The Clwyd Football league underwent various changes in its organization during its existence (1974 – 2009), with modifications in the structure of the divisions that made up the league, the level they represented within the Welsh football system, the teams that made it up and even the category of the participating club.
All this led to a very varied list of clubs that made up the league and that made it difficult for these clubs to become a traditional one within the competition itself. however, based on different criteria such as participation, impact and titles won, we have put together a list with some of the top clubs that played in the Clwyd Football League.
Prestatyn Town FC
It is one of those clubs with a long history (they have been around for over 111 years) that has had to experiment the coldness of the lower divisions of Welsh football to playing European competitions–we all have to remember that participation in the qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League in the 2013-14 season. The club is in the town of Prestatyn in Denbighshire and they are play on the Bastion Road stadium.
Prestatyn Town can boast of having a considerable track record in their country’s football leagues and several of those titles were achieved in the Clwyd Football League (six, to be more specific), highlighting that they were one of the founding clubs and the first to be champion of the league in its first season.
Holywell Town FC
Another very traditional club with a lot of since its foundation in 1880 and has a considerable amount of trophies in its showcases, although they are mostly from lower divisions. The club is located in Holywell, Flintshire, and its home ground is Halkyn Road.
They began their participation in the Clwyd Football League in the 1975-76 season, becoming champions of the Division 5 (fourth tier of the Clwyd Football League during that year). Later, they would achieve promotions that would lead them to play the first tier of the league that they would also win for the first time in the 1986–87 season, a success that they would repeat the following year. In the 1988-89 season, the club would go on to participate in the Welsh Alliance League, leaving its reserve team in the Clwyd Football League.
Saltney Social/Saltney Community Centre
Currently known as Saltney Town FC, the club has had a history full of ups and downs that has led to name changes, disappearances and resurrections in more than 100 years of existence, considering that the club’s first record of existence is from the year 1908. Throughout its history the club was a founding member of some of the leagues that have passed through the structure of Welsh football including the Clwyd Football League in 1974, when they were called Saltney Social.
In their first time in the league they would have a short period and without much significance in terms of results and achievements. However, the club would return under the name of Saltney Community Center at the beginning of the 90s and would establish itself as one of the strongest teams in the competition, being champion once.
Hawarden Rangers
A club that was born in 1974, being one of the youngest in Welsh football and is one of the institutions that works best in youth football, being recognized for this throughout Wales since the intention of its creation was to develop football in the Flintshire region. Hawarden Rangers has a structure of youth teams ranging from Under-6s to a senior team, passing through all intermediate categories, including the reserve team and the first team.
Thanks to that, players who would later become world class stars like Ian Rush or Michael Owen have played for their youth teams. In the case of the former, he hails from that region of Wales, while the Englishman attended Hawarden High School for which he was part of some Hawarden Rangers youth teams.
They would begin their existence in the Clwyd Football League in the 1975-76 season, participating in the so-called Division 2 (first tier of the league at that time). They would be a regular team in the championships of this competition until the beginning of the 21st century although they never managed to establish themselves as league champions.
Caerwys FC
There is not much information on the early years of this club since there are few records of the time and its existence is supported by some photographic evidence, although it is said that its foundation was in 1900 under the name of Caerwys Town. It is believed that during the 1920s and 1930s they played mostly friendly matches without being officially affiliated with the Welsh football association.
In 1983, they would join the Clwyd Football League starting from Division 3, which for that season was the fourth tier of the league. Caerwys FC would remain in the Clwyd Football League system until almost its disappearance in the late 2000s, oscillating between the different levels of it.
Connah’s Quay Nomads FC
Currently, they are the most powerful team in the Cymru Premier (first tier of Welsh football), winning the league in the last two years in addition to other local titles. They have been the representative of Wales in the European stage with their participation in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. The club plays at home at Deeside Stadium.
In the Clwyd Football League, they were one of the founding and most impactful clubs, winning a couple of league titles and being one of the tournament’s entertainers for the first couple of decades of the competition. In the 1980-81 season, they won the Clwyd Football League without losing a single game in addition to winning a total of seven trophies.
Llandyrnog United FC
Another one of the “young” clubs in Welsh football, founded in 1975, is currently playing in the Welsh Alliance League (third tier of football in Wales). They began their existence in football in Division 4 of the Clwyd Football League (at that time, the third tier of the league), where they would become champions in their first participation, achieving promotion to the second tier that would be called Division 2 for the season 1976-77.
The history of Llandyrnog United for the Clwyd Football League was a constant struggle to achieve promotion to the first tier of the league, an achievement that would be accomplished for the 1990-91 season and, surprisingly, they would become champions of the competition in their first season in the Premier Division.
Denbigh Town FC
Formed 141 years ago, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Wales and another of the founders of the Clwyd Football League. They remained for a couple of decades in the league, alternating the first tier with the second tier until in 1994, where they would pass to the Fitlock Welsh Alliance League, leaving their reserves team to participate in the Clwyd Football League, until its disappearance in 2009.
Halkyn United FC
The club is currently called Halkyn Mountain FC, although they have gone through administrative problems to keep participating in the tournaments organized by the Welsh football association. Founded in 1945, the club joined the Clwyd Football League in 1975, starting in Division 3 (the league’s second tier at the time).
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Halkyn United took on a new dimension by achieving promotion from Clwyd League Division 1 (second tier) to Clwyd League Premier (first tier) as champions and then achieving also win the latter in the 1994-95 season, in addition to other local cups.
For the clubs that were part of the Clwyd Football League, their luck has been very varied, having institutions that remain in a leading role within the highest level of Welsh football with an important relevance as well as others that are in a kind of elevator position between the different lower tiers.