Haverfordwest CountyHaverfordwest County AFC stand out for having reached European qualifying rounds twice within three seasons in the 2020s, a rare feat for a club from one of the smallest towns in the Cymru Premier. The club was founded in 1899 as Haverfordwest Football Club, before going through several name changes over the following decades - Haverfordwest Town from 1901 and Haverfordwest Athletic from 1936 - and settling on its current name, Haverfordwest County, in 1956, the same year it first won promotion to the top division of the Welsh League. Based in the county town of Pembrokeshire in south-west Wales, the club is nicknamed the Bluebirds and has long been woven into the fabric of its local community.
Haverfordwest were founder members of the League of Wales in 1992-93, though the redevelopment of their Bridge Meadow ground forced them to resign from the league just a year later, before they returned to the top flight in 1997. Their first taste of continental football came in 2004, when qualification through their league position earned them a UEFA Cup tie against Icelandic side FH Hafnarfjörður, which they lost 4-1 on aggregate. Relegated from the Welsh Premier League for the first time in 2010-11, the Bluebirds bounced back in 2015 with a memorable 5-0 win away to Aberdare Town that sealed an unlikely promotion.
In the 2020s the club has enjoyed its most successful European run to date. In July 2023, Haverfordwest eliminated North Macedonian side KF Shkëndija in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League, coming through on penalties after a late equaliser from Lee Jenkins had levelled the aggregate score. Two years later, having beaten Caernarfon Town in the Cymru Premier's European play-off final, the club returned to the Conference League and were eliminated by Maltese side Floriana 5-3 on aggregate, despite Ben Ahmun's goal in a spirited second leg at Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli. Haverfordwest County play their home matches at the Bridge Meadow Stadium.
