Garden Village A.F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Garden Village
fullname = Garden Village Association Football Club


nickname = Village, The Canaries
founded = 1922
ground = Stafford Common, Kingsbridge
capacity = 2,000 (all standing)
chairman = flagicon|Wales Lynn Jones
manager = flagicon|Wales Ceri Griffiths
assistant = Paul Lewis
league = Welsh Football League Second Division
season = 2007-08
position = Welsh Football League Second Division, 6th (of 18)
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=000000|body1=FFFFFF|rightarm1=000000|shorts1=000000|socks1=000000
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=#00FFFF|body2=#00FFFF|rightarm2=#00FFFF|shorts2=#00FFFF|socks2=#00FFFF

Garden Village Association Football Club is a football club, based in Swansea, south west Wales and currently playing in the Second Division of the Welsh Football League. The club is affiliated to the Football Association of Wales (FAW), West Wales Football Association (WWFA), Welsh Football League and the Carmarthenshire Association Football League.

Club History

Garden Village A.F.C. was founded in 1922 and started playing football at Swansea League level before joining the Carmarthenshire League mid-way through the 20th century. After a number of league and cup successes over the years, Village gained promotion into the Welsh Football League at the end of the 1998/99 season after finishing second in the Premier Division of the Carmarthenshire League, and successfully beating Neath League team Cwmamman United in the Welsh League promotion play-off for west Wales.

In only their first season of Welsh League football, they secured promotion by finishing third in Division 3 behind Garw and Ely Rangers - one point ahead of fourth-placed AFC Llwydcoed - and also fared well in the Welsh Cup; a run that saw them dispose of Pontyclun and Ely before being knocked out by then League of Wales side Inter Cardiff 5-0 at Cardiff Athletics Stadium.

The Second Division proved to be a much tougher test for Village but they managed to finish a respectable eighth in their first season. They did, however, manage to secure promotion at the second attempt when they won the Second Division championship at the end of 2001/02 with a 3-2 win in their final game of the season at relegated Chepstow Town.

Village had just one short spell in the top flight of Welsh League football before they were relegated at the first attempt. After an excellent run of form towards the end of the season, which almost kept them up, other teams hit similar form and Village narrowly missed out on survival, finishing two points adrift of Ely Rangers.

In the last three seasons they’ve finished 6th, 5th and 9th respectively and next season will be hoping to stay consistent and push for promotion back to Division 1.

Village’s Stafford Common home is greatly admired by visiting teams and their supporters and has been credited as having an exceptional playing surface. The ground is always improving and last summer the club opened its new changing room facilities at the end of the main pitch.

Form since joining the Welsh League

West Wales Senior Cup

Wed May 16, '07: Neath Athletic 2 - 1 Garden Village

Garden Village were victims of a late smash and grab job by Welsh League champions Neath Athletic who ensured that the Tony Nakonecznyj West Wales Senior Cup would return to Llandarcy Park for a third time for a third time. An impressive first-half performance saw the visitors take the lead through Lee Rastatter shortly before the break, but it was the same player who put through his own net on 76 minutes to level the scoreline. Neath now had the momentum and in the very last minute were awarded a penalty which was converted by Jarrod Price.

Club Honours

*West Wales Senior Cup : Runners-Up (2006/07)

*Welsh League Cup : Semi-Final (2005/2006)
*Welsh League Division 2 : Champions (2001/2002)
*Welsh League Division 3 : Third Place (1999/2000)
*Welsh League Reserve Cup : Runners-Up (2001/2002)

*Carmarthenshire League Premier : Runners-Up (1989/1990, 1997/1998 & 1998/1999)
*Carmarthenshire League Division 1 : Champions (1988/89) / Runners-Up (1977/78)
*Carmarthenshire League Division 2 : Champions (2001/2002 & 2004/2005)
*Carmarthenshire League Division 3 : Runners-Up (1999/2000)
*Carmarthenshire League Reserve Division 1 : Champions (2005/2006)
*Carmarthenshire League Reserve Division 2 : Champions (1990/1991 & 1998/1999)
*Carmarthenshire League Reserve Division 3 : Champions (1989/1990 & 1996/1997)
*Carmarthenshire League Senior Cup : Winners (1989/1990, 1994/1995, 1996/1996 & 1996/1997) / Runners-Up (1990/1991 & 1992/1993)
*Carmarthenshire League TG Davies Premier Cup : Runners-Up (1998/1999)
*Carmarthenshire League Challenge Cup : Winners (1988/1989)
*Carmarthenshire League Darch Reserve Cup : Winners (1993/1994, 1999/2000 & 2000/2001) / Runners-Up (1981/1982, 1990/1991, 1991/1992, 1996/1997 & 1997/1998)

*Lliw Valley Summer Cup : Winners (1978/1979, 1990/1991, 1992/1993, 1994/1995, 1997/1998, 1998/1999 & 1999/2000) / Runners-Up (1979/1980, 1989/1990 & 1991/1992)

*Swansea League Investiture Cup : Runners-Up (1968/1969)
*Swansea League Gwalia Cup : Runners-Up (1938/1939)

*West Wales Youth Cup : Winners (2003/2004)

Welsh Cup Record

Teams

The club run four senior sides in:
*Welsh League Second Division
*Welsh League Reserve Division West
*Carmarthenshire League First Division (Third Team)
*Carmarthenshire League Reserve Division One (Fourth Team)

The club also run a number of Junior sides, including:
*Under-6s & Under-7s (Friendly Mini Football)
*Under-8s to Under-11s (Swansea Junior League Mini Football)
*Under-12s to Under-14s (Swansea Junior League)
*Under-15s & Under-16s (Carmarthenshire League)
*Under-11 Girls (West Wales Women & Girls League Mini Football)
*Under-13 Girls (West Wales Women & Girls League 9-a-side)
*Under-15 Girls (West Wales Women & Girls League)

Notable Former Players

Players to have played for Garden Village and in the Football League include: Alex Davies (Swansea City), Jamie Davies (Swansea City), Craig Draper (Swansea City), Robert Duffy (Rushden & Diamonds F.C.), Richard Evans (Plymouth Argyle, Yeovil Town & Newport County), Andy Mumford (Swansea City) and Anthony Wright (Oxford United)

Former Swansea City and Wales midfielder Leighton James, a former Junior at the club, helped the club to the Welsh League Second Division title as first team coach in 2001/2002.

External links

* [http://www.sportnetwork.net/main/s221/ Official Website]
* [http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?local=leisure&scale=25000&title=Stafford%20Common%2C%20Garden%20Village%20Football%20Club&lon=-4.0368&lat=51.66&icon=x Map of Stafford Common, home of Garden Village Football Club]
* [http://www.eteamz.com/gardenvillageafc Official Junior Website]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/ult/gardenvillage/ Garden Village Junior Girls Teams Website]
* [http://www.welshleague.org Welsh Football League]
* [http://www.wwfa.info West Wales FA]
* [http://www.faw.org.uk Football Association of Wales]