Category Sports News

“Can we do a Wrexham?”

An increasingly common question that football fans and club owners are asking themselves when they see what two Hollywood superstars have done in north Wales.

Transform a struggling non-league side into a globally-recognized brand with back-to-back-to-back promotions. Why can’t that be us?

Those who run – or follow – Merthyr Town are no exception.

“At the moment we’re on a fabulous run and everyone’s taking notice. They want to be a part of it,” says chairman Les Barlow.

“We’re speaking to people weekly [about potential investment]. Some have got money, while others…”

The Martyrs might be four tiers below Championship side Wrexham but they are one third of the way towards replicating the triple promotion winners at the Stok Cae Ras.

Promoted as champions of the Southern League Premier South in 2024-25, Town are third in National League North, seven points off the leaders but with the luxury of a 15-point cushion inside the play-off zone. They have won 18 of their 29 matches so far.

Back-to-back promotions, then, a very real possibility at Penydarren Park.

In some ways, you might think pure survival is all that really matters given fan-owned Merthyr Town are a phoenix club that rose from the ashes of the old Merthyr Tydfil FC, which went into liquidation in 2010.

But who wants pure survival?

Not Merthyr. They’re aiming to get back into the fifth tier of the English game for the first time since 1995, when a gradual decline in fortunes saw them relegated from the old Vauxhall Conference and spiral down through the backwaters of the Southern League.

Ultimately, the dream is to join the four other Welsh sides who play in the English Football League (EFL) – Wrexham, Swansea City, Cardiff City and Newport County – a level Merthyr have not graced since before World War Two.

But how realistic is that? And are there any potential investors – or Hollywood film stars – with deep enough pockets to potentially bankroll a Wrexham-type rise?

Merthyr are not short of star names who have dipped into their own wallets to help. Line of Duty star Vicky McClure and her filmmaker husband Jonny Owen, who is from Merthyr, are among the club’s 150-plus owners, along with former Wales international Joe Morrell.

But any major takeover – by a company or individuals who could potentially propel Merthyr up the divisions at speed, like Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac have done at Wrexham – would likely lead to a big change in its ownership structure.

“Unfortunately we’re a fan-owned club,” said Barlow, who has seen more ups and downs than most during his 65-year involvement with Merthyr, from player to kitman, physio to boardroom leader.

But fan-owned is what Wrexham were before Rob and Ryan breezed into the Stok Cae Ras and changed the world as Red Dragons’ fans knew it back in 2021.

“Yes, and those guys [Rob and Ryan] came in and put their hands in their pockets,” said Barlow.

“We haven’t come across anybody like that at the moment, but we have had some good sponsors and, as I say, we’re talking to people weekly.

“We’re starting now for next year. Irrespective of where we end up, we still want to be in a better position financially and stadium-wise than where we are now.

“One side of the ground is perfect, but we’ve got another area which I think the Romans built when they had a fort in the corner!”

Keep moving, keep looking for new forms of investment. A responsibility to do that comes from a need to keep supporting the man leading Merthyr’s charge for a second successive promotion, manager Paul Michael.

“We’re working as hard as we can because we want to support this guy, and we want the best team we can afford,” said Barlow.

“The better the results we can get with this guy in charge…it helps a long way.”

Appointed after leaving Yate Town in April 2022, Michael has transformed Merthyr from relegation candidates in Southern League Premier South to National League hopefuls.

“It’s been a real step into the unknown, but we’ve grown and grown and got better and better,” said Michael, who has managed to overcome the loss of 23-goal top scorer and Penydarren cult hero Ricardo Rees, who signed for National League promotion chasers Forest Green Rovers in December.

“Over the past few weeks we’ve probably been the most in-form team in the league, yet we’re competing against full-time teams. We’ve got no right to stay up there, really.

“If we were fortunate enough to get to the National League we would try to take it all in our stride. It would be an unbelievable achievement for a part-time team, though we’ve still got a long way to go.

Needless to say, Merthyr fans are loving life at the Park right now. The Martyrs are enjoying their best spell since the late 1980s – headlined by their famous European Cup Winners’ Cup win over Italian side Atalanta in 1987 – and the early 1990s, when they finished as high as fourth in the Conference.

And plenty of supporters share the dream that the Martyrs can indeed do a Wrexham and copy the north Wales club’s eye-catching journey up the pyramid.

“Having been a fan-owned club themselves, I’d say Wrexham are an inspiration for clubs like ours,” said Gavin Burns, a blogger and writer for the ‘Banking on the Martyrs’ fanzine. He used to be a Cardiff City season ticket holder but fell in love with Merthyr Town when he moved to the area in 2011.

“Looking at Wrexham as a blueprint, I think Merthyr are the up and coming team in Welsh football at the moment.

