Barry Town
MEMBERSHIP 
Season - 1994/1995
GROUND
Jenner Park, Barry
FOUNDED
1912
WEBSITE
here
HIGHEST VICTORY
12-0 v Cemaes Bay in 1998
HIGHEST DEFEAT
2-5 v. Flint Town United.
HISTORY
Barry Town FC dominated the League of Wales during the 1990s, but finished bottom in 2003-04 and were relegated to the Welsh Football League First Division.
The club was formed in November 1912 as Barry A.F.C. The club's first honours came when they won the Southern Football League Welsh Section in 1921 and their sixty year membership of the Southern League ended only in 1982 when the club resigned to join the Welsh League. They dominated the league, winning five successive championships between 1982-83 and 1986-87, with a sixth in 1988-89.
This lack of challenge led to the club returning to the Southern League in 1989 but following the creation of the League of Wales in 1992, Barry Town were exiled for their decision not to join the new organisation. In exile, they went under the name Barri F.C. and shared the ground of Worcester City FC for one season, before deciding to return to Wales.
They spent the 1993-94 season in the Welsh Football League First Division, but it was a memorable one - they won the championship, the League Cup, the Welsh Cup for the first time since 1955 and were promoted to the League of Wales. Barry's reward for winning the Welsh Cup was a European Cup Winners Cup tie against FK Zalgiris Vilnius of Lithuania, but they crashed out 7-0 on aggregate. However, greater glory was on the horizon.
Barry won their first League of Wales title in 1996, the first of 7 championship wins in 8 seasons. In the 1996-97 UEFA Cup they beat the Latvian representatives Dinaburg, then Hungarian side Budapesti Vasutas on penalties in the preliminary rounds to earn a plum First Round tie against Scotland's Aberdeen F.C. Although they were defeated on aggregate after losing 1-3 in the first leg, they had progressed the furthest in European competition than any other League of Wales club and the club was strengthened by the money brought in by their cup run. In the 1996-97 season, they won the League, the Welsh Cup and the League Cup to set a historic treble.
In the 1997-98 season Barry were unfortunate to be drawn against top Ukrainian team Dinamo Kiev. After a superb away performance losing only 2-0, they lost the home leg 0-4. The following season their bad luck continued and they were drawn against Dinamo again! This time Kiev gained revenge for struggling in the home leg by crushing Barry 8-0. Barry's home performance was better and they narrowly failed to gain a draw, going down 1-2.
In the 2000-01 season Barry became the first League of Wales team to win a European Champions League tie, when they defeated the Azerbaijan champions FC Shamkir in both the home and away legs. They then met the Portuguese champions FC Porto, the 11th favorites to win the Champions League, and although losing the leg in Portugal, Barry won the home leg 3-1.
The club broke Legaue of Wales ground in 1995, by turning professional, but in the summer of 2003 the club went into administration with reported debts of £1 million. Chairman and former Wimbledon FA Cup winner John Fashanu, who had taken over less than a year earlier promising to broadcast Barry's games live on Nigerian television resigned, and on 25th August 2003 the players and manager were locked out of Jenner Park, having been unpaid since early June. A new management was appointed together with an amateur team most of whose members had played up to five divisions lower than Barry's Welsh Premiership level. A terrible season followed, with the first league win coming in February 2004 when they beat fellow strugglers Welshpool Town 5-4. They ended up bottom of the league and 4 points clear of safety, and were subsequently relegated to the Welsh League for the 2004-05 season.
The ongoing financial crisis resulted in the club being excluded from Jenner Park by the grounds owners, the Vale of Glamorgan Council, over a debt of approximately £35,000 - £40,000 and the club having to play its home matches in the winter of 2004-05 20 miles away. Unless the crisis can be resolved, the future of the club looks bleak. Many disillusioned supporters deserted the club, in favour of the newly-formed 'Barry FC' who have started life in the local leagues.
TEAM HONOURS
Welsh Premier League Champions: 1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03.
Welsh Premier Runners-up: 1999-2000
Welsh Cup Winners: 1954-55, 1993-94, 1996-97, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03
Welsh Cup Finalists: 1995-96
League Cup Winners: 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-2000
League Cup Finalists: 2000-01
FAW Premier Cup: 1998-99
