Rhyl FC in Europe

A Brief History.

The Lilywhites played their first historic game in European competition 2003/04 season after finishing as Welsh Premier Champions for the first time in their history. The draw for the first qualifying round was however unkind to the lilywhites, pitting them against tough opposition in Latvian champions Skonto Riga FC, the first leg away was a baptism of fire for Rhyl and they headed back to Belle Vue with a 4-0 defeat. Pride was restored in the return leg with the lilywhites putting on a much stronger performance despite losing 3-1, with lilywhites legend Gary Powell scoring Rhyl’s first ever goal in Europe.

While Rhyl lost to Latvian champions Skonto Riga, valuable lessons were learned, and the club had tasted the excitement of European competition which was soon to return to Belle Vue again.

After finishing runners up to TNS in the league in 2004/5, the lilywhites qualified for the Uefa Cup, drawing FK Atlantas from Lithuania in the first qualifying round. This time the draw was favourable to the lilywhites having been drawn at home in the first leg. On an exciting night at a packed Belle Vue prolific striker Lee Hunt grabbed two excellent goals as the lilywhites produced their first win in European competition. Confidence was gained in the first leg and Rhyl completed the job with an away goals aggregate win following a 3-2 defeat in Lithuania, the goal heroes on this occasion being Greg Stones and former European scorer Gary Powell.

The second qualifying round saw Rhyl drawn against strong opposition again with Viking FK of Norway being their opponents, Viking, managed by former Blackburn,Switzerland and now Fulham boss Roy Hodgson were far to strong for the lilywhites and although the lilywhites only lost the home leg 1-0, they did put in an excellent performance in Norway only losing 2-1, with the Rhyl goal coming from Chris Adamson.

In season 2005/06 Rhyl struggled in their domestic league for most of the season, but managed to gain entry into the Uefa Cup by lifting The Welsh Cup after beating Bangor City 2-0 at The Racecourse, Wrexham. The draw saw Rhyl pitted against another Lithuanian side in the form of FK Suduva of Marijampole. The first leg was played at Belle Vue, and despite dominating much of the game Rhyl could only manage a 0-0 draw against their opponents on this occasion. The much anticipated away leg took place two weeks later in Marijampole, and a poor first half performance for the lilywhites sent them in at 2-0 down, a valiant fight back in the second half was to no avail, despite a late goal by prolific centre forward Andy Moran Rhyl went out of the competition 2-1 on aggregate.

The lilywhites finsihed runners-up in the Welsh Premier again in 2006/07 behind Champions The New Saints and once again qualified for the early stages of the Uefa Cup. This time the lilywhites drew Finish opponents FC Haka of Valkeakski. FC Haka were one of the most successful clubs in Finland, with nine Finnish championships and 12 Finnish Cups. So the lilywhites faced a stern test. The Finns switched the first leg to Belle Vue afer initially being given home advantage in the draw. And on a memorable night in July at Belle Vue the lilywhites gained a 3-1 win. The goals that night coming from Andy Moran, Lee Hunt and Graig Garside. Rhyl travelled away to Finland full of confidence, but underperformed, and fell to a narrow away goals defeat after losing 2-0. Below are some edited highlights of those three memorable goals in July 2007.

Rhyl finished season 2007/08 in third place in the Welsh Premier behind Champions Llanelli AFC and runners-up The New Saints (Oswestry-TNS). Rhyl's league position meant they qualified for the Uefa InterToto Cup. Rhyl drew League of Ireland side Bohemian FC of Dublin. Depsite Mark Connolly giving the lilywhites an early lead at Dalymount Park Rhyl went on to lose 5-1 in the first leg. Mark Connolly scored twice at Belle Vue in the second leg but Rhyl lost 4-2 (9-3 on agg).

In 2008/09 Rhyl finished as Welsh Premier League Champions and will now represent Wales in next seasons Champions League 2nd Qualifying Round. More news of the draw to follow.

 1. Neath Athletic

 2.

 3. The New Saints

 4. Prestatyn Town

 5. Llanelli AFC

 6. Aberystwyth Town

 7. Airbus UK Broughton

 8. Port Talbot Town

 9. Bala Town

10. Carmarthen Town

11. Newtown AFC

12. Bangor City

13. Haverfordwest County

14. Gap Connah's Quay

15. Technogrp Welshpool

16. Elements Cefn Druids

17. Caersws FC

18. CPD Porthmadog

 Rhyl FC

CPD Porthmadog

CPD Llanfairpwll'

Prestatyn Town

Bala Town

Neath Athletic

Cefn Druids FC

CPD Porthmadog

Bridgend Town

Llanelli AFC

Connolly

Williams

Hunt

Strong

Williams

Kirk

Smith

Doran

Owen

Smith

Horan

Naylor

Leah

Stones

Heenan

Dowling

W

W

W

W

L

D

W

W

 -

4-0

1-3

0-3

0-4

2-0

1-1

1-4

4-2

  -

 15

 10

  8

  3

  3

  2

  2

  2

  1

  1

  1

  1

  0

  0

  0

  0