MUMBLES RANGERS AFC are looking forward to their first season in the fourth tier of Welsh football and are a club that is on the up.
The club has grown over recent years and now has over 560 members and is one of the biggest clubs in Wales.
The junior section at the club is also booming but Chairman Mike Parkin said there hasn’t been a pathway in place for kids to come through to the senior side.
It has seen some kids leave for other clubs in the Welsh League system but that could all be about to change.
Mr Parkin said that something needed to be done and the club decided to apply for status to join the Welsh league pyramid system.
He said they ‘grabbed the opportunity with both hands’.
There is an exciting development taking place too at the club’s ground Underhill Park which will see six changing rooms, a hub and café facility and much more.
There are also plans to have a 3G/4G pitch in the future and Mike added that the time ‘was right’ to put the wheels in motion for their plans.
The club was founded in 1950 by Billy Johns and celebrated their 70th anniversary in 2020 but were unable to mark the occasion due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Mike took over the role of chairman from his father having previously coached in the club’s junior section and he says he is very excited by tier 4 football.
“We are very excited by tier 4 football. This is about creating something at Underhill Park where people can come in their droves and come and watch good quality football and use the facilities on offer”, he said.
Mike went on to say that the club had been struggling to attract players last year and there was talk that the club might have folded.
However, he says the club is now in a ‘good place’ and with Eirian Rees managing the team with assistant Jeff Matthews, the club is looking forward to the new season.
Eirian Rees has previous Welsh League experience after managing Cwmamman United and with development expected to start later this year on the new changing rooms, the club is looking to hit the ground running.
Mumbles play their first game of the season on July 10 when they host Penlan in the JD Welsh Cup, kick off at 2pm.
League fixtures begin in August with Mumbles beginning away to Morriston Town on August 21.
They will take part in the inaugural in the West Wales Premier League which also features Giants Grave, Penlan Club, Dafen and Evans & Williams.
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