Merthyr Town

Across the border with England, Gloucester City has given Merthyr its fixture to mark for more than a century, with over 120 meetings between the two feeding what supporters call the Anglo-Welsh derby. Newport County took on a similar edge closer to home through the late 1990s and into the 2000s.

The club has had to start over twice. The original Merthyr Town, formed in 1908, spent the 1920s in the Football League's Third Division South before debts of around £3,000 forced it to fold in 1934. Merthyr Tydfil F.C. replaced it in 1945 under player-manager John Charles, and went on to lift the Welsh Cup three times and the Southern League Premier Division six times. That club collapsed too, entering administration in 2009 and being wound up the following year owing roughly £315,000. Within weeks the Merthyr Town Supporters' Trust had fielded a new club, and it owns the club outright to this day.

Rebuilding meant starting again at the bottom of the pyramid: the Western League Division One in 2010–11, its Premier Division the year after, the Southern League Division One South & West in 2014–15, and the Southern League Premier Division South, which carried the Martyrs up into the National League North. Their ground, Penydarren Park, spent a spell known as the MET Coaches Stadium before reverting to its own name in August 2023.