“With the fantastic job the team is doing, the attendances going through the roof, the stadium we’ve got and the potential catchment area around the valleys, there’s no reason why we can’t do back-to-back-to-back promotions.”

Bethan Hurley, a lifelong Merthyr fan, also hopes the club can attract a rich benefactor or two to help them follow Wrexham into the EFL.

“We’re one division below where Wrexham’s fairytale story started so if there are any Hollywood investors out there, please get in touch,” said Hurley.

“I’d love to see us get promoted again. I’m born and bred in Merthyr, and I’ve stuck around through all the suffering – good, bad and ugly. Never known anything else.

“I was born in 1988 – a year after the win over Atalanta, but my mother was pregnant with me at the time. So I was there at the game!”

Just like those European glory days, fans are cramming into Penydarren again to help spur Merthyr on, with almost 4,000 there for a 2-2 draw with Hereford on 30 December.

Having suffered rare back-to-back defeats over the past week against Southport and AFC Telford United, Michael’s side are preparing for a long 330-mile round trip to former Football League stalwarts Darlington on Saturday, 31 January.

But this time, the rare luxury of a hotel stay the night before the game.

Firsts are not easy to come by for Jose Mourinho at this stage of his long, often highly dramatic, career.

But on Wednesday night in Lisbon, Anatoly Trubin provided such a moment.

Simply beating 15-time European champions Real Madrid was not going to be enough for Benfica.

In added time to added time, they led 3-2 but needed another goal or their Champions League campaign would be over.

A free-kick provided them with one last chance and goalkeeper Trubin was sent forward.

Moments later it was pandemonium at Estadio da Luz with Benfica players running in all directions and Trubin ending his own euphoric wild charge with a knee slide having scored the decisive goal with a bullet header.

“A fantastic goal, a historic goal, a goal that nearly brought the whole stadium down – and I think it was very deserved for us,” Mourinho said.

“For Benfica it’s an incredible prestige to beat Real Madrid.”

Given the way the league format works with 18 games taking place simultaneously on the final matchday, it is little wonder Trubin was not fully aware of what his side needed.

They were heading out on goal difference at the end of the eight-round league phase, until his sensational intervention. Marseille were the unlucky side, falling out of the play-off places as Benfica snatched their spot.

A couple of minutes before his goal, Trubin had dropped to his knees after claiming a cross, seemingly trying to waste a few seconds to close out the win, unaware Benfica were still going out as it stood.

“Before, I didn’t understand what we needed,” Trubin said. “I see everyone start to point at me and I go and after I see [I can go forward]. We need one more goal.

“I don’t know, I don’t know what to say. A crazy moment.

Settling in has not been straightforward for Mourinho since returning to Benfica in September.

There was already a degree of scepticism when ‘The Special One’ was appointed, some 25 years after his first – very brief – spell at the club, and a feeling that the 63-year-old was well past his peak.

Four and a half months on, Benfica remain unbeaten in the league but sit third, 10 points behind leaders Porto who have taken 55 points from a possible 57. The chances of Mourinho adding a ninth league title to his collection look slim in the extreme.

Meanwhile, in Europe, they lost their first four games of the league phase and even wins over Ajax and Napoli did not look like being enough after a loss in the penultimate round of fixtures.

His side also exited the domestic cup with a quarter-final loss at Porto, where Mourinho made his name more than 20 years ago.

As it turned out, that game on 14 January provided Trubin with a trial run for his Champions League heroics.

“We knew he could do it,” Mourinho told Uefa. “In the game at the Dragao, Trubin was also there in the final action and headed it but a Porto player blocked it.”

The Ukrainian would not be denied this time, a perfectly timed run and superb header bringing Benfica back from the brink to keep their European hopes alive.

“It’s massive for Mourinho, because everything hasn’t really worked out for him since taking over from Bruno Lage back in September,” European football expert Julien Laurens said on BBC UCL Match of the Day.

“To win tonight in that way, the narrative was there. Against Real Madrid his former club, against [Madrid coach Alvaro] Arbeloa who he is the mentor of and he considers him as his son, him on the other bench.

For Mourinho, beating Madrid ranks as a result to treasure.

“To win against Real Madrid carries importance and is significant. In that moment we had to give it everything,” Mourinho said.

The former Chelsea boss spent three seasons at the Bernabeu between 2010 and 2013, going head to head with Pep Guardiola’s mighty Barcelona – and coming out on top to win La Liga in 2011-12.

Guardiola was alert to how the latest chapter of the Mourinho story unfolded, with he and his Manchester City players eager for Benfica to cling on for a victory that ensured the Premier League side finished in the top eight.

“We didn’t know Benfica needed a goal to qualify, so when the goalkeeper goes up, we say, ‘why you go?’, because Madrid can equalise and we are out,” Guardiola said after City’s win against Galatasaray.

