Cracking

Barry Town United  6  Ton Pentre  0

Welsh Football League - First Division

I ain't gonna lie to you, Barry Town United are a cracking football team....

Ok, I know, I can hear the groans all the way from Jenner Park because I bet they've never heard a take on that line before!

West Stand @ Jenner Park

For those not familiar with James Corden's brilliant series 'Gavin & Stacey', Barry Island was chosen as the home and indeed the location of Stacey and her unorthodox collection of family and friends. One of her friends was played by the actress Ruth Jones, and her larger than life character had some stock phrases, one of which was the one about Barry Island being a 'cracking' place.

We spent the morning on Barry Island, once it had opened and burst into life. It kept little Master Hatt entertained while we did our best to find shelter from the driving winds. Barry Island is your typical seaside town, albeit on a much smaller scale than the likes of Skegness and Blackpool. I avoided the head spinning rides at Pleasure Park as they looked a bit lively for me, I was focusing more on the fact that Finnegans Inn was just along the way and it had been an early start...

The history of football in Barry is well documented, but to precis the recent history, the well documented period in exile at Worcester in 1992 when the club traded as simply Barri FC came about when the 'Irate Eight' Welsh clubs competing in the English pyramid system decided that the newly formed League of Wales was not for them. However, vastly wealthy backer Neil O'Halloran performed a u-turn just a year later and took the club in to the Welsh League (a step below the LOW), and the fun was about to begin.

And Now The East Stand

O'Halloran's backing lead Barry Town to a straightforward promotion and then on to a period of domination in Welsh football that until the arrival of TNS, looked like being unsurpassed. Seven league titles were won in eight seasons, and that meant European football. Dinaburg, Budapest Vasutas and FK Shamkir were knocked out by Barry, while the mighty FC Porto were beaten at Jenner Park (they were 8-0 up from the first leg to be fair!)

Operating in a full time capacity they simply could not be touched domestically, but when the O'Halloran family pulled the plug on the financial backing, Paula O'Halloran was now at the helm, the club spiraled into crisis.

John Fashanu had a play with it, that went wrong, and then a mysterious backer by the name of Stuart Lovering came on the scene, and amongst his many vastly unpopular moves, was the decision to withdraw the struggling club from the Welsh Football League with two games of the season left to play, ironically both were against today's opponents Ton Pentre. This was in the Summer 2013, and the Welsh Football League decided that the newly formed fans club, Barry Town United, would not be allowed to take the place of their predecessors. The case went to the High Court, the fans won and the club could take it's rightful place.

The Business End @ Parc Jenner

And that's where we are now, two promotions took them to the top flight of the Welsh Football League, and last weekend they won the league and earned their rightful place in the Welsh Premier League, a competition the old Barry Town left in 2004.

It was party time at Jenner Park, the clubs many youth teams lined the pitch pre-match as the players took the field. There was a real buzz about the club, many were wearing club colours and the fans were in good voice.

Jenner Park is impressive, with both the East and West stands dominating the arena. The West Stand is the bigger of the two and contains the TV gantry which they will need for next season. The running track might put some off, but to be fair it doesn't detract at all from the experience, which neither does the 3G pitch that played very well.

With only four league defeats all season, it's been won at a bit of a canter, with no sign of any nerves in the run in, especially as they were playing catch up with games in hand. An 11-0 win over Risca United two weeks ago, followed by a 3-0 victory over Goytre United meant second place was guaranteed and indeed the coveted promotion spot. Last Saturday they won 1-0 at Cambrian & Clydach to seal the league title, and with just today's game to go, I expected nothing short of a home victory.

I wasn't wrong, it was pretty much one way traffic in a game that was more like an exhibition game than a full blooded league encounter. It was 3-0 at half time, with a further three added in the second period, and to be fair it could easily have been more.

It wasn't about the result today though, and as the trophy was presented and the champagne sprayed, you couldn't help but think about the journey Barry Town and it's supporters have been on over the past 25 years.

It's been a rollercoaster by anyone's standards, in fact they had one of those at Pleasure Park, I didn't like the look of it to be fair, but young Master Hatt said it was cracking.

Forza Barry as they also say in these parts, it's been a season to remember.

Guard Of Honour - Stand Up For Barry