Penybont Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Pêl-droed Penybont) is a Welshfootball club that plays in the Cymru Premier. The current club was formed in 2013, following the merger of Bridgend Town and Bryntirion Athletic. Penybont play their home games at Bryntirion Park (known as The SDM Glass Stadium for sponsorship reasons).
To coincide with the merger of the two clubs, artificial turf was laid at Bryntirion Park and at the Bridgend College Football Academy in Pencoed, funded by the sale of Bridgend Town's former Coychurch Road ground to superstore chain ASDA.[1]
The Bryntirion Park ground circa 2009.
The club began the season with a series of away games since Bryntirion Park's 3G pitch installation was incomplete until January 2014. The club's first league game was away against Ton Pentre, the result of which was a 1–0 loss.[2]
The new pitch was officially opened by former Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay on 7 January 2014 at a friendly game played against a Cardiff City Development XI. Cardiff's development team won the match 5–0.[3][4]
The club's first manager was Francis Ford, who managed Bryntirion Athletic prior to the club's merger with Bridgend Town. Penybont ended their inaugural season in third place in the Welsh Football League Division One.[5]
On 18 January 2015, the club announced that it had reached a sponsorship agreement with Bridgend-based KYMCO Healthcare UK, which included renaming Bryntirion Park as The KYMCO Stadium.[6]
The club finished the 2014–15 season in 5th place in Welsh League Division One.[5]
On 12 September 2015, the club announced that it had applied for a Football Association of Wales Domestic License for the Cymru Premier. This indicated that the club was committed to improving the facilities at Bryntirion Park in order to make the club applicable for promotion to the top flight.[7]
On 13 April 2019, it was confirmed that the club had secured promotion to the Cymru Premier after promotion rivals Cambrian & Clydach Vale and Cwmamman United suffered defeats.[8]
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