“But it was a good strategy for Jose to score the fourth goal, right!”

Another battle with Guardiola may have to wait, but having just claimed his first win over Los Blancos, there is a good chance Mourinho will get the opportunity to get a second in February.

With Arbeloa’s side finishing ninth in the league phase and Benfica in 24th, there is a 50% chance they will meet in the play-off round.

The other side Benfica could face? Inter Milan, with whom Mourinho won the Champions League as part of a famous treble in 2010.

“I can’t say I prefer one or the other because going to Madrid I like a lot and I’ve not gone there; to go to Milan I like a lot and I don’t go there either,” Mourinho said.

Whoever Benfica draw, few would rule out Mourinho masterminding something special at the Bernabeu or San Siro.

Firsts are not easy to come by for Jose Mourinho at this stage of his long, often highly dramatic, career.

But on Wednesday night in Lisbon, Anatoly Trubin provided such a moment.

Simply beating 15-time European champions Real Madrid was not going to be enough for Benfica.

In added time to added time, they led 3-2 but needed another goal or their Champions League campaign would be over.

A free-kick provided them with one last chance and goalkeeper Trubin was sent forward.

Moments later it was pandemonium at Estadio da Luz with Benfica players running in all directions and Trubin ending his own euphoric wild charge with a knee slide having scored the decisive goal with a bullet header.

“A fantastic goal, a historic goal, a goal that nearly brought the whole stadium down – and I think it was very deserved for us,” Mourinho said.

“For Benfica it’s an incredible prestige to beat Real Madrid.”

Given the way the league format works with 18 games taking place simultaneously on the final matchday, it is little wonder Trubin was not fully aware of what his side needed.

They were heading out on goal difference at the end of the eight-round league phase, until his sensational intervention. Marseille were the unlucky side, falling out of the play-off places as Benfica snatched their spot.

A couple of minutes before his goal, Trubin had dropped to his knees after claiming a cross, seemingly trying to waste a few seconds to close out the win, unaware Benfica were still going out as it stood.

“Before, I didn’t understand what we needed,” Trubin said. “I see everyone start to point at me and I go and after I see [I can go forward]. We need one more goal.

“I don’t know, I don’t know what to say. A crazy moment.

Settling in has not been straightforward for Mourinho since returning to Benfica in September.

There was already a degree of scepticism when ‘The Special One’ was appointed, some 25 years after his first – very brief – spell at the club, and a feeling that the 63-year-old was well past his peak.

Four and a half months on, Benfica remain unbeaten in the league but sit third, 10 points behind leaders Porto who have taken 55 points from a possible 57. The chances of Mourinho adding a ninth league title to his collection look slim in the extreme.

Meanwhile, in Europe, they lost their first four games of the league phase and even wins over Ajax and Napoli did not look like being enough after a loss in the penultimate round of fixtures.

His side also exited the domestic cup with a quarter-final loss at Porto, where Mourinho made his name more than 20 years ago.

As it turned out, that game on 14 January provided Trubin with a trial run for his Champions League heroics.

“We knew he could do it,” Mourinho told Uefa. “In the game at the Dragao, Trubin was also there in the final action and headed it but a Porto player blocked it.”

The Ukrainian would not be denied this time, a perfectly timed run and superb header bringing Benfica back from the brink to keep their European hopes alive.

“It’s massive for Mourinho, because everything hasn’t really worked out for him since taking over from Bruno Lage back in September,” European football expert Julien Laurens said on BBC UCL Match of the Day.

“To win tonight in that way, the narrative was there. Against Real Madrid his former club, against [Madrid coach Alvaro] Arbeloa who he is the mentor of and he considers him as his son, him on the other bench.

For Mourinho, beating Madrid ranks as a result to treasure.

“To win against Real Madrid carries importance and is significant. In that moment we had to give it everything,” Mourinho said.

The former Chelsea boss spent three seasons at the Bernabeu between 2010 and 2013, going head to head with Pep Guardiola’s mighty Barcelona – and coming out on top to win La Liga in 2011-12.

Guardiola was alert to how the latest chapter of the Mourinho story unfolded, with he and his Manchester City players eager for Benfica to cling on for a victory that ensured the Premier League side finished in the top eight.

“We didn’t know Benfica needed a goal to qualify, so when the goalkeeper goes up, we say, ‘why you go?’, because Madrid can equalise and we are out,” Guardiola said after City’s win against Galatasaray.

“But it was a good strategy for Jose to score the fourth goal, right!”

Another battle with Guardiola may have to wait, but having just claimed his first win over Los Blancos, there is a good chance Mourinho will get the opportunity to get a second in February.

With Arbeloa’s side finishing ninth in the league phase and Benfica in 24th, there is a 50% chance they will meet in the play-off round.

