Porth Athletic F.C. was 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 from

Porth Porth () is a town and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. Lying in the Rhondda Valley, it is regarded as the gateway connecting the Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach va ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, which won the

Welsh League The Welsh League was the first club rugby league competition in Wales.Lush (1998), pg. 19 Its inaugural season was in 1908/09 when four additional teams were formed to join Ebbw Vale RLFC and Merthyr Tydfil RLFC, which allowed a league tournam ...

in 1921–22.

History

The first reference to the club is from 1906. It played at a local level until after the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, when the club took a more ambitious attitude, entering the Southern League and

in 1919, the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup (), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most prestigious of the cup competitions ...

for the first time in 1920, and the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

in 1921, and recruiting as manager Frederick G. B. Mortimer, formerly of

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

and Swansea Town. Mortimer was dismissed in acrimonious circumstances in October 1919; it emerged that he had been accused of stealing income tax payments when he worked as a tax collector. In 1920 the club recruited Billy Ball as player-manager from Swansea Town. The club was incorporated in May 1921 in order to raise the funds to buy a new ground at Caermawr, and one of the chief investors was the Rhondda Tramways Company. The club's best season was 1921–22, the squad being made up of "a lot of cast-offs of the Swans Swansea Town">Swansea_City_F.C..html" ;"title=".e. Swansea City F.C.">Swansea Town, in which it won its only FA Cup tie, won through three rounds of the Welsh Cup for the only time, and won the Welsh League. However, the success attracted other clubs to the Bantams' players, Harry Thomas moving as soon as the title was won and forward Alfred Hardy, who had scored 40 goals, moving to Barrow after the season end. After a winless season in the

Southern League in 1922–23, the club went into abeyance. The Welsh League reduced to 16 clubs at the close of the season and Porth failed with its application for membership. The club's last recorded activity is hosting a fund-raising event in 1925 to clear its debts.

Ground

The club originally played at the Tynycymmer Ground. In 1921 it moved to Caemawr Park. The highest crowd recorded there was "about 14,000" for a match against

Ton Pentre Ton Pentre () is a village in the Rhondda, Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Historic counties of Wales, Historically part of Glamorgan, Ton Pentre, a former industrial coal mining village, is a district of the comm ...

on 19 September 1921.

Notable players

* Charles Cotton, signed from Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

in 1920 * Joe Hughes (goalkeeper), who impressed Bristol City in the Southern League so much that the Robins signed him in 1920. *

Harry Thomas, who left for Manchester United F.C.">Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in 1922.

References

{{reflist Association football clubs established in 1906 Association football clubs disestablished in 1925 Defunct football clubs in Wales Southern Football League clubs 1906 establishments in Wales 1925 disestablishments in Wales Welsh Football League clubs Defunct Welsh football clubs in English leagues