Barry's Welsh Cup run reaches Sunny Rhyl

The North Wales Coast is playing host to all four quarter finals of the JD Welsh Cup on Saturday.

Barry Town United are one of just two surviving teams from the South - and four representing the Cymru Premier - in one of the most open competitions for years.

Belle Vue - or the Hops & Barley Community Stadium as it's now known - is their destination as they take on Cymru North club CPD Y Rhyl 1879.

The last time Barry got this far was in 2019, when they went onto reach the semi finals before being knocked out by eventual winners The New Saints.

But as manager Steve Jenkins reminded us in November, "Two of the teams that have probably dominated over the last number of years are out - so it gives the opportunitiy to others to achieve what they want...and that's winning a fantastic cup full of history."

Barry are yet to concede a single goal on their cup run so far this quarter - having put five goals past Aberystwyth in round two, six past Llanelli in the third round and four past Gresford Athletic last time round.

Their opponents, under manager Paul Moore, have already edged past Brickfield Rangers (1-0), Cwmbran Town (3-2) and Porthmadog (1-2) and have won four of their last five league games, sitting seventh in the Cymru North table.

But there is something of an unspoken kinship between Rhyl and Barry - both phoenix clubs who once sat proudly at the top of Welsh domestic football, fell on hard times before making the long climb back when it seemed against the odds.

The Lillywhites - two-time Welsh Premier champions - twice ploughed their trade in the Champions League during the noughties, but twice suffered relegation the following decade and slipped further into the red before the onslaught of Covid signalled the final death knell in April 2020.

It took nigh on five years for the new CPD Y Rhyl to regain second-tier status - they won promotion to the Ardal North West in their first competitive season, and in October 2024, brought the Belle Vue ground with the help of the FAW and the UK Government.

For club chairman Tom Jamieson, Rhyl's rebuild continues  - but reaching the last eight of Wales' most prestigious cup competition is the realisation of a dream.

As he told the FAW's website: "We have the right people on the board and a great management committee along with our volunteers and supporters. We’re now in the JD Cymru North and we have a thriving junior section at the club."

"We don’t get a lot of time to reflect because we want to keep pushing on, develop the stadium, get to the JD Cymru Premier and then eventually back into Europe."

"We’ve still got supporters from the old Rhyl FC and the history of that club is still here."

Another rebuild is continuing further west - involving Rhyl's fiercest rivals, Bangor City 1876, although their progress up the Welsh domestic ladder was dealt a blow last season with relegation to the Ardal North West.

Cymru South club Caerau Ely are the visitors at Nantporth on Saturday with the Young Guns having reached the quarter finals for the second season running.

Dean Wheeler's men ended Barry's cup run with a dramatic second round win on penalties last season, going onto knock out Rogerstone and Bala Town before meeting their match against Connah's Quay before the S4C cameras.

So far this season, Caerau have dispatched Morriston Town (3-0), Dolgellau Athleitc (0-2) and Llandudno (2-1) on their way to the last eight, all the while retaining an impressive league form that has kept them on the edge of the top three and still in with a shout of promotion to the newly expanded Cymru Premier.

But Wheeler is determined to target a Welsh Cup semi final as one of this season's achievements, telling the FAW's website: "We understand the demands of these games, but equally the progress on and off the field has been huge for the club."

"Not just over the last year, but prior to that as well. It has given us these building blocks to bring that consistency and reach the standards to compete at this level."

"It’s important for us to continue to show progress each year and I think we’re in with a realistic chance to finish third in the table. We’ve got a couple of big games coming up in the league but obviously we take each game at a time, and our focus at the moment is obviously on Saturday."

Elsewhere, Cymru Premier strugglers Flint Town United entertain third-tier outfit Trearddur Bay.

The Anglesey club thrashed Newport City 5-2 to reach the firth round - but sadly, the build-up to arguably the biggest game in their history has been somewhat dampened following an alleged assault during an Ardal North West game at Porthmadog.

The defender, Tom Taylor, was later released by the Anglesey club and banned by the FAW pending a violent conduct charge - with police arresting a 35 year-old man, who was later released on conditional bail.

The only all-Cymru Premier clash sees two of the best supported clubs in the league, Caernarfon Town and Colwyn Bay, meet at Llandudno's Maesdu Park in a 5.15pm kick off, shown live on S4C's Sgorio.