2012–13 Newport County A.F.C. season

Newport County
2012–13 season
Chairman Chris Blight
(until 19 July 2012)
Les Scadding
(from 23 August 2012)
Manager Justin Edinburgh
Stadium Rodney Parade
Conference National 3rd (promoted via play-offs)
FA Cup 4th qualifying round
FA Trophy 1st round
Top goalscorer League: O'Connor (19)
All: O'Connor (21)
Highest home attendance 6,615 vs Grimsby Town (28 April 2013)
Lowest home attendance 1,479 vs Gateshead (1 December 2012)
Average home league attendance 2,547
Home colours
Away colours
← 2011–12 2013–14 →

The 2012–13 season was Newport County's third consecutive season in the Conference National and 92nd season of league football overall. The season marked the return of association football to Rodney Parade for the first time in 72 years.[1] The club celebrated its centenary in the 2012–13 season by winning promotion to Football League Two after a 25-year absence.[2][3]

Season review

Introduction

Rodney Parade

In May 2012, Newport County announced that they had agreed a deal to move to the city's rugby stadium, Rodney Parade.[4] In August 2012 EuroMillions lottery winner Les Scadding succeeded Chris Blight as club Chairman.[5] In February 2013 a further 10-year lease to play at Rodney Parade was signed.[6]

The centenary 2012–13 season saw Newport County finish third in the Conference Premier league, reaching the play-offs for the first time. A 2–0 aggregate win over Grimsby Town in the two-legged play-off semi-final saw Newport County reach the 2013 Conference Premier play-off Final at Wembley Stadium. The final versus Wrexham was the first Wembley final to feature two Welsh teams, and Newport County won 2–0 to return to the Football League after a 25-year absence with promotion to League Two.[7] County were awarded Freedom of the City of Newport on 17 August 2013 in recognition of this achievement.[8]

League

2012

The season started away to promotion hopefuls Mansfield Town. County were 2–0 up within 13 minutes, but found themselves level at 2–2 five minutes into the second half. Eventually winning 4–3 County were 3rd in the table.[9] After a 4–0 home win to Nuneaton Town[10] County were top of the table and stayed there during a run of five consecutive wins culminating in a 2–0 home victory to local rivals Hereford United[11] — their first visit to Newport since the Welsh Cup clash in 1989. County were now the only team in the division with a 100% record.[12] However, following defeats to 10th-placed Wrexham[13] and 12th-placed Dartford[14] County were back in 3rd place, but the next three games were won and County were back to the top. Following a 0–0 draw with Grimsby Town County were temporarily down to 2nd,[15] but were back at the top after the next six games. Following a shock home defeat to second-bottom Hyde[16] County were down to 2nd on goal difference, but back on top the following game after a 3–1 home win against Gateshead.[17] Despite leading Kidderminster Harriers 2–1 in the next game County lost 3–2 and they were back to 3rd.[18] The home match with Luton Town was won 5–2, taking County back to the top of the table. The last game of 2012 was won away at Forest Green Rovers, but with Grimsby Town having played an extra game County finished the year in 2nd place.[19]

2013

The first fixture of the new year was the home visit of Forest Green Rovers. County were decisively beaten 5–0 and dropped to 3rd in the table as a result.[20] The next match at home to Wrexham ended in a 1–1 draw, which was enough to put Wrexham top of the table, with County staying 3rd, one point behind.[21] County rose to 2nd in the table following the 4–2 away win at Lincoln City, with débutant Robbie Willmott scoring a brace.[22] With momentum in their favour County were desperate to get the home match with bottom-placed Barrow on, but the Rodney Parade pitch was under several feet of snow on the morning of 19 January. Over 120 fans helped to clear the pitch but County went on to lose 2–0.[23] Following that setback, Newport then went on a seven-match unbeaten run, including completing the double over Mansfield Town[24] and Hereford United in the process. The Hereford match being particularly notable for the award of three penalties to Hereford, two of which were scored.[25] In the following match a 90th-minute winner for Kidderminster Harriers resulted in them being the only team to complete double victories over County and move into top place in the table as a result.[26] The next game resulted in a second consecutive County defeat away at Stockport County — Stockport winning 1–0 as a result of a Lee Minshull own goal.[27] County now faced the prospect of the remaining 10 matches in just 26 days. However they went on another unbeaten run, winning at Southport three days later,[28] followed by a 0–0 away draw with Gateshead two days after that. The Gateshead match was played at Boston United's York Street ground with the match having been postponed on four previous occasions.[29] A further 0–0 draw was played out with Dartford just two days later.[30] Newport got back to winning ways with their second victory over Nuneaton Town two days after that.[31] Following a 0–0 away draw with Cambridge United[32] a place in the play-offs was secured with a 1–0 home victory over Braintree Town which also represented the seventh double of the season.[33] Newport finished their home season with victories over Macclesfield Town[34] and Alfreton Town, the latter of which was played in torrential rain with large pools of standing water.[35] The penultimate game of the season was a 2–2 away draw with Luton Town[36] with the final game against fellow play-off contenders Grimsby Town. County manager Justin Edinburgh fielded a much-changed side, resting many first-team players ahead of the play-off matches. As a result, County lost 3–0 and set up a semi-final first leg back at Blundell Park four days later.[37]

