By James Dow

Ahead of today’s JD Cymru Premier MD9 encounter at the Ogi Bridge Meadow, we’ve taken a closer look at Barry Town United with Meet the Opposition!

History

Barry Town United were founded in 1892, but went through several changes in name and home ground before becoming Barry AFC in 1912. The 1920–21 season proved a landmark year as the Linnets won the Southern League’s Welsh Section. Later in the decade, the club also enjoyed memorable moments in the FA Cup, including a victory over Dagenham and Redbridge in front of 6,000 fans at Upton Park, before bowing out to Brighton and Hove Albion ten days later.

After the Second World War, Barry secured further success, lifting the Welsh Cup for the first time in 1955 with a thrilling 4–3 win over Chester City at Ninian Park. The 1980s brought further dominance on the domestic stage, with the club focusing on Welsh competitions and winning six Welsh League titles across the decade.

The early 1990s brought turbulence as Barry initially re-entered the English system, even spending a season as Barri AFC and playing home fixtures at Worcester City, before returning to Wales in 1993 under pressure from the FAW. What followed was the most successful era in the club’s history. In their first season back, Barry won immediate promotion to the top-flight while also claiming a remarkable domestic quadruple: the Welsh League Championship, Welsh League Cup, FAW Trophy, and Welsh Cup—beating Cardiff City in front of 16,000 at Cardiff Arms Park.

Turning full-time shortly afterwards, Barry became the first League of Wales side to reach the opening round of European competition. Over the years they faced high-profile opponents such as Aberdeen and Dynamo Kyiv, with their most famous European night coming in 2001–02 against Portuguese giants FC Porto. Despite suffering an 8–0 defeat away, Barry stunned the visitors in the return leg with a 3–1 victory at Jenner Park—a result still remembered as one of the greatest in Welsh football history.

Barry would not return to Europe until 2019 when they finished third in the JD Cymru Premier and travelled to the Faroe Islands to face NSÍ Runavík, eventually losing 5–1 in Toftir. In the modern era, Barry have re-established themselves as one of the top sides in the Cymru Premier, consistently pushing for a top-six finish and striving to return to European competition for the first time since 2002.

Form

The Linnets head into the match unbeaten in their last three games, with their most recent outing a goalless draw with Flint Town United on Saturday. Barry currently sit seventh in the table with 10 points, having recorded wins over Llanelli Town and Bala Town, with their only defeats coming against two of the league’s top three – Caernarfon Town and Penybont.

The club will also return to the Ogi Bridge Meadow in November for the Nathaniel MG Cup quarter-finals, after overcoming Aberystwyth Town and Llanelli Town in the earlier rounds.

Manager

Steve Jenkins joined Barry in 2023 and, during his time at the club, has held several key roles including technical coach, director of football, and head coach.

As a player, Jenkins enjoyed a distinguished career in the EFL and earned 16 caps for Wales. A full-back by trade, he began his career at Swansea City, where he was part of the squad that lifted the Football League Trophy in 1994. He then moved to Huddersfield Town, spending seven years with the Terriers, making over 250 appearances, captaining the side and enjoying a brief loan spell with Birmingham City in 2000.

Following his time at Huddersfield, Jenkins represented several other EFL clubs including Cardiff City, Notts County, Peterborough United, Swindon Town, and Newport County, before finishing his playing career as a player-coach at Llanelli Town.

His full-time coaching career began in 2013 with his first managerial role at Monmouth Town. After eight months, he became assistant manager to Peter Beadle at National League side Hereford United. Jenkins then returned to his hometown to manage Merthyr Town, spending two seasons with the Martyrs. Further assistant manager roles followed at Hereford and Barnet, before joining Cardiff City for the 2021–22 season. Initially appointed U18s assistant coach, he was promoted to U18s manager five months later.

Jenkins joined Barry in 2023, initially serving as head coach until the end of Phase One last season, before moving into the role of director of football, with Andy Legg taking over first-team duties. Jenkins has now returned to the dugout, retaking the management position for the current campaign. Jenkins has taken charge of 63 matches for Barry to date, securing 24 wins and averaging 1.38 points per game.

Captain

Callum Sainty took over the captain’s armband this season following the departure of club legend Kayne McLaggon to Cymru South side Newport City.

The 29-year-old began his career in local football with Ely Rangers before joining Caerau Ely in 2014. After a season-and-a-half with the Young Guns, he moved to Barry for his first spell at the club. Sainty played a key role in helping the Linnets secure promotion to the Welsh Premier League in 2017 and netted his first top-flight goal against Carmarthen Town the following September.

He then spent a short spell with National League side Hereford United before returning to Barry in 2019, where he has remained ever since, making over 160 appearances. This season, he has scored twice in nine outings—first in a 2-1 Nathaniel MG Cup win over Aberystwyth Town in August, and again in a 3-2 league defeat to Penybont three weeks later.

Key player

Ollie Hulbert has been a key figure in Barry’s attack since joining from Yeovil Town in 2023.

The forward began his career with Bristol Rovers, progressing through their academy before moving to the Cymru Premier in 2020 on loan at Cardiff Metropolitan. Hulbert made an immediate impact, scoring 14 goals in 23 league appearances during his debut season in Wales. His form earned him further loan opportunities in the National League, first with Hereford United and then with Gloucester City, where he registered nine goals in 32 appearances.

In 2022, Hulbert joined Yeovil Town but found opportunities limited, instead spending the second half of the season on loan at Leamington, scoring three times in 21 appearances. A year later, he returned to Wales to sign for Barry. In his first season with the Linnets, Hulbert made 30 league appearances, scoring 11 goals and providing five assists. He built on that in his second campaign, netting 15 times in 29 Cymru Premier matches to help Barry reach the play-offs.

Hulbert has continued his strong form into the current season, scoring three goals in nine appearances across all competitions, most recently in the Linnets’ 4-0 victory over Bala Town.