Porthmadog - Sport

Sport

Porthmadog Football Club was founded in 1884, and is one of the oldest in Wales. Matches are played at Y Traeth. The club won the North Wales League in 1902/03 and reached the final of the Welsh Amateur Cup in 1905/06. They again won the league championship in 1937/38, and were Welsh Amateur Cup winners in 1955/56 and 1956/57. They were league champions for three successive seasons between 1966 and 1969, and in the 1970s were twice champions. In 1989/90 they topped the Welsh Alliance League and secured a place in the newly formed Cymru Alliance. The club became an inaugural member of the League of Wales in 1992, in the first season finishing ninth. The following year Porthmadog striker Dave Taylor was the highest scoring player in Europe. They nearly folded in 1995/96 due to serious financial trouble, and lost their place in the League of Wales in 1998. The club played the following year in the Cymru Alliance, winning the League Cup, but it wasn't until 2002/03, with a 19 point lead over their nearest rivals, that they won promotion again to the Welsh Premier League. The club was heavily fined and had points deducted by the Football Association of Wales in 2007 after a referee was racially abused by a supporter but, following an appeal to an independent tribunal, the fine was substantially reduced and the points reinstated. In the 2008/09 season Porthmadog narrowly avoided relegation, finishing sixteenth.

Clwb Rygbi Porthmadog, based at Clwb Chwaraeon Madog, play rugby union, competing in WRU Division 3 North organised by the Welsh Rugby Union. Having gained promotion from the Gwynedd league in the 2011-2012 season.

Porthmadog Golf Club at Morfa Bychan opened in 1906 on land rented from a local farmer. The original tenancy agreement stipulated that golfers must not take any game, hares, rabbits or wildfowl and must pay compensation for any sheep or cattle killed or injured by them. The landlord agreed not to turn on to the land any bull or savage cattle. Created by James Braid, five times winner of the British Open, the course is a mixture of heath and links. The first nine holes head inland over heathland, whilst the final nine, heading back towards the sea, are pure links. The fourteenth hole, known as The Himalayas, is a 378 yards (346 m) par 4 with a huge natural bunker hiding the green from the tee.

Porthmadog Sailing Club was formed in 1958, initially operating from a marquee in a field. In 1964 the club amalgamated with Trawsfynydd Sailing Club and a clubhouse was built. Weekend dinghy racing is organised and facilities are also provided for cruisers.

Madoc Yacht Club, founded in 1970, is based in the former Harbourmaster's Office and has an extensive cruising and racing programme, including two races to Ireland. In 2001 a Celtic Longboat was purchased and a sea rowing section formed.

Glaslyn Leisure Centre on Stryd y Llan includes a 25m swimming pool and sports hall. Badminton, squash and tennis courts are provided, and there is also a sauna, five-a-side football pitch and dance studio.

Sea angling is popular in the coastal villages. At Borth-y-Gest, flounders, bass, mullet, whiting and mackerel can all be caught, whilst Morfa Bychan produces bass, flounders, eels, whiting and the occasional turbot. Bass, flounders and huge numbers of whiting are found at Black Rock Sands, along with thornback ray, mackerel and garfish. Bass, flatfish, eels and some very large mullet can be caught in Porthmadog Harbour, right in the heart of the town, though care must be taken to avoid taking the poisonous lesser weever.

Glaslyn Angling Association controls the fishing rights on virtually the whole length of the Afon Glaslyn up to Beddgelert. The river mainly produces sea trout, though salmon and brown trout can also be caught. Although the river has suffered in the past from acid rain and forestation, there has been a vast improvement in water quality in recent years. Glan Morfa Mawr Trout Fishery at Morfa Bychan is well stocked with rainbow trout

A cycle route now crosses the Cob, forming part of Lôn Las Cymru, the Welsh national cycle route. The route, from Holyhead in the north to either Cardiff or Chepstow in the south, is 250 miles (400 km) long and crosses three distinct mountain ranges.

Tremadog has good quality rock climbing which attracts climbers from all over the United Kingdom, the dolerite cliffs being often dry when it is too wet to climb in the mountains of Snowdonia. Craig Bwlch y Moch is considered one of the best crags in Wales.

A fell race, on the slopes of Moel y Gest, known as "Râs Moel y Gest", is held each year, starting in the town.

Bathing is popular at Black Rock Sands, which has an extensive sandy beach. The water quality prediction is "excellent". Borth-y-Gest has a sand and pebble beach where bathing is safe close inshore, but there are fast currents further out.