Rhyl Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Pêl Droed Y Rhyl) was a Welsh football club based in Rhyl, a seaside resort town located in Denbighshire. It withdrew from footballing activities in April 2020 and had its entire footballing record for the 2019–20 season expunged. It was formally dissolved 18 months later in October 2021.
During this period of inactivity a phoenix club now known as C.P.D. Y Rhyl 1879 was incorporated at Companies House by three of the sitting Rhyl FC directors of the time, including the chairman and managing director, on 6 May 2020. The team currently play in the Cymru North.
Football Association of Wales regulations do not allow clubs to liquidate and retain league status so the new Rhyl Football Club Limited Company had to re–brand as Clwb Pel–droed y Rhyl 1879 and restart life at the lowest rung in recreational football.
The founding date of 1879 used in the club name is inaccurate. The origins of the club can be dated much earlier and co–incide with the advent of the railway in the town.
Despite the club badge stating 1879, primary sources show the club was actually founded on 25 September 1878 during a meeting at Rhyl Town Hall. The team played its home matches at Belle Vue stadium, which can accommodate 3,000 spectators.
Contents
History
Rhyl Football Club was originally formed on 25 September 1878, following a meeting held at Rhyl Town Hall. At a follow-up meeting a week later, it was decided that the club would play at a field adjacent to the Winter Gardens, and that the club colours would be all black with a white skull and crossbones on the chest. The first club captain was W. C. Langley. The club played in the 1878 Welsh Cup, but lost 1–0 in the First Round against Friars School, Bangor. There were several clubs in Rhyl at the time, one of these being Rhyl Grosvenor FC, who played a floodlit match against Rhyl FC in February 1879. Rhyl Grosvenor amalgamated with Rhyl FC in September 1879, prior to the start of the 1879–80 season.
Rhyl FC became founder members of the Welsh League, formed in 1890, but withdrew the following year. By that point, the club colours were red and black. They reformed as Rhyl Athletic in November 1892 and became founder members of the North Wales Coast League, winning the title in 1894–95, by which time the club was also being referred to as Rhyl or Rhyl Town. Rhyl Amateur joined forces with Rhyl Town in May 1898 and added the Anglo-Welsh competition known as The Combination to the club's fixtures. Despite financial crises, they remained in membership until the league disbanded at the end of the 1910–11 season. Under the name of Rhyl United, they rejoined the North Wales Coast League, but following the First World War, they moved to the North Wales Alliance, before becoming founder members of the Welsh National League (North) in 1921. Rhyl won the title in 1925–26 and became a limited company in 1928 as Rhyl Athletic. In 1929, Rhyl applied to join the Football League but York City became the only non-league team elected to the Third Division North. With North Wales football in turmoil in the early 1930s, Rhyl sought to realise their ambitions elsewhere. Another unsuccessful application to the Football League was made in 1932 before joining the Birmingham and District League. Seeking relief from the onerous travelling to the Birmingham area, Rhyl Athletic successfully applied to join the Cheshire County League in 1936, at the same time as changing their name back to Rhyl, and began one of the most successful chapters in the club's history.
In a post-war purple patch, Rhyl won the league title twice – in 1947–48 and 1950–51 – and the Welsh Cup twice in succession. In 1952, they beat Merthyr Tydfil 4–3 and became the first non-league side in the modern era to retain the trophy, by defeating Chester City 2–1 the following season. Rhyl had been losing finalists to Cardiff City in 1930 and Crewe Alexandra in 1937, but did not feature in the final again until 1993, when they lost 5–0 to Cardiff City. Between 1948 and 1972 Rhyl appeared regularly in the first round proper of the FA Cup. In 1957 Rhyl reached the fourth round proper, beating Notts County 3–1 away before losing 3–0 away to Bristol City; in 1971 they eliminated Hartlepool United and Barnsley before elimination by compatriots Swansea City.
Rivalries
Rhyl shared a fierce rivalry with north Wales coast neighbours Bangor City. Games between the two clubs often drew crowds of over 1,000 and a few have managed to reach over 1,500 spectators, a great rarity in the Welsh Premier League. The police presence was often quite large when the two sides met as away fans travelled in their hundreds. On rare occasions, fighting broke out between the rival fans. In more recent years Rhyl also shared an initially friendlier, but increasingly hot tempered, derby match with close local neighbours Prestatyn Town, mainly due to the two towns being only 3 miles (5 km) apart.
First team honours
League
Welsh Premier League:
Winners (2): 2003–04, 2008–09
Runners-up (2): 2004–05, 2006–07
Cymru Alliance:
Winners(2): 1993–94, 2012–13
Runners-up (2): 2010–11, 2011–12
Cheshire County League:
Winners (3): 1947–48, 1950–51, 1971–72
Runners-up (4): 1948–49, 1949–50, 1951–52, 1955–56
Cheshire County League Division Two:
Runners-up (1): 1981–82
North West Counties League:
Runners-up (1): 1982–83
Border Counties Floodlit League:
Runners-up (1): 1972–73
Cup
Welsh Cup:
Winners (4): 1951–52, 1952–53, 2003–04, 2005–06
Runners-up (4): 1926–27, 1929–30, 1936–37, 1992–93
Welsh League Cup:
Winners (2): 2002–03, 2003–04
Runners-up (4): 2004–05, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10
FAW Premier Cup:
Runners-up (1): 2003–04
Cymru Alliance Cup:
Winners (2): 1992–93, 2011–12
Runners-up (1): 1993–94
NWCFA Challenge Cup:
Winners (14): 1927–28, 1929–30, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1938–39, 1947–48, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1969–70, 2003–04, 2005–06
Welsh Amateur Cup:
Winners (1): 1972–73
Cheshire League Challenge Cup:
Winners (3): 1948–49, 1951–52, 1970–71
Runners-up (2): 1955–56, 1957–58
Northern Premier League President's Cup:
Winners (1): 1984–85
European results
Notes
1R: First round
1Q: First qualifying round
2Q: Second qualifying round
Records
Biggest Welsh Premier win: 7–0 v Llanelli, 2000
Biggest Welsh Premier away win: 7–1 v Cwmbran Town, 2006
Biggest Welsh Premier defeat: 0–10 at The New Saints, 28 August 2016
Best FA Cup performance: Third round (1970–71)
Best FA Trophy performance: Second round (1987–88)