Club history

Cwmbran Celtic Football Club was formed in 1925. In the early years the club was known as CYMS (Catholic Young Men’s Society). After the immediate success of winning the Newport & District Division 2 Section A title in 1925/26 there was then a 25-year gap before the next trophy, the Premier Division title in 1950/51. The club disbanded in the late 1950s largely as a consequence of national service call-ups but an influx of junior and youth players brought about the re-forming of the club in 1964 under the new name Cwmbran Catholics. In 1970/71 Celtic won the Gwent Senior Cup. In 1972/73 with playing membership open to all denominations the club dropped the catholic title and re-named as Cwmbran Celtic winning the Gwent Amateur Cup and finishing runners-up in the Gwent Premier League. In 1979 the club bought its own premises at Oak Street, Old Cwmbran, the club’s present headquarters. The club’s ground was in Cwmbran Park but around 1995 they moved to the grounds outside Cwmbran Stadium which were shared with Cwmbran Cricket club. The cricket club later moved to Caerleon and Celtic obtained the lease from Torfaen Council.

Celtic played in the Gwent County League in the 1980s and 1990s and after gaining promotion as champions of Division 2 in 1986/87 they remained in the 1st division for the next 10 seasons. However a disastrous slide found the club languishing in the 3rd division when Paul “Dishy” Richardson became manager in 1999. He transformed the side bringing in experienced ex­Cwmbran Town stalwarts Mickey Copeman and Kevin Payne alongside teenage striker Shane Williamson who for a dozen seasons was top scorer. The side was later bolstered by the return of ex-professionals Ben Graham and Mark Parfitt who had started their careers with Celtic as juniors. There were successive promotions from the 3rd to 1st division between 1999 and 2001 and in 1999/2000 Celtic won the Gwent County league cup.
In 2004/05 under new player-manager Mickey Copeman, the club were runners-up to Clydach Wasps who applied for membership of the Welsh Football League but their ground was adjudged to be not of the required standard. Celtic applied instead. Their ground was also not up to standard but they were shared Cwmbran Stadium with Cwmbran Town and the Welsh League accepted the club’s application.

In their first season in the WFL, 2005/06, Celtic struggled near the bottom of the 3rd division all season. In April they travelled to Chepstow Town needing a win to stay in the league. They went 1 -0 down. With minutes of normal time remaining substitute Jason Price equalised but a draw was not enough. In the 9th minute of time added on player manager Mickey Copeman went up for a corner. The ball was cleared off the goal-line by a Chepstow defender, it hit Copeman on the back and rebounded into the net. Celtic had achieved a last gasp win and, by winning their final match against Seven Sisters, Celtic escaped relegation on goal difference.

The following season, 2006/07, Celtic, now back at their upgraded and newly named ground, Celtic Park, were transformed. They only lost two games and enjoyed a 24-match unbeaten run. They went to Risca for their last match already promoted but needed to win to secure the Championship ahead of Llanwern. With three minutes left Celtic were 1-0 down playing with 10 men after a red card for Kevin Payne. Then Sammy Winter equalised with a speculative long range shot and in the last minute a Risca clearance found full back Ben Graham outside the box. He hit a perfect looping volley over the goalkeeper’s head and into the net. Celtic were champions.

In Division 2 Celtic consolidated their position in 2007/08 and 2008/09 during which they introduced a number of players from their new partnership with Fairwater High School Football Academy in Cwmbran managed by Celtic coach Della Cheedy. In 2009/10 Celtic were front runners destined to win the Championship. However they lost two key defenders at a crucial time and vital points were dropped. Nevertheless Celtic finished their games in 1st place and would win the title if Penrhiwceiber failed to win at Newcastle Emlyn. The home side was 2-0 up at one stage but Ceiber clawed their way back to win 3-2 and deny Celtic the championship. At the end of the season Mickey Copeman stood down after seven years during which he secured three promotions which took the club from Gwent County League to the top division of the Welsh League.

In their first season in the 1st division, 2010/11 under new manager Ben Graham, Celtic struggled for much of the season and were firmly planted in the relegation zone but a superb run-in during which they won seven and drew three of 14 games earned them 12th place out of 16. In 2011/12 a good start was made under Alan Dibble who stepped down in September with the team in 5th place, to be replaced by Gareth Morgan. Either side of Christmas, Celtic were 2nd but they had a dismal end of season run and again finished 12th.

In 2012/13 with head coach Della Cheedy at the helm, Celtic started brightly with some fine performances including a 4-2 win versus reigning champioAns Cambrian & Clydach but they lost their way in the New year and at one stage were in last place. However, with characteristic determination they dragged themselves up the table and sealed another season in the top division with a resounding 5-1 win against Haverfordwest County. Under Steve Morgan in 2013/14 Celtic underperformed finishing 4th from bottom and with Afan Lido relegated from the Welsh Premier League, Celtic were relegated despite appealing to an FAW arbitration. With Della Cheedy back as manager in 2014/15 Celtic finished 7th in Division 2.

In 2015/16 Nicky Church started as manager but he resigned mid-season. Ex Ton Pentre boss Dean Morris took over, won two manager of the month awards, and guided Celtic to the runners­up position and promotion on the back of 10 straight wins. The club also reached the quarter finals of the Welsh Cup, going down 2-1 after a brave fight at home to WPL side Port Talbot. Josh Bull was the Welsh League’s top scorer with 32 league goals.

In 2016/17, back in the 1st Division, Celtic went top of the league early in the season. Dean Morris resigned in March 2017 and first teamer Lee Challenger took over, winning his first five games in charge as the team ended in 6th place, their best position in five seasons in the top tier. In 2017/18 Celtic finished 8th in the league and enjoyed their best ever league cup run, reaching the semi-final before losing to Llanelli Town 3-0. Chris Ham was Welsh Divisionl player of the season and top scorer with 28 league goals. In 2018/19 Celtic finished a disappointing 10th in the League with Lee Challenger resigning in March 2019.

In 2019/20, for the inaugural season of the Cymru League South, Celtic installed Nicky Morgan and Simon Truman as the management team. With nine new signings there was a lot of optimism for a successful season but the team never got going and after a 6-1 drubbing at Pontypridd in January the club regretfully dismissed the management duo. Development team manager James Kinsella took over with Matthew Williams as assistant, the team finishing 13th in a curtailed season due to the pandemic.

In 2020/21, because of the covid pandemic only one game was played, a 2-0 defeat at Pontypridd Town in the Nathaniel MG League cup. In 2021/22 having lost key players, Celtic were involved in a basement battle to avoid relegation. Four successive wins late on took them out of the bottom three and an equaliser in time added on by Andrew Hewitt saved Celtic and took opponents Risca United down into the Ardal League. In 2022/23 Celtic finished 8th. In 2023/24 they finished 10th Alex Bonthron won the Cymru South Golden Boot with 30 goals. Last season, in the club’s centenary season, under new manager Simon Berry, Celtic lost several key players including Alex Bonthron during the season, but Simon recruited a number of young replacements and the team beat Llantwit Major on the last day of the season to finish 13th and avoid relegation.

In 2025/2026, Celtic won one game all season, finished in last place and were relegated to the Ardal SE Division but let’s not dwell on that. Onwards and upwards.

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