Following a merger between Neath and Skewen Athletic, Neath Athletic A.F.C were created in 2005. Skewen agreed to the merger in an attempt to mount a better challenge to the Welsh Football League Division One. They started off at the old ground of Neath FC, Llandarcy Park. The original Neath FC were founded in 1922 as National Oil Refineries F.C., as a works team for the local new oil refinery. In 1955 they changed their name to BP Llandarcy F.C following the British Petroleum Company’s acquisition of the refinery.
In their first season following the merger they finished second to Goytre United in what was a successful season. Goytre declined the offer to step-up as champions to the Welsh Premier League meaning Neath Athletic could gain promotion to the top tier in their first season. Unfortunately for the club Llandarcy Park did not meet the required criteria of the top tier, and Neath were refused entry. 2006-07 proved to be a great season for Neath as they won the Welsh Football Division One with a fantastic tally of 92 points, and with improvements to Llandarcy Park, Neath Athletic achieved the dream of being promoted to Wales’ top tier. In the 2007-08 season, their first in the Welsh Premier League, their intentions were clear early on as they signed Clayton Blackmore who was in the twilight of his career but still a marquee signing for the club and they finished a respectful seventh . The summer of 2008 proved all change for Neath Athletic as Neath RFC agreed to let the football club use their home ground of The Gnoll and suddenly the club had one of the best stadiums in the Welsh Premier League.
With a move to a new home finalized the club renamed itself to Neath F.C.. They played their first match at The Gnoll against Swansea City, following the game the two clubs announced a partnership that would enable Swansea to send players to Neath to gain experience. The first players to benefit from the partnership were Kyle Graves, Dion Chambers and Kerry Morgan. Two seasons of stability followed as the club found it’s feet in the top tier. In 2010 the club made it’s biggest announcement to date as they made their intentions to become a full time club in hope of challenging the likes of The New Saints, Rhyl and Llanelli for the domestic honours in Wales
The 13th of July 2010 was a day where Neath F.C., were taken serious in their pursuit of the Welsh Premier League title as they announced the marquee signings of Kristian O’Leary and Lee Trundle, two players who had seen plenty of success with neighbours Swansea City. Signing Trundle was a massive statement by Neath as he was playing for Bristol City the in the preceding season. Considering the popular striker had turned down moves to Tranmere Rovers, Yeovil Town and Swindon Town, a few eyebrows were raised with his decision to play his football in the WPL. It was location not financial gain that saw Trundle make his decision as in his words it would be a chance for the Swansea City fans to come over and support him again. In their first season as a full-time club Neath finished in third place, something of a minimum expectation due the position carrying a European qualification spot. Following a complete overhaul of the league system, Neath found themselves in a play-off game against Prestatyn Town in front of a record WPL crowd of a 1,000 at the Gnoll. Neath won the game 3-2 and had implemented themselves as one of the big boys in Welsh football.
Despite the success on the pitch, the problems off it could not be ignored as debts continued to build as the club were paying inflated wages to attract their players. The signing of former Swansea and Port Talbot defender Matthew Rees only added to the inflation of wages. Company accounts showed that the club were £95,000 in debt, a clearly unsustainable situation for a club of their size. However there was excitement as for their win over Prestatyn, they were rewarded with a draw against Norwegian side Aalesunds FK in the first qualifying round of the Europa League. Going into the 2011/12 season the club strengthened the squad with 12 new additions including Maltese international Udo Nwoko and their was belief the club could repeat the successes of the previous campaign
As the business of the chairman went into administration, players and staff went unpaid, the management duo of Terry Boyle and Peter Nicholas left the club, Kristian O’Leary was installed as player-manager. On the pitch the club finished third in the league and hopes of another European adventure were alive but those dreams were quashed after the club failed in their attempts to gain licenses to compete in the Welsh Premier League and in UEFA sanctioned competitions. This was because of them failing to adhere to FAW regulations on club finances, after a failed appeal the club were relegated back to the second tier. The relegation proved fateful to Neath as a mere month later they found themselves wound up in the High Court, Lee Trundle went back to the Football League with Preston North End and all the players left.
This proved to be the end for Neath F.C., they certainly made their mark in the short time they existed but left with a black cloud lingering over them. The fans had their memories of seeing Football League quality taking to The Gnoll but you had to pay to get Football League quality and sadly Neath didn’t have the means to do that.
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