The other side Benfica could face? Inter Milan, with whom Mourinho won the Champions League as part of a famous treble in 2010.

“I can’t say I prefer one or the other because going to Madrid I like a lot and I’ve not gone there; to go to Milan I like a lot and I don’t go there either,” Mourinho said.

Whoever Benfica draw, few would rule out Mourinho masterminding something special at the Bernabeu or San Siro.

Liam Rosenior might have downplayed the significance of Chelsea’s win against Antonio Conte’s Napoli in the Champions League after a comeback victory that secured a place in the last 16.

But outmanoeuvring a manager who once occupied his office at Stamford Bridge and guided them to the Premier League title should rank high among the new Blues manager’s career achievements.

Managing in the Champions League for only the second time after taking charge of the club earlier this month, Rosenior was the novice facing a master tactician whose legacy looms large over the club.

With Chelsea 2-1 down in the hostile Naples atmosphere, they were facing the prospect of having to go through the two-legged play-offs to keep themselves alive in the competition.

But the 41-year-old English manager’s proactive tactical switches in the second half sparked a stunning Chelsea comeback with Joao Pedro scoring twice to secure a top-eight finish.

“It’s not about me,” Rosenior said after Chelsea became only the second team to defeat Napoli on home soil in 21 matches.

“My job is to win games here as the manager of Chelsea, so it’s not about where does it rate in my career. I’m not really fussed.”

While Rosenior and Chelsea celebrated securing a direct spot in the last 16 with victory at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Conte was left staring into a familiar abyss at full-time.

The result in Naples could prove to be of great importance for Rosenior whose appointment in place of Enzo Maresca was hardly greeted with open arms.

Rosenior’s lack of elite experience – having moved from sister club Strasbourg after stints with Derby County and Hull City in the Championship – saw him labelled by some as a ‘yes man’.

He also experienced the wrath of the fans who voiced anti-ownership chants questioning the ambition of the BlueCo.

Rosenior has been adamant from the start that his reply must be through results.

And he has put together an impressive set of results in his first weeks with five wins in six matches and the latest over a former Chelsea favourite should win him the confidence of more supporters.

“These players lost a manager that they really respected for reasons that are beyond my control or knowledge,” Rosenior told TNT Sports.

“So when you go through that as a young group, to accept a new manager the way they have done and for them to work as hard as they have done is a credit to them.

“It’s not about me or my ego or trying to prove anything. I’m trying to do the very best I can with my group, with my staff and hopefully we can have more and more really good nights like this.”

Rosenior’s introduction of Cole Palmer at half-time provided assisted both of Joao Pedro’s goals while Trevoh Chalobah added defensive solidity after coming on later in the half as the Blues restricted Napoli to a single shot on target after the break.

The Chelsea manager added: “I’m learning all the time about my team, about what we’re capable of.

“I really wanted to be front-footed today. I wanted to go out and win the game.”

His impetus was rewarded with a win that helps Chelsea avoid adding a two-legged play-off to their already busy schedule.

“It’s massive – that is huge for us to be able to be able to work with the players on the training round,” Rosenior said.

Bigger challenges await Rosenior and his young squad as they enter the business end of the competition but the London-born coach is optimistic.

“You have to enjoy this job,” he said.

“We’re the luckiest people in the world to do this job. You have to enjoy these moments, but we want more.

Conte lifted the Champions League as a player in 1995-96 but has experienced nothing but despair as a manager in Europe’s premier club competition.

Wednesday was the 50th game the Italian has managed in the Champions League across spells at Napoli, Tottenham, Inter Milan, Chelsea and Juventus.

Conte has 17 wins, 17 defeats and 16 draws in those matches.

He has collected 61 points from 44 matches he has overseen in the group stage/league phase at an average of 1.39 points per game – a rate lower than his contemporaries Carlo Ancelotti, Massimiliano Allegri, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.

Meanwhile, he has managed 618 games across all other competitions, winning 374 and suffering only 110 defeats, collecting 2.03 points per game at a win rate of 60.5%.

His sides have been knocked out in the group stage four times, with only Jorge Jesus (five) experiencing more group-stage exits as manager since 2012-13, and the round of 16 twice.

A quarter-final exit with Juventus in his maiden adventure in the competition remains the best run he has managed, though he guided Inter to the Europa League final in 2019-20.

Potentially adding to his frustrations, both Juve and Inter reached Champions League finals within two seasons of him departing,

He has also failed to win the Coppa Italia despite a decade of dominating Serie A as a coach and an FA Cup with the Blues in 2018 remains his only cup triumph.

“It’s disappointing,” Conte said of the defeat.

“Chelsea were better in the final third, but the players had a good game. I wanted to stay in this competition. We’re proud nonetheless as we played well and deserved more.”

Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.