Hear the Kingfishers' Anthem, specially written and performed by Ribbed - Kingfishers All the Way
Cos if you know your history….of Monmouth Town FC.
Many Town clubs punch way above their weight relative to the size of their population and sadly Monmouth Town have been in many ways the opposite of that. Finally however Monmouth Town are starting to do justice to the rich heritage of the town and its football.
For history buffs Monmouth is the birthplace of Henry V, was home the Charles Rolls (of Rolls Royce fame) and witnessed the trial of the Chartists in 1840. Indeed, whereas the rest of the South Wales valleys seemed to be strong supporters of the Chartist movement it is rumoured Monmouth’s upper classes even volunteered to carry out the execution of the now revered John Frost and his collaborators.
On the football side it's not clear when the club was officially formed but there is evidence to suggest that an ’association club’ was playing in all white at Dixton Road in the town in the year 1906. The Monmouth Beacon of 14th December recalls this and adds a comment about a period when football had been extinct in Monmouth which suggests earlier round ball shenanigans. Indeed research shows that Monmouth played Victoria and the Grammar school in the 1905/06 season and were joint champions of the Monmouth and District League in 1925/26 with Clearwell FC.
The next honour recorded by the Town was victory on the Monmouthshire Senior cup on the eve of war in 1940, defeating Lovell’s Athletic, (aka the Toffeemen) then about to lift the Southern League West title, 3-2 at Monmouth Sportsground which is still home today.
Nearly 20 years later, in 1958, the Town lifted the Monmouthshire Amateur cup beating Cefn Fforest 3 – 0 at Pontllanfraith. The following season saw victories in both the Monmouthshire senior and Monmouth Amateur cups.
Town's only appearance in the FA Cup was a preliminary round defeat away at Llanelli in 1965.
Silverware has been scarce since with wins in the Gwent amateur cup in 1984 and 1996 being highlights of many years gracing the fields of Newport and the Gwent Leagues with an occasional foray into the English Forest of Dean and Herefordshire leagues.
More recently the Town were relegated to the bottom tier of the Gwent County just three years ago. The returning Andrew Smith took up the reins and gained promotion in his first season in charge finishing runners up to Rogerstone. At the beginning of 2005/06 season the club adopted ‘the Kingfishers’ nickname and logo in homage to a peculiar legend outlined later.
The season ended with fourteen match winning run as Town clinched the Gwent County Division Two title ahead of Newport Civil Service.
2006/07 almost saw a repeat but were Town were pipped by Civil for the title. However, The Kingfishers were offered the chance to take the step into the Welsh league for the first time in their history and the rest is …well…the future.
The Kingfisher Legend 
Some local folklore has it that in about 1936 there were extremely bad spring floods on the Monnow and Wye which effectively wiped out all of the Kingfisher nests along the rivers. Until then Monmouth had been a magnet for ornithologists from all over the country to see Britain’s most beautiful bird in all its glory. Official government sources from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Timber recorded their alarm at the plight of the Kingfisher population and a detailed study was carried out to assess the damage. Amazingly the only surviving pair of breeding Kingfishers were found nesting in a deflated football that had floated down the Monnow into the Wye and lodged itself with its laces in some branches overlooking the river. It was in the days before the Magic Marker so it could not be proven that the ball had been lost in a game at the Town’s sportsground but it was deemed the obvious cause. And so ….one loose shot saved the entire Kingfisher population of the Wye and Monnow rivers.
But as Benny pointed out. If he was on duty that day the ball would have been retrieved and the Kingfisher may now be extinct!! Now there’s a thought.