Named after the ancient mysic men who inhabited Wales in centuries past, The Druids were a successful football team based in the small village of Ruabon which is near Wrexham in Wales. They first came to existence as Plasmadoc FC in 1869, making them the worlds oldest football club outside of England. Three years after their foundation, they almalgamated with two other clubs; Ruabon Volunteers and Ruabon Rovers, to form Druids FC. This occurred under the guidance of Llewelyn Kendrick, a Welsh solicitor and founder of the Football Association of Wales. Kendrick played for Druids and organised, and played in, the first international game for Wales, too. Therefore, he is credited as the founder of Welsh football. There was still no organised league competition in Wales at the time, so Druids were restricted to playing friendly games in the area but eventually ventured further afield to England and Scotland for matches. One such match of significance was played against Queens Park at Hampden Park in 1877.

 

In 1876, Druids entered the first ever English FA Cup, becoming the first Welsh team to participate in the process, however they were less than successful, withdrawing before they even kicked a ball. They gave it another crack the following year and managed to progress to the third round, but they were belted 8-0 by the eventual winners, Royal Engineers. In 1877, the FA of Wales started up their own FA Cup just for Welsh clubs. Druids did much better in this competition and reached the final on their first attempt, but were narrowly defeated by Wrexham. The club played their matches as Cefn Mawr but when their founder David Thimpson died aged 29, they lost it. A local family of wealthy baronets came to the teams rescue, allowing them to use part of their estate for games from 1879. Wynnstay subsequently became home of The Druids for the next 40 years.

 

Comfortable in their new digs, Druids entered the Welsh Cup again in 1879/80, and this is when their era of success began. Between 1879 and 1886, The Druids won no less than 5 Welsh FA Cups and appeared in the final 7 times consecutively. Simultaneously, they also kept playing in the English FA Cup and had some success in that, as well. They reached the last 8 in 1882/83 and the last 16 in 1884/85. But it was the dawn of professionalism that ultimately brought about the demise of the The Druids. They failed to get past the second round in the Welsh FA Cup and in the English FA Cup, they were unable to go past the first round proper. They decided to join The Combination in 1897 and they stayed there until 1900, achieving their highest finish of third. The Druids then spend four seasons in the Birmingham & District League, where they competed against some of the nations then strongest sides. They managed to win three more Welsh Cups from 1898 and added a Welsh Amateur Cup in 1904. This was the last of their success. Their Wynnstay Ground was fast becoming unfit for purpose and the Baronets refused to let The Druids upgrade it. With the breakout of World War I, The Druids ceased to exist. However, their heritage was taken on by Cefn Druids FC, formed in 1992, who continue to play in the Welsh Premier League.

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Achievements:

Welsh Senior Cup – Winners x8, Runners up x4

Welsh Amateur Cup – Winners x 1, Runners up x1

 

Star player: Llewelyn Kenrick dob 1847 pob Raubon, Wales nickname: The Father of Welsh Football

 

Kenrick was a genuine trail blazer of Welsh football. A solicitor by trade, he coordinated the merger that formed Druids FC, started up the Welsh FA, organised (and starred in) the first Wales international match and instigated the Welsh FA Cup. Kenrick was a descendant of the Wynn family who provided The Druids with a home ground following the death of their founder, and was the son of the founder of the Wynn Hall Colliery. Two of his cousins were the first and second wives of politician Joseph Chamberlain, who was once the mayor of Birmingham. Maybe this fact is what led The Druids to play in the Birmingham and Districts League. Kenrick formed the first Wales international team by taking out a newspaper advert reading “Gentlemen desirous of playing are requested to send in their names and addresses” in order to attend a test match to select the team. Kenrick chose 6 players from his own club, Druids, 2 from their rivals, Wrexham and one from English club Oswestry. The match took place in and against Scotland at the famous West of Scotland Cricket Club ground, Hamilton Crescent. With Kenrick playing at right back, Wales were defeated 4-0. In 1876, Kenrick called a meeting at the Wynnstay Arms Hotel to form the Football Association of Wales. The discussions went on for so long, that police were eventually called to kick the group out at closing time. They tried to explain that they were busy forming the Welsh FA, to which the policeman responded that it was past closing time and they should be forming it somewhere else. Luckily, a local JP was a participant at the meeting. He immediately went next door, opened the Court, extended the hotels licencing hours and enabled the meeting to continue. Kenrick was a member of The Druids team that won the Welsh FA Cup and he continued to play for Wales until 1878. One day four years later, while attending a Wales match against England as a spectator after his retirement, Welsh player Jack Powell missed his train, and thus Wales only had 10 men at the match. An aging Kenrick took his place on the field dressed in his tweed pants, every day boots and a smart shirt and put in “a splendid performance”. Wales won the match 1-0, and this was their first ever victory. When presiding over the death of a footballer, Kenrick quoted, “Football was one of the best pastimes which young men could engage in and within reasonable limits and provided that it was indulged in simply as a pastime only. It was far better for a young man to take part in football, cricket or any other healthful experience in the fresh air than to be hanging around billiard tables and public houses in an atmosphere meeting with tobacco smoke and the smell of intoxicating liquor.”