Play-offs

The County team that lined up against Grimsby in the semi-final first leg contained seven changes from the team that had played in the last league game. Grimsby, who boasted the best defensive record in the division, made only three changes. In a vastly different affair to the league game, County triumphed 1–0 as a result of a Ismail Yakubu header in the 89th minute.[38]

As the second of the two semi-final second legs played County already knew that their potential opponents in the final would be Wrexham who had beaten Kidderminster Harriers 5–2 on aggregate. Taking the 1–0 lead into the home game County would only need a draw to make it to Wembley. However, in front of a Rodney Parade record crowd Christian Jolley scored the only goal of the game to make it 2–0 on aggregate and book County's place in the final.[39]

In order to win the final and promotion County needed to beat Wrexham, something which they had failed to do on each of their previous six Conference meetings. The game was billed as a battle between the league's best midfield against the most potent strike force. [3] Wrexham's midfielders had shut out the County attack for 86 minutes, until Wrexham's David Artell got his head to a ball over the top but couldn't deal with it completely and Christian Jolley latched on to it and lifted the ball over Chris Maxwell to give County the late advantage.

As Wrexham pushed for a leveller they were caught on the counter-attack in injury time and their fate was sealed. Aaron O'Connor hammered the ball into the roof of the net, at the second attempt, after his initial effort was saved by Maxwell, to prompt wild celebrations from the County players, management and fans.[40]

Newport County win the Conference National play-off winners' trophy at Wembley

Results summary

OverallHomeAway
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsWDLGFGAGDWDLGFGAGD
46 25 10 11 85 60  +25 85 13 5 5 43 27  +16 12 5 6 42 33  +9

Last updated: 20 April 2013.
Source:

Results by round

Round12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546
GroundAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAHHHAHAAAHAAAHAAHHHAA
Result W W W W W L L D W W W D W W D L W L L W L W W L D W L D W W W W W D L L W D D W D W W W D L
Position 3 1 1 1 1 1 3 4 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 2 3 3 2 2 5 4 4 3 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 3 3 3 3

Last updated: 20 April 2013.
Source:
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Cup

FA Cup

County were drawn away to Yate Town of the Southern League Division One South & West. When the match was played County were the highest-placed club left in the competition and Yate the lowest. Despite taking the lead as early as the 6th minute, County found themselves 3–1 down by the 69th. With two minutes of time remaining Aaron O'Connor scored County's second and Tony James the equaliser in the 4th minute of injury time to force a replay at Rodney Parade.[41]

The replay began in a similar fashion with O'Connor opening the scoring in the 43rd minute for County to lead 1–0 at half time. On 65 minutes David Pipe was sent off for a second yellow card and minutes later the visitors were awarded and scored a soft penalty. This tied the score at 1–1 and extra time was needed. With two late goals Yate progressed into the First Round proper.[42]

FA Trophy

There was no repeat of the previous season's Wembley final for County as they lost their First Round FA Trophy match 0–2 away to Conference South Welling United. Welling themselves went on to become champions of Conference South.[43]

