Tag Archives: Club History

Unbelievable Barry Town – Nathaniel MG Cup Champions 2026

A fantastic brace from Ieuan Owen saw Town get their hands on the Nathaniel MG Cup for the first time since 2000.

Town went in to the game as “underdogs” from the outside world but within the club everyone had belief this could be the year.

Town reached Saturday’s final in Bridgend after defeating Llanelli, Haverfordwest County and Cambrian United along the way.

The buildup to the game was overshadowed by events off the pitch with the passing of Callum Sainty’s father and Eliot Richards cancer diagnosis.

Back in October chairman Mark Barrett told the group he had been diagnosed with cancer in what was an extremely brave move.

These off field events made an already together team more together and added extra determination to make Saturday a memorable one after a tough few months.

BRIDGEND, WALES – 28 FEBRUARY 2026: Barry Town team photo during the 2025/26 Nathaniel MG Cup Final fixture between The New Saints FC & Barry Town United AFC at the Dragonbet Stadium, Bridgend, Wales (Pic by Lewis Mitchell/FAW)

From minute one of the match you could tell every man in Barry yellow and blue believed something special could happen.

Town started the much better side and put the TNS backline under pressure early doors.

From pre game to post match the travelling fans were immense and the positive start by Town just fired them up even more.

On the stroke of half time Ieuan pounced on a mix up at the back from TNS and gave Town a deserved lead heading in to the break.

The Saints somewhat improved in the second 45 but despite getting in a few good positions they just couldn’t take any of their chances and you stated to feel this could be Town’s day.

Joe Thomas has played in every MG Cup match this season and played his part in keeping Town keeping a clean sheet when eventually called upon.

As the match went on the belief that something special could be on the cards grew and in stoppage time at the end of the match Ieuan Owen secured it once and for all.

Again pouncing on a mistake at the back for TNS, Ieuan was there to find the net from long range to send every Barry fan into raptures.

So that was it, history was made a first MG Cup success since 2000 and Town were able to avenge TNS for the 2017 final.

A win that will be remembered by everyone but more importantly a massive win for the club and community after recent months.

By Tierre Miller

Triumphant at the Racecourse

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of Town’s epic Premier Cup win

It’s 25 years since the Town defeated Wrexham at the Racecourse to lift the 1998-99 FAW Premier Cup title

The FAW Premier Cup started life in the 1997-98 season as the FAW Invitation Cup as a way of bringing in the English Football League clubs into domestic competition for the first time since their entry into the Welsh Cup was removed.

In 1997-98, the format included Cardiff City, Swansea City, Wrexham, Merthyr Tydfil, and four Welsh Premier (now Cymru Premier) sides Barry Town, Bangor City, Conwy United and Newtown. The inaugural winners of the competition were Wrexham.

For the 1998-99 season, the Premier Cup saw three groups of four clubs, with the best place teams from the group stages going through to the knock-out stages.

The Group Stage

Barry Town was placed in arguably the toughest group, Group B, alongside Swansea City, reigning champions Wrexham, and Caernarfon Town.

Kick-starting the tournament at the end of August, just weeks after playing Kyiv in the Champions League at Jenner Park, our first opponents were the reigning champions, Wrexham.

Already 2-1 up through Richard Jones and a Wrexham own goal, Darren Davies scored a terrific goal to put the Town 3-1 up, the tie eventually finishing 3-2 in our favour. We were off to a great start against the one Football League side who took the competition seriously.

There was a break in Premier Cup activity until the autumn, when the group stages took centre stage during November and December.

For the Town, we drew 1-1 with Swansea City at the Vetch, a fabulous 2-0 win over Swansea at Jenner Park with goals from Eifion Williams and Richard Jones (by penalty), a 1-0 loss to Wrexham at the Racecourse, followed by a 1-0 win over the Cofis at the Oval through a goal by Lee Barrow.

The Group B stage was completed, with us in top spot, with a 3-1 Jenner Park victory over Caernarfon following a hat-trick by Eifion Williams over his old club.

Quarter Finals

The Quarter Finals took place during February/March 1999 with Inter Cable-Tel beating Cwmbran Town, Wrexham beating Newtown, and Cardiff City beating Swansea City 3-2.

We took on Merthyr Tydfil at Jenner Park on 16 March 1999, with Richard Jones sliding home what would be the winning goal on the half hour mark.

The Semi Finals

The semi finals were two-legged affairs during April and May 1999, but the biggest news for Barry Town at that point was the sale of Eifion Williams to Torquay United in March.

As it happened, we cruised past our opponents, Inter Cable Tel 5-1 on aggregate, while Wrexham knocked out Cardiff City 4-3 on aggregate (beating City 3-1 at the Racecourse, but City winning 2-1 at Ninian Park). So it would be a Wrexham vs. Barry Town FAW Premier Cup Final at the Racecourse on 23 May 1999.

The Final

Justin Perry opened the scoring for us on 57 minutes, with a headed goal, before Karl Connolly converted a highly contentious penalty decision 15 minutes later. With the clock winding down to potential Extra-Time a rare Barry Town corner, only the second of the entire match, taken by Danny Carter, was met by the head of a climbing Lee Barrow.

Barry Town had beaten Wrexham in Wrexham to lift the FAW Premier Cup. The season ended with the Town completing a Treble of Welsh Premier League champions, League Cup winners and Premier Cup winners. Marvellous!

Barry Town 1999