Cefn Druids A.F.C.


Cefn Druids Association Football Club is an association football team based in the village of Cefn Mawr, Wrexham.
The club was founded in 1872 by Llewelyn Kenrick who would later go on to found the Football Association of Wales. Following several mergers through the club's history, in 1992 it became Cefn Druids AFC with the amalgamation of Cefn Albion F.C. and Druids United. The club is one of the oldest and most successful in Wales, winning the Welsh Cup 8 times and competing in 14 finals, most recently in 2012. The club has seen a resurgence in recent times with a successful run in the top flight, securing their best ever league finish and winning the European Play-Off, taking them into the Europa League for the second time.
In 2021–22, the club played in the Cymru North after being relegated from the Cymru Premier but withdrew ahead of the 2023–24 season due to the management and playing staff leaving over unpaid wages and a transfer ban by Fifa. The club reformed in the 2024–25 season to play in the North East Wales Football League Championship Division. They currently play in the.
The team's first choice strip is black and white striped shirts, black shorts and black socks. The second choice strip is red shirts, red shorts and red socks for the 2019–20 season. The club's official kit is produced by Italian kit giant Errea with sponsorship by Wrexham Lager and Johnstown Tyre Service.

Stadium

Planning permission for a 3,500 capacity stadium at the Rock, Rhosymedre, was given in March 2009, subject to approval from the Welsh Assembly and Health and Safety Executive. Delays to the beginning of construction put the project back by 12 months and the club moved into the new stadium in August 2010. The club has previously played at Plas Kynaston Lane in Cefn Mawr.

History

For a full history see; List of football seasons involving Cefn Druids and its predecessor clubs
The team take their prolific history from the famous old Welsh team Druids FC who were founded in the early 1870s. They had won the Welsh Cup on no less than 8 occasions and have finished runners-up five times but fell on hard times with the advent of professional football. Druids were ancient mystic men throughout Celtic civilisation and were closely associated with Wales.

Club formation

It is claimed by the later club that Druids FC formed in 1872 when Plasmadoc FC merged with Ruabon Rovers and Ruabon Volunteers under the guidance of Llewelyn Kenrick. Contemporary sources refute this version of events.
It was reported that on 6 October 1872, the opening game of a Football Club for the district was played at Plasmadoc Park. Mr George Hampden Whalley was selected as the captain of the club. On 23 October 1872 a meeting was held by Ruabon Rovers at the Wynnstay Arms where the Club committee was selected. It included people like David Thomson and Dr Daniel Grey. George Hampden Whalley was elected as president. Whalley would later also hold this position when the club became Druids and at rival club Ruabon FC.
In February 1873 Ruabon Rovers played a fixture against Ruabon Volunteers, which shows these clubs were both still Active after the merger date proposed by the modern day club. Ruabon Volunteers were also known as the 2nd Denbighshire Volunteers so were actually a Military team.
In September 1873 the club was still known as Ruabon Rovers as evidenced in the annual meeting of the club, where a number of influential people, later associated with Druids were present and held key roles, such as David and George Thomson. The issue of the club's foundation is further muddied when Llewelyn Kenrick was present at the founding of a football club in Ruabon in September 1873.
The name of the club appears interchangeable between Ruabon Rovers and Plasmadoc in 1873, and the club was often referred to as the Plasmadoc Club from 1874 up until 1876. When speaking in 1882, Llewelyn Kenrick stated that the club had been started by David Thomson in 1874 as the Plasmadoc Club.

Druids FC

The name Druids does not appear in the local press until January 1876. By 1877 the club were commonly referred to as Druids Football Club.
The club were allowed to play at Plasmadoc Park by George Hammond Whalley MP. However following his death in 1878 Druids lost the use of the Plasmadoc Ground. Because of this, Druids were forced to withdraw form the 1878–79 edition of the Welsh Cup. This resulted in the Club folding and many players, including Kenrick, leaving the club. The club did not play any further games for over a year until it was revived in November 1879.
Salvation was found in the form of the Williams-Wynn family as they allowed the club to use an area of the Wynnstay Estate, which became Wynnstay Park and home to the Druids for the next forty years.
With their new home Druids once again entered the Welsh Cup and the 1879–80 edition saw the start of an era of success for the Ruabon Club. Druids reached the Welsh Cup final seven consecutive times between 1879 and 1886 winning the trophy five times. Druids also had some success in the FA Cup reaching the Fifth Round in 1882–83 and the Fourth Round in 1884–85
After seven years of success in Welsh football Druids would begin to suffer with the advent of professionalism. Druids failed to reach further than the Second Round in the Welsh Cup until the 1892–93 season. The earlier success in the FA Cup was also not to be matched as after 1887–88 they did not progress to the First Round proper again.

