Aberdare Town gear up towards their second season in the second tier of the Welsh Football League
Aberdare Town have had a busy summer on and off the pitch as they gear up towards their second season in the second tier of the Welsh Football League.
On the pitch manager Matt Driscoll has been busy strengthening the first team squad with several new arrivals along with retaining a large selection of last year’s players.
Joining Aber, who are celebrating their 125th anniversary this season, is central defender Lee Hartshorn who was previously with Cinderford Town in the Southern Premier Division and also includes Merthyr Town and Llanelli as former Clubs.
Also putting pen to paper are new signings Rikki Evans and former club captain and midfielder Richard Ingram who both took a year away from football but are now back in the fold at Aberaman Park. Rhys Tandy (Treharris) and Rhys Jones (Newtown) have signed while Shay Friel re-joins the club after a year with near neighbours AFC Llwydcoed.
Further signings are still being looked at ahead of the start of the season on Friday (11th August) when Aberdare make the journey to face Risca United – the first of four away games to start the campaign.
Meanwhile off the pith the Club have also made two new additions to their committee with Mark Anthony and Ian Pearce both agreeing to join. Anthony will be looking after the Clubs commercial department and building more partnerships with organisations and businesses in the local area after spending a long time running Perthcelyn. Meanwhile Pearce, who was formerly the Managing Director of Southern League Premier Division side Frome Town, will be dealing with the media side of the Club and developing the Clubs online presence including the launch last season of a new Club website.
Aberdare Vice Chairman Bob Price was very pleased to officially welcoming both to the Club “I’d like to welcome both Mark and Ian to the Club and both men will prove invaluable to us with their experience within football and their hard work and ideas which will help our Club progress and achieve our aims as we look to get back into Division One of the Welsh League”.
One thing the Club are trying to do over the course of this season is to increase the attendances at the Welsh League games and hopefully entice some of those who had drifted away over the last few years to return and help put Aberdare back on the football map.
Over the last 12 months the Club have expanded rapidly with the introduction of a ladies team who also play at Aberaman Park and with a successful youth section in both boys and girls football the future looks bright. Add in the Reserves who finished second in the Welsh League Reserve Division last season and the A Team who won the Aberdare Valley Football League there are plenty of opportunities within the Club for more success.
For a Club 125 years old there is plenty of history for Aberdare Town and with an exciting and clear vision, including some superb facilities available to hire for all types of function at reasonable prices, there are hopes that the tide is changing from the last few years and the future looks like adding another exciting chapter to the story – the biggest thing is the Club want the local community to be a part of that so are asking for people to come and give a new Aberdare Town a chance this season
http://www.aberdaretownfc.co.uk/
