{{short description|Former association football club in Wales}} {{Infobox football club | | clubname=Mardy | image= | fullname=Mardy Association Football Club | nickname=the Rams<ref>{{cite journal |title=Points for Caerphilly |journal=Western Mail |date=17 April 1923 |page=4}}</ref> | founded=1889? | dissolved=1924 | ground=Mardy Athletic Ground | capacity= | chairman= | mgrtitle= | manager= | league= | season= | position= | website = |pattern_la1=| pattern_b1=| pattern_ra1= | pattern_sh1=| pattern_so1=| leftarm1=000080| body1=000080| rightarm1=000080|shorts1=|socks1=000080|}} '''Mardy A.F.C.''' was a [[Wales|Welsh]] [[association football|football]] team that played in the [[Southern Football League|Southern League]] in the 1910s and 1920s. They were based in the village of [[Maerdy]], [[Glamorgan]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Who's Who of Welsh International Soccer Players |last1=Davies |first1=Gareth |last2=Garland |first2=Ian |year=1991|publisher=Bridge Books |isbn=1-8724-2411-2|page=106}}</ref>
==History== The earliest records for the club date to the 1888–89 season.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Treharris - Grand Charity Football Match |journal=Merthyr Express, Aberdare and East Glamorgan Herald, Tredegar and West Monmouth Times |date=5 April 1890 |page=8}}</ref> It won the second division of the South Wales League in 1904–05, clinching the title with a 6–1 win over Merthyr Vale to leapfrog [[Ton Pentre F.C.|Ton Pentre]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Association matches |journal=Merthyr Express |date=6 May 1905 |page=3}}</ref> The club took a more serious step in 1909, when incorporated as a limited company.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Mardy Association Football Club (Limited) |journal=Western Mail |date=29 September 1909 |page=9}}</ref>
The club joined the Southern League (Division Two) for the [[1911–12 Southern Football League|1911–12 season]], but left at the end of [[1913–14 Southern Football League|1913–14]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Mardy resign from S.L. |journal=Daily Express |date=18 November 1914 |page=7}}</ref> After [[World War I]] they rejoined the league in [[1919–20 Southern Football League|1919–20]] and the [[1920–21 Southern Football League|following season]] their league was renamed as the Welsh Section.
Mardy generally finished towards the bottom of the table in their seasons in the league.<ref>{{cite web|title=Final Tables Division Two|work=England – Southern League Final Tables|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engsouthernleaghist.html|publisher=RSSSF|access-date=30 April 2011|author=Dinant Abbink|date=24 July 2005}}</ref> After the First Division sides left the league in 1920 to join [[The Football League]] Mardy continued to struggle, finishing in the bottom two in 1921–22.<ref>{{cite web|title=SOUTHERN FOOTBALL LEAGUE 1920–21 to 1938–39|url=http://www.myfootballfacts.com/SOUTHERN-FOOTBALL-LEAGUE--1920-21-to-1938-39.html|publisher=My Football Facts|access-date=30 April 2011}}</ref> In the [[1922–23 Southern Football League|1922–23 season]], the club did not complete its fixtures, and its record was expunged;<ref>{{cite journal |title=Welsh section |journal=Western News |date=9 May 1923 |page=2}}</ref> Mardy had actually played 17 of its 18 fixtures, and was lying 7th out of 10 in the table at the time it stopped playing.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Positions of all the clubs in the Welsh section |journal=South Wales Argus |date=17 April 1923 |page=7}}</ref>
In 1923–24, the club joined the [[Welsh League]], but, on Easter Monday 1924, did not turn up to a fixture with [[Caerau F.C.|Caerau]]. As a result, the [[Welsh Football Association]] fined the club £50 and imposed a suspension,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Sport in brief |journal=Daily Herald |date=26 May 1924 |page=9}}</ref> which in practice finished the club, as there are no further references to it playing.
==Colours==
The club wore dark blue shirts with white knickers.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Answers to correspondents |journal=Athletic News |date=14 August 1911 |page=4}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Answers to correspondents |journal=Athletic News |date=7 October 1912 |page=4}}</ref>
==Ground==
The club's ground was simply known as the Mardy Athletic Ground.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Mardy Athletic Ground |journal=Western Mail |date=23 February 1910 |page=3}}</ref> It may have been the Recreation Ground between the village and the railway line.
==Notable individuals==
Former Mardy players include [[Jack Cartmell]],<ref>{{Cite book|title = Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006|last = Haynes|first = Graham|publisher = Yore Publications|year = 2006|isbn = 978-0955294914|page =35|first2 = Frank|last2 = Coumbe}}</ref> [[John Goodall]]<ref>{{cite web|title=1913|url=http://www.givemefootball.com/premier-league/on-this-day-in-history-january-18-|work=On This Day in History: January 18|publisher=Givemefootball.com|access-date=30 April 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110124092426/http://www.givemefootball.com/premier-league/on-this-day-in-history-january-18-|archive-date=24 January 2011}}</ref><ref name=joyce/> and [[Proctor Hall]].<ref name=joyce>{{Cite book |title=Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939 |first=Michael |last=Joyce |publisher=Soccerdata |year=2004 |isbn=1899468676}}</ref> [[Tom Evans (footballer, born 1903)|Tom Evans]], who later played for [[Leyton Orient|Clapton Orient]] and earned several Welsh caps, started his career at the club.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Football page |journal=Caernarfon and Denbigh Herald |date=9 December 1927 |page=8}}</ref>
Welsh international [[Charlie Morris (footballer)|Charlie Morris]] managed the club briefly from 1913.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Charlie Morris as Mardy manager |journal=South Wales Echo |date=4 May 1912 |page=3}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.myfootballfacts.com/SOUTHERN-FOOTBALL-LEAGUE--1894-95-to-1919-20.html Southern League finishing positions by club, 1894–95 to 1919–20]
[[Category:Defunct football clubs in Wales]] [[Category:Southern Football League clubs]] [[Category:Sport in Glamorgan]] [[Category:Defunct Welsh football clubs in English leagues]] [[Category:Association football clubs disestablished in 1924]]