2012–13 Newport County A.F.C. season


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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]

Newport County
2012–13 season
ChairmanChris Blight
(until 19 July 2012)
Les Scadding
(from 23 August 2012)
ManagerJustin Edinburgh
StadiumRodney Parade
Conference National3rd (promoted via play-offs)
FA CupFourth qualifying round
FA TrophyFirst round
Top goalscorerLeague: Aaron O'Connor (19)
All: Aaron O'Connor (21)
Highest home attendance6,615 vs Grimsby Town (28 April 2013)
Lowest home attendance1,479 vs Gateshead (1 December 2012)
Average home league attendance2,547
 
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]

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]

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]

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 an 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
Overall Home Away
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
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: [1]

Round12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546
GroundAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAHHHAHAAAHAAAHAAHHHAA
ResultWWWWWLLDWWWDWWDLWLLWLWWLDWLDWWWWWDLLWDDWDWWWDL
Position3111113411121111112131233225443434444443443333

Updated to match(es) played on 20 April 2013. Source: statto.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

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]

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]

(Substitute appearances in brackets)
No. Pos. Name League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
21 DF   Byron Anthony 19 (2) 3 1 (0) 0 20 (2) 3
28 DF   Michael Boateng 3 (0) 0 0 (0) 0 3 (0) 0
11 FW   Ryan Charles 2 (8) 1 0 (2) 0 2 (10) 1
9 FW   Danny Crow 20 (5) 3 0 (0) 0 20 (5) 3
26 MF   Scott Donnelly 16 (2) 1 0 (0) 0 16 (2) 1
16 MF   Lee Evans 18 (4) 3 2 (0) 0 20 (4) 3
34 FW   Will Evans 3 (3) 0 0 (0) 0 3 (3) 0
17 MF   Michael Flynn 28 (10) 2 1 (0) 0 29 (10) 2
30 MF   Alex Gilbey 4 (1) 0 0 (0) 0 4 (1) 0
27 FW   Rhys Griffiths 4 (6) 0 0 (0) 0 4 (6) 0
15 FW   Jake Harris 0 (5) 0 0 (2) 0 0 (7) 0
3 DF   Andrew Hughes 18 (8) 0 0 (1) 0 18 (9) 0
5 DF   Tony James 41 (0) 2 3 (0) 1 44 (0) 3
23 FW   Christian Jolley 22 (2) 14 1 (0) 0 20 (2) 14
1 GK   Alan Julian 10 (1) 0 1 (0) 0 11 (1) 0
10 FW   Jefferson Louis 11 (6) 2 2 (0) 1 13 (6) 3
8 MF   Lee Minshull 28 (7) 6 3 (0) 0 31 (7) 6
7 FW   Aaron O'Connor 36 (3) 18 3 (0) 2 39 (3) 20
22 GK   Joe Perry 0 (0) 0 0 (0) 0 0 (0) 0
40 GK   Lenny Pidgeley 36 (0) 0 2 (0) 0 38 (0) 0
2 DF   David Pipe 41 (0) 0 1 (0) 0 42 (0) 0
4 MF   Max Porter 26 (0) 1 3 (0) 0 29 (0) 1
13 DF   Andy Sandell 42 (0) 9 3 (0) 0 45 (0) 9
20 FW   Michael Smith 9 (0) 4 1 (0) 0 10 (0) 4
12 MF   Ben Swallow 7 (13) 2 3 (0) 0 10 (13) 2
14 MF   Jake Thomson 12 (10) 0 2 (0) 0 14 (10) 0
25 FW   Conor Washington 5 (9) 1 0 (0) 0 5 (9) 1
24 FW   Robbie Willmott 10 (9) 6 0 (0) 0 10 (9) 6
6 DF   Ismail Yakubu 35 (1) 5 1 (0) 0 36 (1) 5
Date Pos. Name From Fee
3 June 2012 GK   Alan Julian Stevenage Free
11 June 2012 MF   Jake Thomson Forest Green Rovers Free
11 June 2012 FW   Jefferson Louis Lincoln City Free
13 June 2012 DF   Tony James Burton Albion Free
19 June 2012 FW   Danny Crow Luton Town Free
25 July 2012 FW   Aaron O'Connor Luton Town Free
26 July 2012 MF   Michael Flynn Bradford City Free
30 July 2012 GK   Lenny Pidgeley Exeter City Free
1 September 2012 FW   Conor Washington St Neots Town Undisclosed
15 November 2012 DF   Byron Anthony Hereford United Free
10 January 2013 FW   Robbie Willmott Cambridge United Undisclosed
11 January 2013 FW   Christian Jolley AFC Wimbledon Undisclosed
31 January 2013 MF   Scott Donnelly Farnborough Undisclosed
14 February 2013 FW   Rhys Griffiths Unattached Free
19 March 2013 DF   Michael Boateng Sutton United Free
Date Pos. Name To Fee
15 May 2012 GK   Glyn Thompson Released
15 May 2012 DF   Lee Baker Released
15 May 2012 FW   Elliott Buchanan Released
16 May 2012 MF   Darryl Knights Released
16 May 2012 MF   Troy Greening Released
16 May 2012 MF   Guillaume Velez Released
16 May 2012 DF   Paul Rodgers Released
29 May 2012 FW   Sam Foley Yeovil Town None
3 June 2012 DF   Gary Warren Inverness Caledonian Thistle None
27 June 2012 FW   Craig McAllister Eastleigh None
31 Oct 2012 MF   Kris Fielden Released
31 Oct 2012 DF   Mark Cooper Released
31 January 2013 MF   Lee Evans Wolverhampton Wanderers Undisclosed
31 January 2013 FW   Jefferson Louis Whitehawk None
5 February 2013 FW   Ryan Charles Released
1 May 2013 DF   Michael Boateng Released
1 May 2013 FW   Jake Harris Released
1 May 2013 GK   Joe Perry Released
10 May 2013 MF   Jake Thomson Released
10 May 2013 GK   Alan Julian Released
10 May 2013 MF   Scott Donnelly Released
10 May 2013 MF   Ben Swallow Released
Date Pos. Name From Expiry
5 November 2012 FW   Michael Smith Charlton Athletic 4 January 2013
15 November 2012 FW   Christian Jolley AFC Wimbledon 12 January 2013
31 January 2013 FW   Will Evans Hereford United 1 May 2013
27 March 2013 MF   Alex Gilbey Colchester United 6 May 2013
Date Pos. Name To Expiry
5 October 2012 DF   Mark Cooper Frome Town 5 November 2012
22 November 2012 FW   Jefferson Louis Whitehawk 1 January 2013
2 January 2013 MF   Jake Thomson Lincoln City 31 January 2013

