To get fans even more excited for the big game, we have decided to put together a series of 'From the Archives' exploring iconic victories over Wrexham, inspiring the travelling Exiles on Saturday to cheer us on to another classic win.
This Saturday, we travel to North Wales to take on Wrexham. Wrexham’s absence from the Football League for the last 15 years has meant that our recent encounters with the club have been limited to the FA Cup, with us meeting just two times since our promotion to the Football League a decade ago.
Kicking off this series is a trip back to the legendary 1979/80 season. It is a season written into Newport folklore, with the team, managed by Len Ashurst, sealing promotion and winning the Welsh Cup in the same year.
After seeing off Cardiff City in the first round of the Welsh Cup, we made the trip up to the Racecourse to take on Wrexham, who were in the second division then. Our previous best performance in the Welsh Cup was when we were stunned by Borough United in the final in the 1963/64 season, and there was a real sense of optimism that we could go one further this year.
We arrived at the Racecourse in good form, having sealed back-to-back wins over Tranmere (A) and Doncaster (H) and cemented our spot in fifth, two places off the promotion places. Little did we know at the time, these were the first two games in a ten-game winning run that would ultimately see us seal a dramatic last-day promotion.
The Racecourse had proven to be a tough place to go, and with Wrexham two leagues above at the time, we knew we were in for a tough afternoon. Len Ashurst’s team had become known for their resilience, though, and a backs-against-the-wall performance saw us hold off a series of the host’s attacks.
Our resilience was eventually rewarded, with a Steve Lowndes strike being the difference maker in North Wales.
We would return to South Wales full of confidence, going on to brush aside Merthyr Tydfil 3-1 at Somerton Park in the semi-finals before beating reigning champions Shrewsbury Town 2-1 at Somerton Park and 3-0 at Gay Meadow to get our hands on our first trophy in 41 years.