Seven Sisters - A Brief History
18 Jul 2009

Although it is known that there was a team in Seven Sisters prior to the 1914/1918 war. It is regrettable that most of the records have been destroyed. The club was reformed in season 1919/1920 and was known as Seven Sisters Old Blues, they were then members of the Swansea and District League. They played on a field above Bryndulais farm, their dressing rooms were at the Bryndulais Hotel.

For the next few seasons the club was at a low ebb with players moving between Banwen, Onllwyn, Crynant and Seven Sisters. Then in the season 1930/31 they joined the newly formed Neath and District League. that season belonged to Seven Sisters being the first ever winners of the Neath and District League , the Ystradgynlais and District Cup and recording the first of three wins of the john Hando Cup beating Pont Merthyr 2-1 on Easter Monday 1931.

In season 1939/40 the club was elected to Division two of the Welsh League, however owing to the war all League games were cancelled and only friendlies were played it is worthwhile noting that during the war Seven Sisters players guested for Swansea city, namely C Herdman, Gwilym Evans and Haydn Phillips.

In season 1947/48 the club rejoined the Welsh League and carried on existing in much the same way as today on raffles and the sale of different tickets. The club held their own in Division two for the next few seasons then on Easter Monday 1950 made their second appearance in the John Hando Cup, this they won beating Hirwaun 4-3 thanks to a hat -rick by Teg Morgan and a late winner from Rudolph Williams the side was captained by Roy Francis who later went to play for Haverfordwest.

In season 1952/53 they lost to Brecon in the final of the corries Cup losing 3-1. then in season 1953/54 they were back in Brecon in the final of the John Hando Cup , this they won again beating Hirwaun 2-1 despite the fact that they played the second half with only 10 men, the goalkeeper Ritchie Davies being taken to hospital with a head injury. The captain of the side was Idwal Williams later to become a well known referee and is at present match appointments secretary with the Welsh League.

In 1970 came one of the highlights in the club�s history with the purchase of the ground and dressing rooms from the local welfare association. It was a struggle to raise the money but with some hard work and a little grant aid the purchase was completed. This really was a big thing in the clubs history being one of the first Welsh League clubs to own its own field.

In the years following not a lot was achieved in the Welsh League, then in season 1982/83 they took the Welsh League record of going 20 games without defeat but even with this record they still failed to get promoted. The next few seasons were pretty grim for the club with many of the committee resigning and sadly a few passed away, but with a few young heads joining the committee and with Wyn Hooper taking over as manager and being helped by Steve Wonnacott as the Neath League manager the club were on the up.

The season of 1989/90 was the icing on the cake with the club being promoted to Division One of the Welsh League, during that season the club finished in the top half if the table. The club enjoyed a few more seasons in the top flight but things started to turn sour.

In the beginning of the season 1992/93 Wyn Hooper left the club, and they also lost 13 players which was a big disappointment to the club only being left with the majority of the second team players who only the season before gained promotion to the Premier League of the Neath League under the guidance of Peter Warnes.

Things over the next couple of seasons went from bad to worse and in season 1996/97 it was a sad time when they got relegated from the Welsh League to the Premier Division of the Neath League, but like so many other clubs who have gone this way and eventually folded this was not the case in Seven Sisters who have a proud history they were determined to bounce back.

With only a small committee to pick up the pieces it was agreed that they should try to get back into the Welsh League and with the new pyramid system in place within the League it gave the club a chance, if they won the Neath League Premier Division. The club approached Chris Pugh to take over the position of manager of the first team and Mike Parsons to be coach and with Chris being an ex-player of the club agreed to take up the challenge of getting the club back into the Welsh League.

Season 1997/98 was an excellent year for the club winning the Premier Division of the Neath League in style and now waiting patiently to see if they would be accepted back into the Welsh League. In May 1998 the club had a visit from representatives of the Welsh League and they agreed that the club met all the requirements and recommended that Seven Sisters be promoted back into the Welsh League. This achievement has created a little bit of history by being the first club to be relegated in one season only to be promoted back into the Welsh League the following.

Seven sisters held their own for a couple of seasons in the third Division then in season 2003/04 they had an excellent year and finished second in the League this getting them promoted to the Second Division.

In season 2004/05 the club didn�t have the best of luck and due to a few injuries to key players they finished third from bottom this getting them relegated back into the Third Division which is where we find ourselves today.

2006/07 saw Julian Fry take charge of the club, and in 2007 Andy Wilde joined the coaching set-up. Whilst at the helm, they attempted to develop the club by adding a youth section, unfortunately it was unsuccessful, and at the end of 2008/09 season both decided they had taken the club as far as they could and chose to move on to pastures new.

At the beginning of the 2009/10 Season the club decided to install Richard Herdman as player/manager, with assistance from both David & Chris Herdman, the new management team have inherited most of the previous years squad as well as signing a few new players.

The 2009/10 season was extremely disappointing for Seven. Despite performing well and finishing the season in 12th position due to the FAW's decision to change the league pyramid sytem to 16 teams Seven were the final team to be cut. Despite several appeals, the FAW upheld their decision leaving Seven to feel very hard done by!!! This decision resulted in Seven dropping into the Premier Division of the Neath League for the second time.

The 2010/11 season was a fairly successful one for Seven despite them not gaining promotion back into the Welsh League. Having lost several key first team players a fairly young and unexperienced Seven side finished the season strongly eventually ending up 3rd in the Neath League Premier Division. 

The 2011/12 season looks promising for Seven as they look to expand on their good first season, The squad remains under the guidance of Richard Herdman who welcomes back Andy Wilde who returns to assist in a coaching capacity. Hopefully 2011/12 will see another successful year for Seven in their bid to return to the Welsh League.