Caernarfon Town FC is a football team, playing in the League of Wales. The club are nicknamed The Canaries because of their yellow and green strip. They play at The Oval, Caernarfon.
History The early years The first known football club in the town of Caernarfon was Caernarvon Athletic, formed in 1876 and playing at various locations in the town before settling at the club's present ground, The Oval, in 1888.
Athletic went out of existence in 1893 but a new club, Caernarvon Ironopolis, was formed two years later reaching the semi finals of the Welsh Cup in 1900 and 1902 before disbanding following a dispute with the North Wales Coast League in 1903. Former players of the 'Nops' formed two new clubs, Caernarvon Colts and Caernarvon Royal Welch Fusiliers which came together in 1906 to form Caernarvon United.
After the Great War, United players came together to reform Caernarvon Athletic and the club enjoyed great success in the North Wales League as well as a famous victory over Darlington in the first round of the FA Cup in 1929. In 1930 the Club went into liquidation and, despite resurfacing a few years later, it soon disappeared again.
Caernarfon Town In 1937 a group of football fans formed Caernarfon Town and, following many successful seasons in the Welsh League (North), the club was granted permission by the Football Association of Wales to apply for membership of the Lancashire Combination in 1980. The Canaries won the Championship in 1981 before the league merged with the Cheshire County League to form the North West Counties Football League. In 1985 Caernarfon Town were runners up in the First Division of the North West Counties League and were elected to the Northern Premier League. The 1986/87 season saw the Canaries enjoy their best ever season when, under manager, John King, they defeated Stockport County and York City in the FA Cup, before going out to Second Division Barnsley following a third round replay. Caernarfon finished third in the Northern Premier League for consecutive seasons, arguably their best ever standing.
In 1995, the Caernarfon Town board of directors voted to join the recently-formed League of Wales. In 1999/2000 the Canaries were relegated but they bounced straight back winning the Cymru Alliance the following season. They have followed their return to the top flight with seasons of under-achievement, under-investment and a sense of resigned fatalism. |