'Emotional' moment footballers serenade poorly club founder in promotion celebration

A village football club celebrated their promotion by serenading the club's founder on his doorstep in an "emotional" moment captured on video.

Cefn Cribwr FC, a local men's football club in Bridgend county, gained promotion to the Ardal South West Division on Saturday (May 14) following a 4-2 win over Blaenrhondda FC.

To celebrate, the players paid an unexpected visit to the home of Cefn Cribwr's founder and former manager Gary Davies, who has been too ill to attend games for the past year.

"We are going up" and "Gary we love you", the players can be heard singing on Mr Davies' doorstep in a moment he and his wife Sandra described as a "wonderful gesture."

"It was a wonderful moment", Mr Davies, aged 79, told ITV News.

"I was over the moon, taken aback and a bit teary."

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Mr Davies founded the club in 1976. In recent years it has gone from strength to strength, rising through the South Wales Alliance League in just five years.

But a hip replacement and arthritis means Mr Davies has been too unwell to attend recent games, including Saturday's win. So the team decided to take the promotion party to him.

"We're a little village club - purely amateur", said Scott Dryden, 1st Team Manager of the club told ITV News.

"The lads know the ethos and values that Gary set into the club."

He added: "It was very emotional... he was not expecting it!"