Squad statistics

(Substitute appearances in brackets)
No. Pos. Name League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
21DFWales Byron Anthony19 (2)31 (0)020 (2)3
28DFEngland Michael Boateng3 (0)00 (0)03 (0)0
11FWEngland Ryan Charles2 (8)10 (2)02 (10)1
9FWEngland Danny Crow20 (5)30 (0)020 (5)3
26MFEngland Scott Donnelly16 (2)10 (0)016 (2)1
16MFEngland Lee Evans18 (4)32 (0)020 (4)3
34FWEngland Will Evans3 (3)00 (0)03 (3)0
17MFWales Michael Flynn28 (10)21 (0)029 (10)2
30MFEngland Alex Gilbey4 (1)00 (0)04 (1)0
27FWWales Rhys Griffiths4 (6)00 (0)04 (6)0
15FWEngland Jake Harris0 (5)00 (2)00 (7)0
3DFWales Andrew Hughes18 (8)00 (1)018 (9)0
5DFWales Tony James41 (0)23 (0)144 (0)3
23FWEngland Christian Jolley22 (2)141 (0)020 (2)14
1GKNorthern Ireland Alan Julian10 (1)01 (0)011 (1)0
10FWDominica Jefferson Louis11 (6)22 (0)113 (6)3
8MFEngland Lee Minshull28 (7)63 (0)031 (7)6
7FWEngland Aaron O'Connor36 (3)183 (0)239 (3)20
22GKWales Joe Perry0 (0)00 (0)00 (0)0
40GKEngland Lenny Pidgeley36 (0)02 (0)038 (0)0
2DFWales David Pipe41 (0)01 (0)042 (0)0
4MFEngland Max Porter26 (0)13 (0)029 (0)1
13DFEngland Andy Sandell42 (0)93 (0)045 (0)9
20FWEngland Michael Smith9 (0)41 (0)010 (0)4
12MFWales Ben Swallow7 (13)23 (0)010 (13)2
14MFTrinidad and Tobago Jake Thomson12 (10)02 (0)014 (10)0
25FWNorthern Ireland Conor Washington5 (9)10 (0)05 (9)1
24FWEngland Robbie Willmott10 (9)60 (0)010 (9)6
6DFEngland Ismail Yakubu35 (1)51 (0)036 (1)5

Transfers

In

Date Pos. Name From Fee
3 June 2012GKNorthern Ireland Alan JulianStevenageFree
11 June 2012MFTrinidad and Tobago Jake ThomsonForest Green RoversFree
11 June 2012FWDominica Jefferson LouisLincoln CityFree
13 June 2012DFWales Tony JamesBurton AlbionFree
19 June 2012FWEngland Danny CrowLuton TownFree
25 July 2012FWEngland Aaron O'ConnorLuton TownFree
26 July 2012MFWales Michael FlynnBradford CityFree
30 July 2012GKEngland Lenny PidgeleyExeter CityFree
1 September 2012FWNorthern Ireland Conor WashingtonSt Neots TownUndisclosed
15 November 2012DFWales Byron AnthonyHereford UnitedFree
10 January 2013FWEngland Robbie WillmottCambridge UnitedUndisclosed
11 January 2013FWEngland Christian JolleyAFC WimbledonUndisclosed
31 January 2013MFEngland Scott DonnellyFarnboroughUndisclosed
14 February 2013FWWales Rhys GriffithsUnattachedFree
19 March 2013DFEngland Michael BoatengSutton UnitedFree

Out

Date Pos. Name To Fee
15 May 2012GKEngland Glyn ThompsonReleased
15 May 2012DFEngland Lee BakerReleased
15 May 2012FWEngland Elliott BuchananReleased
16 May 2012MFEngland Darryl KnightsReleased
16 May 2012MFWales Troy GreeningReleased
16 May 2012MFFrance Guillaume VelezReleased
16 May 2012DFEngland Paul RodgersReleased
29 May 2012FWEngland Sam FoleyYeovil TownNone
3 June 2012DFEngland Gary WarrenInverness Caledonian ThistleNone
27 June 2012FWScotland Craig McAllisterEastleighNone
31 Oct 2012MFWales Kris FieldenReleased
31 Oct 2012DFEngland Mark CooperReleased
31 January 2013MFWales Lee EvansWolverhampton WanderersUndisclosed
31 January 2013FWDominica Jefferson LouisWhitehawkNone
5 February 2013FWEngland Ryan CharlesReleased
1 May 2013DFEngland Michael BoatengReleased
1 May 2013FWEngland Jake HarrisReleased
1 May 2013GKWales Joe PerryReleased
10 May 2013MFTrinidad and Tobago Jake ThomsonReleased
10 May 2013GKNorthern Ireland Alan JulianReleased
10 May 2013MFEngland Scott DonnellyReleased
10 May 2013MFWales Ben SwallowReleased

