Dolgellau Athletic A.F.C.

Dolgellau
Full name	Dolgellau Athletic Amateur Football Club
Nickname	The Hornets
Founded	1971
Ground	Y Marian; Dolgellau
Chairman	Glyn Roberts
Manager	Robert Evans
League	Ardal NE League
2025–26	Ardal NE League, 3rd of 16
Website	https://www.dolgellauaafc.co.uk/
Home colours	Away colours

Dolgellau Athletic A.F.C. are a Welsh football club based in Dolgellau, Wales, who play in the Ardal NE League.

They also have a reserve team playing in the MMP Central Wales League. In 2012 19-year-old David Webber became the youngest football manager in senior British football history when he was appointed first team manager at Dolgellau.^[1]^[2]

The home colours are yellow shirts with a black chevron and black shorts and socks.^[3]^[4]

A club was formed in Dolgellau as far back as 1879.^[5]

History

Early football in Dolgellau

The first known record of football being played in Dolgellau dates back to 1879, only two years after the establishment of the Football Association of Wales in 1877. In the same year, Dolgelley FC participated in the Welsh Cup, losing 3-0 to Newtown White Stars, who later won the competition.

Reports of football matches in Dolgellau appeared in local newspapers including Y Dydd and the Cambrian News and Meirionethshire Standard from 1878 onwards, indicating that organised football had been played on Y Marian ground since the late nineteenth century.

Football was also established within local education, with records of matches between Dolgellau County School and Grammar School during the 1880's.

Cambrian League and local football

By 1886, Dolgellau had joined the Cambrian League alongside clubs from Tywyn, Porthmadog, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Barmouth and Penygroes. In 1898, the club was banned from holding matches on the Marian for six months following crowd disturbances among supporters.

The Cambrian League later evolved into the Cambrian Coast League, in which Dolgellau continued to compete until the league ceased in 1962. Local derby matches against Barmouth regularly attracted large attendances, with reports suggesting crowds in excess of 1,000 spectators during the early twentieth century.

Professional era

In 1960, Dolgellau Athletic joined the Welsh League North as a professional club, while another Dolgellau side continued competing in the Cambrian Coast League. The professional club folded during the 1964–65 season.

Following the dissolution of Dolgellau Athletic and the end of the Cambrian Coast League, the town was left without a league football club for approximately six years. During this period, the former football ground was sold for industrial development.

Formation of Dolgellau A.A.F.C

Dolgellau Athletic Amateur Football Club was founded in 1971 and joined the Aberystwyth and District League. The club began playing at its current ground following the loss of the original Marian field.

The club currently fields multiple teams within the Welsh football league system, including a first team and reserve side.

Players

First-team squad

As of May 2026 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	WAL	Tyler Andrews
—	DF	WAL	Ben Fisher
—	DF	WAL	Dion James
—	DF	WAL	Guto Pugh
—	DF	WAL	Harri Davies
—	DF	WAL	Joey Jones
—	DF	WAL	Rob John Kimberley
—	MF	WAL	Robert Evans
—	MF	WAL	Gethin Evans


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	WAL	Ioan Roberts
—	MF	WAL	Aaron Young
—	MF	WAL	Steven Jones
—	FW	WAL	Gerwyn Williams (captain)
—	FW	WAL	Daniel Thomas
—	FW	WAL	Osian Morris
—	FW	ENG	Paul Lewis
—	FW	WAL	Wil Gruffydd
—	FW	WAL	Jamie Jones

Player of the Year

The following players have been named Dolgellau A.A.F.C's Player of the Year.

2021-22: Gerwyn Williams
2022-23: Jake Jones
2023-24: Gerwyn Williams
2024-25: Osian Morris

Young Player of the Year

2021-22: Jamie Jones
2022-23: Johan Aufdenkamp
2023-24: Tyler Andrews
2024-25: Guto Pugh

Top scorers

2021-22: Gerwyn Williams (10)
2022-23: Gerwyn Williams (10)
2023-24: Gerwyn Williams (30)
2024-25: Osian Morris (26)

Reserves Top scorers

2021-22: Jack Thomas
2022-23: Tom Lloyd
2023-24: Tommy Redgrift
2024-25: Rhys Taylor-Clarke

Y Marian football ground gallery

The Dolgellau AAFC Clubhouse
Y Marian pitch
The stand at Y Marian

Honours

Aberystwyth & District League Cup
- 1972–73, 1987–88, 2014–15
Aberystwyth & District League Division One
- 1980–81, 2008–09, 2015–16
Aberystwyth & District League Division One Trophy
- 1998–99
Aberystwyth & District League Division Two
- 1987–88
Aberystwyth & District League Division Two Trophy
- 1987–88
J. Emrys Morgan Cup
- 2001–02
North Cards Cup
- 1980–81
Len & Julia Newman Memorial Cup
- 2014–15, 2015–16^[6]

Welsh Cup record


Season	Round	Opponent	Result
1973/74	Round one	Llansantffraid	1-4
2009/10	Round one	Lex XI	3-5
2010/11	Round one	Llandudno	1-2
2011/12	Qualifying Round one	Gwalchmai	4-6
2012/13	Qualifying Round two	Brickfield Rangers	1-3
2018/19	Round one	Cefn Albion	1-7
2019/20	Qualifying Round two	Caersws	3-5
2021/22	Qualifying Round two	Penrhyndeudraeth	0-3
2022/23	Qualifying Round two	Bow Street	1-2
2023/24	Qualifying Round one	Llandrindod Wells	1-2
2024/25	Qualifying Round one	Bow	1-1 (5-4p)
2025/26	Round three	Caerau Ely	0-2