RUABON ROVERS (The Recreation Ground)

FAW WELSH CUP 1st QUALIFYING ROUND, RUABON ROVERS 2-7 SALTNEY TOWN, ATTENDANCE: 100 (😏)

With England reaching (and losing to Italy) in the Final of Euro 2020 "Football's Coming Home" seemed to be everywhere this weekend so, with that in mind, I decided to keep it relatively local and head to Ruabon where you could say the Welsh Cup "came home".

The village of Ruabon is intertwined with the history of Welsh football and the Welsh Cup itself as the competition began in an hotel, The Wynnstay Arms, just yards from where today's game took place (naturally, it would have been rude not to have a beverage at his historic venue).

In 1877 local resident, and inaugural Chairman of Football Association of Wales, Llewelyn Kenrick established the competition after being inspired by the FA Cup and in 1878 local the local team, Ruabon Druids, reached the first ever final where they were beaten by 1-0 by Wrexham.

It was Llewelyn Kenrick who established football in Wales as we know it today after reading a challenge in "The Field", a London based newspaper, to arrange a football match between Wales and Scotland or Ireland. He told The Field that the footballers of North Wales accepted the challenge and Wales went on to lose 4-0 to Scotland in March 1876.

In May 1876, a further meeting was called at the aforementioned Wynnstay Arms Hotel in Ruabon where the name the "Football Association of Wales" was agreed and a constitution was drawn up. Welsh football was born and, the rest, as they say...

The Welsh Cup made an appearance at The Rec

It was another little piece of history this afternoon as Ruabon Rovers made their debut in the Welsh Cup competition. The club were formed in 2020 but, due to the Covid pandemic, they never played their first competitive game until last Saturday (when they beat Brymbo Lodge 2-1). Coincidentally, the last competitive game I saw in Wales, back in January 2020, was a Welsh Cup tie as Swansea University lost to Prestatyn Town (the competition was not completed that season and not played at all last season).

Ruabon are the latest club to come out of the village and the first since the demise of Ruabon Villa over fifteen years ago. A favourite son of the village, Mark Hughes, is the Honorary President of the club.

The club play on the Recreation Ground in the heart of the village. The ground is just a pitch with no football furniture but today the club produced a matchday programme and this clearly attracted groundhoppers from far and wide to visit The Rec. Obviously the Covid pandemic means crowds are restricted to 100 but I would say there must have been a few more out and about taking their exercise or walking their dog!

Saltney Town were the opposition today but unfortunately for Ruabon there was no cup upset as the higher ranked opponents cruised through the next round. Despite being on the backfoot from the beginning, it took until the 19th minute for Saltney to make the breakthrough when Thomas Booth scored. However nine minutes later it was four to Saltney as Booth added a second (21) and Corey Mason (23) and Adrian Callaghan (28) netted. Callaghan scored his second on 41 minutes and most of the crowd were anticipating a cricket score.

Ruabon to their credit dug deep in the second half and scored after 51 minutes when Michael Jones headed home. Rovers' Adam Jones saved a penalty from Stephen Chiocchi before Booth completed his hat-trick on the hour. Carl Pleavin (78) made it seven for Saltney but the final word was left to Ruabon skipper Chris Bennion who took advantage of a defensive mix-up to make the final score 2-7.