Loans in

Date Pos. Name From Expiry
5 November 2012FWEngland Michael SmithCharlton Athletic4 January 2013
15 November 2012FWEngland Christian JolleyAFC Wimbledon12 January 2013
31 January 2013FWEngland Will EvansHereford United1 May 2013
27 March 2013MFEngland Alex GilbeyColchester United6 May 2013

Loans out

Date Pos. Name To Expiry
5 October 2012DFEngland Mark CooperFrome Town5 November 2012
22 November 2012FWDominica Jefferson LouisWhitehawk1 January 2013
2 January 2013MFTrinidad and Tobago Jake ThomsonLincoln City31 January 2013

Fixtures and results

Pre-season friendlies

Date Opponents Venue Result Scorers Attendance Notes
Fri 6 Jul 2012Undy AthleticPlaying Fields1–3Hughes
Fri 13 Jul 2012Moreton RangersLondon Road1–1J. Jones
Sat 14 Jul 2012Evesham UnitedJubilee Stadium3–0Harris, Sandell, Louis Carl Lewis Memorial Trophy
Sat 21 Jul 2012Carmarthen TownRichmond Park1–3Harris
Tue 24 Jul 2012Bristol RoversRodney Parade2–0Louis, Fielden1,549
Fri 27 Jul 2012Merthyr TownRodney Parade2–2Louis, Harris701
Tue 31 Jul 2012Swansea CityRodney Parade2–2O'Connor, Louis891
Fri 3 Aug 2012Yeovil TownRodney Parade1–3Sandell729

Conference National

Play-offs

Final

5 May 2013
15:00 BST
Wrexham 0–2 Newport County
Report
Report
Report
Report
Report
Report
Report
Report		 Jolley  86'
O'Connor  90+4'
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 16,346
Referee: Michael Bull
Wrexham
Newport County
GK 24 Wales Chris Maxwell
RB 2 England Stephen Wright
CB 32England David Artell
CB 6England Martin Riley
LB 3 England Neil Ashton
RM 8England Jay Harris  89'
CM 12 England Dean Keates (C)  80'
CM 14 England Joe Clarke
LM 16 England Johnny Hunt
CF 10England Brett Ormerod  64'
CF 11 England Andy Morrell  69'
Substitutes:
GK 13 England Andy Coughlin
DF 23England Chris Westwood
MF 17 England Glen Little  80'
FW 7Poland Adrian Cieslewicz  69'
FW 31Nigeria Dele Adebola  89'
Manager:
England Andy Morrell
GK 40 England Lenny Pidgeley
CB 5Wales Tony James
CB 6 England Ismail Yakubu
CB 21 Wales Byron Anthony
RM 2Wales David Pipe (C)
CM 8England Lee Minshull
CM 30England Alex Gilbey  79'
CM 17Wales Michael Flynn  74'
LM 13 England Andy Sandell
CF 23England Christian Jolley
CF 9 England Danny Crow  63'
Substitutes:
GK 1Northern Ireland Alan Julian
DF 3Wales Andrew Hughes
MF 26England Scott Donnelly  74'
FW 7England Aaron O'Connor  63'
FW 24England Robbie Willmott
Manager:
England Justin Edinburgh

MATCH RULES

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
  • Penalty shootout if scores still level.
  • Five named subsititutes
  • Maximum of 3 substitutions.

FA Cup

Main article: 2012–13 FA Cup

FA Trophy

Main article: 2012–13 FA Trophy

League table

PosTeamPldWDLFAGDPtsNotes
1Mansfield Town46305119252+4095Champions, promoted
2Kidderminster Harriers4628998240+4293Play-offs
3Newport County462510118560+2585Play-off winners, promoted
4Grimsby Town46231497038+3283Play-offs
5Wrexham462214107445+2980Play-offs
6Hereford United461913147363+1070
7Luton Town461813157062+867
8Dartford46199186763+466
9Braintree Town46199186372−966
10Forest Green Rovers461811176349+1465
11Macclesfield Town461712176570−563
12Woking46188207381−862
13Alfreton Town461612186974−560
14Cambridge United461514176869−159
15Nuneaton Town461415175563−857
16Lincoln City461511206673−756
17Gateshead461316175861−355
18Hyde46167236375−1255
19Tamworth461510215569−1455
20Southport461412207286−1454
21Stockport County461311225780−2350Relegated
22Barrow461113224583−3846Relegated
23Ebbsfleet United46815235589−3439Relegated
24Telford United46617235279−2735Relegated
Key
Division Champions
Promoted
Into play-offs
Relegated

