Cefn Albion

For a full history see; List of football seasons involving Cefn Druids and its predecessor clubs

The team take their prolific history from the famous old Welsh team Druids FC who were founded in the early 1870s. They had won the Welsh Cup on no less than 8 occasions and have finished runners-up five times but fell on hard times with the advent of professional football. Druids were ancient mystic men throughout Celtic civilisation and were closely associated with Wales.

Club formation

It is claimed by the later club that Druids FC formed in 1872 when Plasmadoc FC merged with Ruabon Rovers and Ruabon Volunteers under the guidance of Llewelyn Kenrick. Contemporary sources refute this version of events.

It was reported that on 6 October 1872, the opening game of a Football Club for the district was played at Plasmadoc Park. Mr George Hampden Whalley was selected as the captain of the club. On 23 October 1872 a meeting was held by Ruabon Rovers at the Wynnstay Arms where the Club committee was selected. It included people like David Thomson and Dr Daniel Grey. George Hampden Whalley was elected as president. Whalley would later also hold this position when the club became Druids and at rival club Ruabon FC.

In February 1873 Ruabon Rovers played a fixture against Ruabon Volunteers, which shows these clubs were both still Active after the merger date proposed by the modern day club. Ruabon Volunteers were also known as the 2nd Denbighshire Volunteers so were actually a Military team.

In September 1873 the club was still known as Ruabon Rovers as evidenced in the annual meeting of the club, where a number of influential people, later associated with Druids were present and held key roles, such as David and George Thomson. The issue of the club's foundation is further muddied when Llewelyn Kenrick was present at the founding of a football club in Ruabon in September 1873.

The name of the club appears interchangeable between Ruabon Rovers and Plasmadoc in 1873, and the club was often referred to as the Plasmadoc Club from 1874 up until 1876. When speaking in 1882, Llewelyn Kenrick stated that the club had been started by David Thomson in 1874 as the Plasmadoc Club.

Druids FC

The name Druids does not appear in the local press until January 1876. By 1877 the club were commonly referred to as Druids Football Club.

The club were allowed to play at Plasmadoc Park by George Hammond Whalley MP. However following his death in 1878 Druids lost the use of the Plasmadoc Ground. Because of this, Druids were forced to withdraw form the 1878–79 edition of the Welsh Cup. This resulted in the Club folding and many players, including Kenrick, leaving the club. The club did not play any further games for over a year until it was revived in November 1879.

Salvation was found in the form of the Williams-Wynn family as they allowed the club to use an area of the Wynnstay Estate, which became Wynnstay Park and home to the Druids for the next forty years.

With their new home Druids once again entered the Welsh Cup and the 1879–80 edition saw the start of an era of success for the Ruabon Club. Druids reached the Welsh Cup final seven consecutive times between 1879 and 1886 winning the trophy five times. Druids also had some success in the FA Cup reaching the Fifth Round (last eight) in 1882–83 and the Fourth Round in 1884–85

After seven years of success in Welsh football Druids would begin to suffer with the advent of professionalism. Druids failed to reach further than the Second Round in the Welsh Cup until the 1892–93 season. The earlier success in the FA Cup was also not to be matched as after 1887–88 they did not progress to the First Round proper again.

Mergers

In September 1888 at a meeting at the Wynnstay Arms, the club was reformed when they merged with neighbours Ruabon Wanderers. It was decided to retain the name Druids as it was a well known title. A follow-up meeting was held at the Bricklayers Arms, Ruabon where the committee was selected. Llewelyn Kenrick was present at this meeting.

After World War I, Druids FC ceased to exist when they merged with Rhosymedre to form Rhosymedre Druids. Despite this new pairing, Druids still faced financial trouble and amalgamated once more in August 1927 with Acrefair United F.C. to form a new club Druids United.

In 1992 after many years of discussion the inevitable amalgamation of Druids United and Cefn Albion F.C. took place to end the internal village soccer rivalry in the village of Cefn Mawr. The new look club took the bold step of applying to join the new Cymru Alliance. The joint resources of the clubs could be focused on a revival of football fortunes in the village of Cefn Mawr.

Oldest club

Contrary to the club badge and sign above the club house proclaiming the club to be the oldest in Wales, these claims are erroneous.

The now defunct Oswestry Town claim a formation date of 1860 which predates Druids, although again primary sources refute this and 1875 is more likely. Geographically they were located in England, though the team has participated in the Welsh system and were early members of the Welsh FA, and would thus consider themselves a Welsh side (see the New Saints).

When the National Library of Wales digitised its Newspaper Archive in 2012, new evidence was discovered that proved Wrexham AFC were formed in 1864 which pre-dates the formation of the original Druids FC (via Ruabon Rovers and Plasmadoc) by 8 years, thus making Cefn Druids claims of being the oldest club in Wales erroneous.