dismal second half of the season.

2006-07 brought a sixth place finish, and in 2007-08 they finished fifth. They have continued to perform consistently in 2008-09, but are still several points outside the promotion places.

Although success cannot be achieved overnight, the Thursdays directors have a clear ambition to move forward. The initial target is to win promotion from the Gwent County League Division Three. The next challenge will be to win promotion to the Welsh League and the eventual target is promotion back to the League of Wales.