The Golden Years - The History of Pantyscallog Village Juniors
15 Aug 2009

The club Pantyscallog Village Juniors eminates from a village located on the edge of the Brecon Beacon National Park, the clubs colours carry a steam locomotive as their badge in recognition of the Brecon Mountain Railway which starts its journey through the countryside from the edge of the Pantyscallog Village.

Pantyscallog (or Pant as it is known) is well renowned for producing many a good team over the years with players of the previous village teams often sharing memories over a pint or two.

The current team has evolved over a 17 year period starting out as Quarrymans FC the name taken from a village pub. The team was originally formed by the legendary John Vinney a 'Foreigner' to the village moving to the area from Cardiff (some say that he was and still is under a police protection Programme); The club became the second team of the village behind their more illustrious counterparts Pantyscallog FC but nevertheless in their first season (1992-1993) finished mid-table in the then second division of the Merthyr Foootball league.

During the course of that season some 'legendary' characters of the village wore the colours of the team for the first time; Who can forget the now famous performances of Alyn 'Talcolm' Price, Kevin 'The Wide Boy' Burvill and of course Andrew 'Specs' Williams who was often seen running up and down the white touchline mostly without the ball as he could not see further than his nose, Gents we salute you!!

All jokes aside the neversay die character of these lads became a trait of the team which has continued through to todays current crop of players.

Quarrymans FC became a home for players who were either whinding down their playing days such as Gerwyn 'Gorgy' Astley, Anthony 'Stato' James, Stephen 'The Ginger Cat' Thomas'and Chris 'The Fittest Man in The World' Cleaver or those who had something to prove these being Dai 'Pretty Boy' Pittham, Ian 'Tuffnell lookalike' Pike and Chris 'Lethario' Galleozzie and although not the most fashionable bunch of names as a group they quickly became a force in the second division securing promotion to the premiership as champions as well as reaching both Merthyr League cup finals, beating Swansea Road in both semi-finals, Swansea Road going on the become Premiership Champions that season. This successful campaign was in no small part down to the training and leadership of Steve 'Old Man' James who had run a number of clubs in the Merthyr League and was well reknowned for ensuring teams were sent out fit and organised.

A change of name to the Cardi FC was implemented before the start of the 1995 - 1996 season with the club relocating to Dowlais.

A good pre season was had with the squad being added too with the signing of Dean 'The Legend'Warner and Rob 'You Would Never Win Without Me' Price, nevertheless consolidation was the target for the year. However all expectation were exceeded with the Quarrymans going into the final game of the season against their arch rivals 'Swansea Road' needing a win to secure the premiership title. A big crowd gathered at the Quarrymans home ground to watch what would have been the first Pant side to win the Merthyr League top division and the Quarrymans lads at first didn't disappoint quickly racing into a 2.0 lead, then as the ball broke Dai 'Pretty Boy' Pittham used his lightning pace to run clear of the defence to charge down on goal as the ball was taken around the keeper his leg was clipped bringing him down for a penalty but from the resulting challenge he sustained a career ending injury to his leg, the penalty was missed and the game ended up a 2.2 all draw, Swansea Road equalising with the last kick of the game.

The blow of losing the premiership in the fashiom of the previous season undoubtdly had an effect on the team as they struggled during the following season with their then manager and now chairman of the club Paul Marshallsea deciding that a fresh face was required to take the club on, up stepped Dai Pittham and Anthony James who led the club for the start of 1997 - 1998 season. A number of players had left the club with new players coming in and that season the club were back where they belonged fighting for the premiership and cups and for the next few seasons Quarrymans came runners up and competed in many cup finals winning their fair share of these finals.

At the end of the 2001 -2002 season Anthony James announced his retirement from the management roll he had served so well leaving Dai Pittham in sole charge for the 2002- 2003 campaign also the club had returned 'Home' and were once more known as the Quarrymans FC. During that campaign there were new kids on the block in the form of Pantyscallog Village Juniors who along with the 'Bluebirds' fought out the chase for the premiership title which Quarrymans FC finally secured, the first Pant side to do so in the history of the Merthyr League. Amateur league status was sought but as the club could not secure facilities to meet the South Wales FA standards it was decided that an application to join the league could not be made.

The following season 2003- 2004 Dai Pittham was joined at the helm by a Robert Price who also continued as a player. The impact of not gaining amateur league status had a major effect on the club with the majority of the successful premier winning team moving onto pastures new, however club stalwarts still remained and without their dedication and commitment the club would have folded. The season proved to be a long hard struggle, the team often turning out with eight players and inevitably the club were relegated to the second division of the Merthyr League.

The then Pantyscallog Village Juniors went on to win the Merthyr Premiership the same year of the Quarrymans FC were relegated and unlike the Quarrymans were accepted into the Senior league where, in the short period they held senior league status, were very successful before their demise during the course of the 2007 - 2008 season.

During the pre-season the club worked hard to secure the services of lads that Robert Price had coached at under 12 level (In doing so came under the umbrella of the Pantyscallog Village Juniors Boys and Girls club) and these lads Chris 'Yeah' Harris, Ryan 'Einstein' Harris and Gregory 'Peck' Murphy became the backbone of the team joining the old school of Anthony 'It wasn't me' Norbury, his brother Andrew 'Will I ever Finish a season' Norbury, Malcolm 'Longest in the shower' Baldwin, Craig 'Sleepy and second Longest in the shower' Morris and the clubs current manager Sean 'First things first' Cronin. For the 2004 - 2005 season Quarrymans FC once again changed their identity now to become known as Pantyscallog Village Juniors. The campaign proved to be a successful with the club bouncing back as champions at the first attempt as well as winning one of the Merthyr League Cups.

Dai and Robert continued to run the side being joined by Sean at the start of the 2005 - 2006 season, Sean having his career cut short through injury. Sean took sole control at the start of the 2008 - 2009 campaign being joined at the back end of the season by an old face in Ian Pike and although not challenging for the premiership title during their time back in the top flight the club have become a force in cup competitions not failing to reach a final since the 2004-2005 campaign.

The Pantyscallog Village Juniors await the start of the 2009 - 2010 season in high expectations with the squad for the season comprising of the backbone of the successful 2004 - 2005 promotion winning side being added to with players from the successful Pantyscallog Village Juniors Senior League players; So all in all the future looks bright with the club looking forward to many many more years of success.

Honours
28 Aug 2010

Ryan News challenge cup winners: 2006 - 2007, 2009 - 2010
Ryan News challenge cup runners up: 2004 - 2005, 2010-2011
Senior Cup winners: 2008 - 2009
RV Jones cup winners: 2007 - 2008,2010 - 2011
John Bevan memorial cup runners up: 2009 - 2010, 2010-2011
Premier division runners up: 2009 - 2010
Division one winners: 2004 - 2005