Merthyr's scoring rate

The goals scored per game this season is the club's best for over 50 years. The number of goals scored per game so far this season is 3.13. A performance that demonstrates the management's commitment to attacking football, and the quality of our attacking players.

The last very high scoring season was when we won the Southern League in 1988/89 when the scoring rate was 2.47 goals per game.

Neither season quite compete's with that of the 1950/51 when the club scored 156 goals at 3.55 goals per game, again winning the Southern League.

Our defensive record is also one of the best we have had at 1.045 goals paer game.
There are only a few seasons when we have done better.
The best was just seven years ago when we won the Western First Division of the Southern League with a goals against of just 0.76 goals per game.
!970/71 saw 0.86 goals per game against - when we came second to Yeovil in the Southern League First division.

Although it is nice to look back on previous seasons is it right to claim the record of the old club,it annoys me when the new Newport County claim the record of the old one like wining the Welsh Cup and reaching the quarter final of the European Cup winers Cup ( something Merthyr Tydifl fc did ) but thats there record time to move on and create are own as Merthyr town fc.

That's an interesting point raised by Gordon.

In the list of players appearances and goals scored in the match programme I've combined their stats for this season along with their Merthyr Tydfil FC details - but I've been careful to state that I've done so. Maybe the player stats SHOULD only include appearances and goals for Merthyr Town? What do people think?

In the programme I have listed separately the honours achieved by the old Merthyr Town and Merthyr Tydfil FC - because we ARE a different club now as Gordon says. It seemed logical that if Merthyr Tydfil's honours were to be listed then so should the pre-war Merthyr Town's.

Hopefully there'll be a need for a third - albeit short - list of honours next season!

The thing is, I think, because the present club has followed on without a break from the old one, and with the same people running it on and off the field, and with the majority of the players from last season, it's often difficult to keep remembering it's a new club. It would be even more so if we were playing at Penydarren Park - the new team colours would be the only obvious reminder.

Thinking about what Gordon said about Newport I had a quick look at the Wimbledon situation. Milton Keynes Dons are really the same club that won the FA Cup as Wimbledon in 1988, with 'only' a change of name and location to differentiate them. But I gather they have now given up all claim to their history and achievemtnts as Wimbledon FC and these are now being credited to AFC Wimbledon, only formed in 2002. This is what it says on the latter's website:-

'The supporters of AFC Wimbledon believe that our club is a continuation of the spirit which formed Wimbledon Old Centrals in 1889 and kept Wimbledon Football Club alive until May 2002. We consider that a football club is not simply the legal entity which controls it, but that it is the community formed by the fans and players working towards a common goal. We therefore reproduce the honours won by what we believe was, and will always be, 'our' club, in our community. '

So that's one way of looking at it. I don't think there's a completely satisfactory way of dealing with the situation. Probably when John mentions 'we' and 'the club' in his postings he should have said 'Merthyr'.

This has given me something to write about in a forthcoming programme, but don't let having already read it here put you off buying it!

Yes we are a new club but we shouldn't forget the achievements of Merthyr football club of which the current club is an offshoot. Over the years there has been quite a few different names of clubs representing Merthyr Tydfil but whatever the name the supporters have been the same people - age permitting - and up until this season have always played at PP and we will do from next season!

I've alway thought that supporters who are the lifeblood of every club - no matter what the name of the club is - have an allegience to their home town club, whatever the name. Personally anything that a Merthyr team has won over the years should still be credited to our new club and the way Malcolm has done it in his excellent programme is fine by me. Newport went through much the same scenario as we have, as well as fighting the FAW and have strong links to to their previous existences whereas Milton Keynes Dons have no connection with the old Wimbledon and the club that deserrves to be connected with them is AFC Wimbledon because they were formed by the supporters of the old club.

The current Merthyr Town is in a similar position to Newport and I'm proud to list the clubs previous honours alongside our future ones. I'm also happy for our player appearances to include those made for Merthyr Tydfil 1997 as well - after all they played for the supporters who are the same for both clubs.

