Shame on the BBC over wrong Welsh Cup ‘joint record victory’ claim

Claims that The New Saints equalled the all-time record Welsh Cup victory this weekend are completely untrue.

Saints defeated Llangollen Town 16-0 in Friday night’s second round tie. BBC Wales described it as a joint record win in the national knockout.

BBC Wales Sport carried a report stating:
“The New Saints equalled the record for the biggest win in the history of the Welsh Cup by beating Llangollen Town 16-0.
“The scoreline matched the previous 16-goal record, first set in 1883-34 when Davenham beat Holywell Reserves by the same margin.
“Cardiff City also beat Knighton 16-0 in 1961 while, most recently, Bala Town beat Brymbo 17-1 in September 2021.”

Grassroots North Wales can confirm the BBC has completely got it wrong. There was a bigger Welsh Cup win than 16-0 just last season!

In the 2023-24 first qualifying round, St Asaph City defeated Rhyl Dragons 18-0.

Josh Brown led the way with four goals for the Saints, James Williams and Ray Knight both blasting hat-tricks.

Ryan Roberts (2), Alex Hall, Jackson Brewerton, Damian Ketley, Jack Davies, Ellis Blench and a Nicholas Sanders own goal made up the rest.

In the previous 2022/23 season, Bodedern Athletic set a new North Wales record victory for the Welsh Cup, their 17-0 tanning of CPD Gaerwen bettering Bala Town’s 17-1 v Brymbo in 2021-22.

Boded’s was not even the biggest win on the day in 2022/23 – Cardiff Airport crushed Aberystwyth Exiles 18-0 away!

The following season saw St Asaph break the North Wales record with their aforementioned 18-0 success.

As for the Welsh Cup as a whole, the all-time record victory margin is this:

1894/95
Mold Alyn Stars 0-21 Shrewsbury Town
This remains Shrewsbury’s all-time highest victory.

This scoreline can be confirmed by checking the Welsh Football Data Archive.
https://www.welshsoccerarchive.co.uk/index.php/welsh-cup/year-by-year

And the BBC cannot claim their article is based on ‘proper’ Welsh Cup rounds, as opposed to qualifying rounds.

Qualifying rounds are part of the Welsh Cup anyway, but Shrewsbury Town’s 21-0 breeze of 130 years ago was definitely in the official first round. The Shrews lost 4-0 to Druids in the next round!

For a national sports website like the BBC, an article such as the one relating to The New Saints this weekend is an embarrassment.

It is annoying for genuine Welsh football historians out there to witness such a blatant error which many will believe and take as 100% correct.