Newport City Football Club () is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club based in the

Llanwern Llanwern is a village and community in the eastern part of the city of Newport, South East Wales. The name may be translated as "the church among the grove of the alders". Location and populace Llanwern is bounded by the M4 and Langstone t ...

area of the city of

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay * Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

. The club plays in the .

History

The club was formed in 1963 as Spencer Works AFC and joined the

Newport and District Football League The Newport and District Football League (currently billed as The Monmouthshire Building Society Newport and District Football League for sponsorship reasons) is a football league covering the city of Newport and surrounding areas in South Wa ...

. The club eventually moved up to Gwent Premier League, winning it in 1970–71 and 1971–72 and then elected to the Welsh league for the 1972–73 season. They spent most of the next twenty seasons in the middle division of the league until 1988 when they changed their name to ''Llanwern AFC'' to reflect the change of name of the steelworks on whose ground they played. This change coincided with a change in the club's fortunes and they gained promotion to the top division in 1992–93. Newport spent a number of years between the top two divisions, and in 2002 they won the

Welsh Football League Cup The Welsh Football League Challenge Cup (known for a time as the Nathaniel Car Sales League Cup for sponsorship reasons, and not to be confused with the national Welsh League Cup) was a knock-out competition for all members of the divisions tha ...

. In 2003, they re-located to the

Newport Stadium Newport Stadium, also known as Spytty Park, is an association football, Rugby football, rugby and Sport of athletics, athletics stadium in Newport, Wales, Newport, South Wales. It is the home of Gwalia United F.C., Gwalia United FC, Newport City ...

, at the time sharing with nearby neighbours Newport County, where they have played ever since. League re-organisation led to Newport City dropping to Division Three in 2010–11, spending two seasons there before promotion back to Division Two for the 2014–15 season. In May 2016, the FAW agreed that the club could change its name to Newport City FC for the 2016–17 season. With the club being saved at the last minute by Matthew Rake (now Honorary President) they had to look at a rebuild with the squad not at a level to compete in League 2. The club at the time was being led by Crawford Chalmers, who was also a Director of Football at Oxford United. With no experience in Welsh League football, Crawford's tenure saw the side drop to rock bottom of the division. The club bought in Sam Houldsworth as joint manager after a successful period as Assistant at

Pontypridd Town Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

. Houldsworth helped land an unexpected 3–2 victory away to Abergavenny Town in his first game, the team's first win in seven games. A huge revamp of players and staff was not enough to save the club from relegation from Division 2 after a valiant attempt at survival, being adrift by 16 points of safety when Houldsworth was appointed. In the two seasons to follow, the club bought in more players to help the club stay in Division 3 and off the pitch more backroom staff were appointed to help take the club from being a senior men's team and turn it into a club with over 100 players. A successful 2023–24 season saw the side win the

FAW Trophy The FAW Welsh Trophy is a knock-out association football, football competition contested annually by teams from Wales and the borders. The Football Association of Wales is the organising body of this competition, which has been run every year sin ...

after a 5-4 win over

Penrhyncoch Penrhyn-coch is a small village in the community of Trefeurig, Ceredigion, Wales, located between Afon Stewi and Nant Seilo rivers, close to where they merge into Afon Clarach. The village is approximately north-east of Aberystwyth. The vil ...

. City finished second in the 2023–24 Ardal South East and qualified for a Playoff against Ardal South West side

Cefn Cribwr Cefn Cribwr is a village and community in Bridgend County Borough in south Wales. The village is located about 5 miles (8 km) from the centre of Bridgend town, and in-between Bridgend and Pyle. Description The village is situated on a rid ...

. Played at the home of

Penybont Penybont (also sometimes spelled Pen-y-Bont) is a small village and community in Radnorshire, Powys, Wales. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 428. The community includes the settlement of Llandegley. Amenities The vil ...

, Newport beat the Bridgend-based side 2-0 to earn promotion to the second-tier

Cymru South The Cymru South is a regional association football, football league in Wales, covering the southern half of the country. It initially had clubs with semi-professional status. Together with the Cymru North, it forms the second tier of the Welsh fo ...

for the first time in their history. In

2024-25 A coxless four, abbreviated as a 4- and also called a straight four, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain. The crew consists of four ...

, the team achieved their highest ever finish by placing third in the

Current squad

:''As of April 2025.''

Staff and board members

Honours

* Ardal South East **Runners-up: 2023–24 *

**Winners: 2023–24 *FAW Youth League South East **Winners: 2024–25

References

External links

Official website
{{Cymru South Football clubs in Wales Football clubs in Newport, Wales Association football clubs established in 1963 1963 establishments in Wales Welsh Football League clubs Ardal Leagues clubs Cymru South clubs Works association football teams in Wales