I agree as supporters of Merthyr Town fc we should not forget the past record of previous teams,but we do notexcept the debt of the former club and rightly so. So i cannot see how we can claim their record it will always be theirs and theirs alone.As i said previously time to move on and create are own honours. ps this is my own personal view.

Following on what I put about the Milton Keynes/Wimbledon situation, I wonder if Milton Keynes Dons lay any claim to the honours achieved by the defunct Milton Keynes City? Although I'm not sure the latter club did actually win anything very much!

Imp. Just to show how the two clubs are closely linked.

Milton Keynes City History

First Incarnation

The first version was a Southern League team founded in 1956 as Bletchley and WIPAC Football club before changing their name a year later to Bletchley Town. The club changed name again in 1974 to become Milton Keynes City. The club posted woeful finishes, never finishing in the top half of their league.[1] The club's only real achievement was victory in the 1979–80 Berks & Bucks Senior Cup. In 1979, after yet another awful season which saw the club finish second from bottom, Ron Noades, the chairman of Wimbledon, entered talks with the Milton Keynes Development Corporation in 1979 about the possibility of moving the south London club to Milton Keynes. At this time Noades purchased Milton Keynes City and Wimbledon directors including Sam Hammam, Bernie Coleman and Jimmy Rose became Milton Keynes City directors on top of their roles in south London. The plan was to merge the two clubs to produce a club using Wimbledon's place in the Football League under the Milton Keynes City banner. The idea was subsequently abandoned, however, and Milton Keynes City was sold on. More terrible seasons followed before the club floundered during 1984–85.

Second Incarnation

The second version only existed for a few seasons from the late 1990s, playing in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division. The 1990s club began as a Sunday league football club known as Mercedes-Benz Football Club, after the factory where many of the players worked. Mercedes-Benz changed their name to Milton Keynes City in 1998, and moved into Wolverton Park, which had been the home of Wolverton until their demise six years earlier. As with Wolverton, City's directors believed that they could build their club up to be accepted as representing Milton Keynes as a whole, but they never achieved this. Following the departure of the directors in June 2003, the club closed in July, unable to secure the investment needed to continue.

GordonTheGopher wrote:I agree as supporters of Merthyr Town fc we should not forget the past record of previous teams,but we do notexcept the debt of the former club and rightly so. So i cannot see how we can claim their record it will always be theirs and theirs alone.As i said previously time to move on and create are own honours. ps this is my own personal view.

Whenever I speak to football fans this side of the border, it's MERTHYR (not Town or Tydfil) and most can remember our great history, that's the way I like to see it too.

Interesting debate.
I only posted because noone had posted since Tuesday. I thought the forum might have broken down.
The object of the posting was to point out how well the boys are doing in comparison to the period since the war.
However, I do think of the club as a continuous entity. We are technically a reformed club, not a new club, under FA rules.
We have the same management, the same team, the same fans, the same volunteers running the club.
All that is changed is that we are a new company with a new club name, which is roughly what happened in 1997 (except for the name).

You cannot link the former club being debt ridden through out its existence because it was not,There were good times during its time and some of the achievements made was when the club was more stable financially.Like someone mentioned previously we are still recognized as merthyr and probably that will always be the case.

Scamp at no point have i ever said the former club was debt ridden through out its existence.All i said was we as a new club didnot except the debt of the old club and i cannot see as a new club we can claim ther record.

I'm with Cliffyboy - Merthyr all the way for me. Town or Tydfil - anything as long as it starts with a T: so we can also retain MTFC!

I think the reason the scoring rate is up is due to the fact that we are playing in a much lower league than before, we are not being challenged enough. Before clubs were challenging for an opportunity to play in the Conference North/south, this is much lower down.

Clearly we would expect to do well, having dropped three divisions and having largely kept the same side. However I do think our high scoring rate is a result of an attacking approach, with talented attacking players. That is not to denigrate defenders. Our defensive record is also the best in the division.

Either way it remains one of our best (ie a Merthyr Team's) attacking records over the last 55 years, and is being achieved by beating teams determined to play their best against us and with a seemingly unending list of top class goalkeeping performamces. Overall pretty entertaining.