Island Marine FC

On Saturday I visited Maslin Park on Barry Island, which is home to the Island Marine FC. The Island Marine were formed in 1993 and this September will see the club celebrate their 25th anniversary of playing in the Vale of Glamorgan league.
The club formed with the coming together of players from Barry Island Centurions and Sea View FC thanks to Alan Dicks under the management of Alan Bosley. The club had a successful first season by winning the Junior Cup at Jenner Park 3-2 against Barry Athletic thanks to a Mark Sales hatrick and finishing second in the league gaining promotion in their first season.
The team had a loyal group of players who continued to play through the next ten years and in 2005 the first junior side was formed under the management of Neil and Kevin Owens. The side was sponsored by local firm Firstchoice4mortgages and the Club wish to thank the owners, Martin and Jackie Byrne who continue to be the club’s main sponsor to this day.
In 2004 a much needed injection of youth was needed to keep the senior side going and thanks to a new crop of young players including Ross Mackintosh, Matt Blumberg, Craig Johnson, Chris Mcghan, Adam Williams( to name a few) the Island Marine continued. The side reached the Junior Cup and Dockers Cup Final in 2005, and the Junior cup again in 2006. Under the management of Haydn Stait and Kevin Owens the first team won the Supporters cup in 2013 2-1 against the Tynewydd at Jenner Park.
The mini and Junior sides continued to grow under a new committee, formed to take the club forward, yet the senior side was almost going out of existence. Luckily, down to a well-timed phone call and the persistence of manager Martin Byrne the club continued.
Over the last 8 years the club has grown into one of the biggest clubs in South Wales. This is down to inspirational Chairman Richard Belby, and Secretary Sian Blackmore, who work incredibly hard to give every member a fantastic experience within the Club. Richard continues to coach the U6’s and in 2015 he was named the ‘Community Coach of the Year’ which is awarded by the FAW, a brilliant achievement.
The club now has 13 junior and mini teams ranging from Under 6’s to Under 16’s, as well as two senior sides. The current senior first team actually have 5 members of the very first mini team playing for them now…… Adam Owens, Dan Bell, Dan Ladner, Jake Rogers and Jack Mellars which is a great sign for the long running future of the club. This is one of the Clubs aims…….to have a constant stream of talented youngsters coming up through the Junior teams to feed the senior sides.
The Club also have a ‘clubroom’ based at Barry Island Sports & Social Club, Barry Island which all the teams have use of, and as well as the senior teams going back there after their games, the younger ones use it for presentations and other events. IMFC wish to thank Lee Jones and all his staff for all their hard work, help and support.
The Club has a brilliant team of Managers, coaches, treasurers, parents, sponsors and volunteers, who give up their time and money to develop players across all age groups. The club holds many events throughout the year to raise funds for both the Club, and local charities, including quiz nights, race night, barbecues and a ‘Festival of Football’, which sees over 500 children enjoying a fun day of football with teams from all over South Wales. This Clubs moto is ONE TEAM. ISLAND MARINE’, and this definitely shone through while meeting the senior team, and management this weekend. The Island Marine Football Club are a grass roots football Club that both encourage and develop children from the age of 6 and are a huge asset to Barry.