Fixtures and results

edit

Pre-season friendlies

edit

Date Opponents Venue Result Scorers Attendance Notes
Fri 6 Jul 2012 Undy Athletic Playing Fields 1–3 Hughes
Fri 13 Jul 2012 Moreton Rangers London Road 1–1 J. Jones
Sat 14 Jul 2012 Evesham United Jubilee Stadium 3–0 Harris, Sandell, Louis Carl Lewis Memorial Trophy
Sat 21 Jul 2012 Carmarthen Town Richmond Park 1–3 Harris
Tue 24 Jul 2012 Bristol Rovers Rodney Parade 2–0 Louis, Fielden 1,549
Fri 27 Jul 2012 Merthyr Town Rodney Parade 2–2 Louis, Harris 701
Tue 31 Jul 2012 Swansea City Rodney Parade 2–2 O'Connor, Louis 891
Fri 3 Aug 2012 Yeovil Town Rodney Parade 1–3 Sandell 729

Final

GK 24   Chris Maxwell
RB 2   Stephen Wright
CB 32   David Artell
CB 6   Martin Riley
LB 3   Neil Ashton
RM 8   Jay Harris   89'
CM 12   Dean Keates (C)   80'
CM 14   Joe Clarke
LM 16   Johnny Hunt
CF 10   Brett Ormerod   64'
CF 11   Andy Morrell   69'
Substitutes:
GK 13   Andy Coughlin
DF 23   Chris Westwood
MF 17   Glen Little   80'
FW 7   Adrian Cieslewicz   69'
FW 31   Dele Adebola   89'
Manager:
  Andy Morrell
GK 40   Lenny Pidgeley
CB 5   Tony James
CB 6   Ismail Yakubu
CB 21   Byron Anthony
RM 2   David Pipe (C)
CM 8   Lee Minshull
CM 30   Alex Gilbey   79'
CM 17   Michael Flynn   74'
LM 13   Andy Sandell
CF 23   Christian Jolley
CF 9   Danny Crow   63'
Substitutes:
GK 1   Alan Julian
DF 3   Andrew Hughes
MF 26   Scott Donnelly   74'
FW 7   Aaron O'Connor   63'
FW 24   Robbie Willmott
Manager:
  Justin Edinburgh

MATCH RULES

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
  • Penalty shootout if scores still level.
  • Five named substitutes
  • Maximum of three substitutions.
Pos Team Pld W D L F A GD Pts Notes
1 Mansfield Town 46 30 5 11 92 52 +40 95 Champions, promoted
2 Kidderminster Harriers 46 28 9 9 82 40 +42 93 Play-offs
3 Newport County 46 25 10 11 85 60 +25 85 Play-off winners, promoted
4 Grimsby Town 46 23 14 9 70 38 +32 83 Play-offs
5 Wrexham 46 22 14 10 74 45 +29 80 Play-offs
6 Hereford United 46 19 13 14 73 63 +10 70
7 Luton Town 46 18 13 15 70 62 +8 67
8 Dartford 46 19 9 18 67 63 +4 66
9 Braintree Town 46 19 9 18 63 72 −9 66
10 Forest Green Rovers 46 18 11 17 63 49 +14 65
11 Macclesfield Town 46 17 12 17 65 70 −5 63
12 Woking 46 18 8 20 73 81 −8 62
13 Alfreton Town 46 16 12 18 69 74 −5 60
14 Cambridge United 46 15 14 17 68 69 −1 59
15 Nuneaton Town 46 14 15 17 55 63 −8 57
16 Lincoln City 46 15 11 20 66 73 −7 56
17 Gateshead 46 13 16 17 58 61 −3 55
18 Hyde 46 16 7 23 63 75 −12 55
19 Tamworth 46 15 10 21 55 69 −14 55
20 Southport 46 14 12 20 72 86 −14 54
21 Stockport County 46 13 11 22 57 80 −23 50 Relegated
22 Barrow 46 11 13 22 45 83 −38 46 Relegated
23 Ebbsfleet United 46 8 15 23 55 89 −34 39 Relegated
24 Telford United 46 6 17 23 52 79 −27 35 Relegated
Key
Division Champions
Promoted
Into play-offs
Relegated
  1. ^ "Newport County 2–0 Bristol Rovers". Newport County A.F.C. 24 July 2012. Archived from the original on 9 October 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  2. ^ "Newport Museum & Art Gallery Exhibition: Newport County AFC – 100 Years of Football". Newport City Council.
  3. ^ a b "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.[permanent dead link]
  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. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  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. Archived from the original on 10 May 2013. Retrieved 7 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.