By James Dow
Ahead of tomorrow’s JD Welsh Cup third round tie at the Recreation Ground, we’ve taken a closer look at Ammanford with Meet the Opposition!
The history
The club was founded as Betws between 1945 and 1946 under some unusual circumstances. During a raffle, a chicken was donated with the revenue going towards the startup of the club. Betws started in the Carmarthenshire League before being elected to the Welsh League, when in 1952 they reached the final of the West Wales Amateur Cup, losing 3-2 to Atlas Sports from Fforestfach at the Vetch Field. Betws rebranded in 1960 to Ammanford Town, due to other teams in the league playing under the name of Betws and the side wanting to avoid confusion over identification of previous seasons.
The mid 1960’s were the club’s most successful period, finishing as champions during the 1965-66 season and finishing runners-up to Cardiff City in the following two seasons. Ammanford AFC, as they are now known, were founded in 1992 after a merger between Ammanford Town and Ammanford Athletic – upon which they were immediately placed in Division One. The Town reached the quarter-finals of the Welsh Cup in 1999, where they were defeated by Conwy United 1-0 over two legs. This was also a strong domestic season for the club, as they were promoted back to Division One at the third time of asking.
Ammanford spent the next two decades moving through the Welsh pyramid system before becoming founding members of the JD Cymru South in the 2019-20 season. Since the league was formed, the Town have been around the mid-table mark, other than last season where they finished third behind runners-up Llanelli Town and champions Briton Ferry Llansawel.
The form
Ammanford have had very mixed form so far this season, with five wins from 14 in the league. They have lost their last two against Pontypridd United and Caerau Ely, but before these results won three games on the bounce, including a fantastic 1-0 away win against Cymru Premier side Aberystwyth Town, which put them into the next round of the JD Welsh Cup. The side currently sit in 11th place, however they are the third highest scorers in the league with 26 goals to date.
The manager
Wyn Thomas was appointed first team manager this summer after the resignation of long-standing boss Gruff Harrison. Thomas was already part of the club’s management team under Harrison, where he had a player-coach role and was part of the side who finished third in the JD Cymru South last season. As a player, Thomas had a distinguished career in Welsh football, starting off at Aberystwyth Town while also having spells at Carmarthen Town, Llanelli Town, Swansea University and the Bluebirds, where he made 46 appearances, scoring three goals over a three-year period between 2003-2006. In a a management role, Thomas was part of the coaching staff at the Seasiders when they qualified for the UEFA Europa League in 2014 before moving to Swansea University, where he helped guide the Students to the JD Cymru South title in 2019-20, with Haverfordwest County AFC being promoted in their place due to them not obtaining the Tier One licence. Since Thomas took over towards the back end of August, he has won six of his 12 matches with the Town, and has a points-per-game average of 1.5.
The captain
22-year-old Morgan Clarke was given the armband this season after veteran Luke Harris left for Morriston Town in the summer. The midfielder started his career at Swansea City, where he played for the both their under-18 and under-21 sides before moving to the Town in 2021. Clarke played a sporadic role during his first few seasons, but really made the central midfield position his own during the 2023-24 season where he made 36 appearances across all competitions for the Town, which included a hat-trick in a 5-4 away win over Taffs Well in the Welsh Blood Service League Cup. So far this season, Clarke has been ever-present for Ammanford in the league, making 14 appearances and registering one assist so far while also making a 30-minute cameo in the previous round of the JD Welsh Cup against Aberystwyth Town.
Key player
Lewis Reed has been the go-to man for goals this season, scoring nine times and providing five assists in the league for Ammanford. The forward started his career at Llanelli Town, where he made six appearances over a 19-month period before moving east to Port Talbot Town. Reed spent one season with the Steelmen, scoring two goals in 13 matches. In order to gain more senior experience, Reed then joined Pontardawe Town where he had a very successful season, scoring 17 goals in 30 appearances for the club, helping them to record a ninth place finish. The 22-year-old was then picked up by Ammanford at the start of last season, where he was a key figure in helping the Town finish in third place, scoring 25 league goals as he finished as the third highest goal scorer in the league, behind only Luke Bowen of Briton Ferry and Alex Bonthron of Cwmbran Celtic.
They wore both shirts
Kai Whitmore was one of a few players who have moved from the JD Cymru Premier over the summer to challenge themselves in the English Football League (EFL), with the midfielder signing for Newport County after his contract with the Bluebirds expired. Whitmore started his career with Ammanford, where he played 10 games before being moving to the JD Cymru Premier in January 2022 when he joined Penybont. His time at the Bont was successful as he featured in all 32 league games in the 2022-23 season, helping the side to achieve a top three finish and booking their place in the then-UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers.
Whitmore made the decision to join the Bluebirds – who had also qualified for Europe – later that summer, playing a pivotal role in the ties woth KF Shkëndija and B36 Tórshavn. The midfielder made 32 appearances across all competitions during his time at the Ogi Bridge Meadow Stadium, scoring four goals, which included a brace against Aberystwyth Town in a 3-0 west coast derby win against the Seasiders. Whitmore made the best start possible to his Exiles career, scoring a fantastic effort from distance on his home debut against Doncaster Rovers as he won man of the match in a 3-1 comeback win against Grant McCann’s side. Since then, he has been troubled by injury, but returned to action in October and scored his first FA Cup goal two weeks ag in the 4-2 defeat at home to Peterborough United – which was his first start in over two months.