Mergers

In September 1888 at a meeting at the Wynnstay Arms, the club was reformed when they merged with neighbours Ruabon Wanderers. It was decided to retain the name Druids as it was a well known title. A follow-up meeting was held at the Bricklayers Arms, Ruabon where the committee was selected. Llewelyn Kenrick was present at this meeting.
After World War I, Druids FC ceased to exist when they merged with Rhosymedre to form Rhosymedre Druids. Despite this new pairing, Druids still faced financial trouble and amalgamated once more in August 1927 with Acrefair United F.C. to form a new club Druids United.
In 1992 after many years of discussion the inevitable amalgamation of Druids United and Cefn Albion F.C. took place to end the internal village soccer rivalry in the village of Cefn Mawr. The new look club took the bold step of applying to join the new Cymru Alliance. The joint resources of the clubs could be focused on a revival of football fortunes in the village of Cefn Mawr.

Oldest club

Contrary to the club badge and sign above the club house proclaiming the club to be the oldest in Wales, these claims are erroneous.
The now defunct Oswestry Town claim a formation date of 1860 which predates Druids, although again primary sources refute this and 1875 is more likely. Geographically they were located in England, though the team has participated in the Welsh system and were early members of the Welsh FA, and would thus consider themselves a Welsh side.
When the National Library of Wales digitised its Newspaper Archive in 2012, new evidence was discovered that proved Wrexham AFC were formed in 1864 which pre-dates the formation of the original Druids FC by 8 years, thus making Cefn Druids claims of being the oldest club in Wales erroneous.
Cefn Druids can claim to originate from one of the oldest existing teams located in Wales, thus making it also one of the oldest football clubs in the world outside England via descent. This could be reflected in club's nickname, 'The Ancients', however Druids FC were referred to as 'The Ancient Britons' in multiple historical sources as far back as 1893, so the nickname is actually derived from Celtic history rather than the age of the club.
Druids can still claim via descent to be the oldest club playing in the Welsh Pyramid.
SeasonPos.League
1992–937Cymru Alliance
1993–948Cymru Alliance
1994–955Cymru Alliance
1995–968Cymru Alliance
1996–975Cymru Alliance
1997–983Cymru Alliance
1998–991Cymru Alliance
1999–0013League of Wales
2000–0113League of Wales
2001–0214League of Wales
2002–0312Welsh Premier League
2003–0413Welsh Premier League
2004–0517Welsh Premier League
2005–0614Welsh Premier League
2006–0714Welsh Premier League
2007–0812Welsh Premier League
2008–0913Welsh Premier League
2009–1018Welsh Premier League
2010–113Cymru Alliance
2011–126Cymru Alliance
2012–132Cymru Alliance
2013–141Cymru Alliance
2014–1511Welsh Premier League
2015–162Cymru Alliance
2016–178Welsh Premier League
2017–185Welsh Premier League
2018–1910Welsh Premier League
2019–20-Welsh Premier League

Flexsys Cefn Druids

The club steadily consolidated in the Cymru Alliance, helped by a renewed youth policy, and under Gareth Powell, recruited from Lex XI and former manager of Brymbo FC, strolled to the 1998/99 Cymru Alliance championship, scoring over 100 goals. They were promoted into the League of Wales. Eventually Druids finished the season 13th with 41 points from 34 games and this was definitely a successful campaign as they easily avoided the drop back down to the Cymru Alliance.
Druids embarked upon season 2000–01 with a lot of confidence. However, on the evening of 23 May 2001 Gareth Powell phoned his players telling them of his decision to resign as manager and to make a clean break from football.
After the appointment of ex-Rochdale midfielder Steve O'Shaughnessy in the summer of 2001, the Ancients experienced their best results since the halcyon Welsh Cup days of the late 19th century and early 20th century.
The 2001–02 season was a season of consolidation in the Cymru Premier finishing in 14th place. However, in the Welsh Cup after victories over Llangefni-Glantraeth, Ruthin Town, Halkyn United and Welshpool Town, Cefn found themselves in the semi-finals of the Welsh Cup for the first time in 98 years. It was not to be, as a Marc Lloyd-Williams inspired Bangor City won 5–0 at Belle Vue, Rhyl on 6 April 2002.
The 2002–03 season was a financially difficult one with the playing and management staff going weeks without payment at one point in the season. This even forced O'Shaughnessy to resign out of principle during this time. Fortunately, he returned after reassurances were given. On the pitch, Cefn finished in a highly respectable 12th place.