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Newport County 2–0 Bristol Rovers". Newport County A.F.C. 24 July 2012.
  2. ↑ "Newport Museum & Art Gallery Exhibition: Newport County AFC – 100 Years of Football". Newport City Council.
  3. 1 2 "Wrexham 0–2 Newport". BBC Sport. 5 May 2013.
  4. ↑ "Newport County move to the Dragon's lair at Rodney Parade". BBC Sport. 1 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "Millionaire Les Scadding takes over as Newport County chairman". BBC Sport.
  6. ↑ "Newport County extend Rodney Parade stay". BBC Sport.
  7. ↑ Hughes, Dewi (5 May 2013). "Wrexham 0–2 Newport". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  8. ↑ "Newport County AFC awarded freedom of the city" (PDF). Newport City Council. 17 August 2013.
  9. ↑ "Mansfield 3–4 Newport". BBC Sport. 11 August 2012.
  10. ↑ "Newport 4–0 Nuneaton". BBC Sport. 14 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "Newport 2–0 Hereford". BBC Sport. 28 August 2012.
  12. ↑ "Five-star County land award for boss Edinburgh". Football Conference. 29 August 2012.
  13. ↑ "Wrexham 2–0 Newport". BBC Sport. 1 September 2012.
  14. ↑ "Dartford 2–1 Newport". BBC Sport. 4 September 2012.
  15. ↑ "Newport 0–0 Grimsby". BBC Sport. 29 September 2012.
  16. ↑ "Newport 1–3 Hyde". BBC Sport. 17 November 2012.
  17. ↑ "Newport 3–1 Gateshead". BBC Sport. 1 December 2012.
  18. ↑ "Kidderminster 3–2 Newport". BBC Sport. 8 December 2012.
  19. ↑ "Forest Green 1–2 Newport". BBC Sport. 26 December 2012.
  20. ↑ "Newport 0–5 Forest Green". BBC Sport. 1 January 2013.
  21. ↑ "Newport 1–1 Wrexham". BBC Sport. 4 January 2013.
  22. ↑ "Lincoln 2–4 Newport". BBC Sport. 12 January 2013.
  23. ↑ "Newport 0–2 Barrow". BBC Sport. 19 January 2013.
  24. ↑ "Newport 2–0 Mansfield". BBC Sport. 12 February 2013.
  25. ↑ "Hereford 2–3 Newport". BBC Sport. 5 March 2013.
  26. ↑ "Newport 1–2 Kidderminster". BBC Sport. 19 March 2013.
  27. ↑ "Stockport 1–0 Newport". BBC Sport. 23 March 2013.
  28. ↑ "Southport 0–2 Newport". BBC Sport. 26 March 2013.
  29. ↑ "Gateshead 0–0 Newport". BBC Sport. 28 March 2013.
  30. ↑ "Newport 0–0 Dartford". BBC Sport. 30 March 2013.
  31. ↑ "Nuneaton 1–2 Newport". BBC Sport. 1 April 2013.
  32. ↑ "Cambridge 0–0 Newport". BBC Sport. 5 April 2013.
  33. ↑ "Newport 1–0 Braintree". BBC Sport. 9 April 2013.
  34. ↑ "Newport 4–1 Macclesfield". BBC Sport. 11 April 2013.
  35. ↑ "Newport 2–0 Alfreton". BBC Sport. 13 April 2013.
  36. ↑ "Luton 2–2 Newport". BBC Sport. 16 April 2013.
  37. ↑ "Grimsby 3–0 Newport". BBC Sport. 20 April 2013.
  38. ↑ "Grimsby 0–1 Newport". BBC Sport. 24 April 2013.
  39. ↑ "Newport 1–0 Grimsby". BBC Sport. 28 April 2013.
  40. ↑ "Newport promoted to The League". The Football League. 5 May 2013.
  41. ↑ "Yate Town 3–3 Newport County". Newport County A.F.C. 20 October 2012.
  42. ↑ "Newport County 1–3 Yate Town". Newport County A.F.C. 23 October 2012.
  43. ↑ "Welling United 2–0 Newport County". Newport County A.F.C. 24 November 2012.
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