Dial M for Merthyr

My Father was born in the late 1930's in Merthyr Tydfil. Like almost every other Merthyr boy he was football daft. He could name every FA Cup winning team of the 40's and 50's and was no mean player himself. Representing the Welsh Army team and being offered trials with Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa. It's a sign of how much times have changed that because was half way through a five year apprenticeship as an electrician it was decided his life would be better if he completed it as football was such a risky career move in those days. Finished in your 30's the dream would be to finish with enough to run a successful pub on the back of your name. My Father decided to stay in South Wales playing for Barry Town in the Welsh League. This also gave him time for do what he loved doing the most. Watching the game. And of all the games he watched (and he would watch any football he could) it was with the Martyrs his heart lay. 



A young boy when Merthyr had the greates…

So how do we get from the Redskins to Hampden Park? It’s all about spotting a magazine with Chris Dean and the band on the front, one of those short-lived music and fashion publications that lasted about three issues, something about the “ghost of strummer walks through walls”, and so journey begins.

A great interview with the band but another article further into the magazine is what really caught the imagination. The new phenomenon of the football fanzine covered in details from the generic issues from When Saturday Comes and Hit the Bar to established club fanzines The Pie, Orientear, City Gent and one called The Web.

Supporters writing their own stories. Let’s take a look at that. Pretty soon I’m sending stamped addressed envelopes everywhere with bits of card with coins sellotaped inside. And the fanzines start dropping through my letterbox in Trefechan.

Those early fanzines coupled with the rise of the Football Supporters Association ignited something in Merthyr and those early …

Merthyr Tydfil is our town
Though others look upon it with a frown
We know it is a great place to be
Where else would you be able to see
Kayno, Traylor and Prosser as a front three?

Admittedly, it has its fair share of clowns
But you could say that of many other towns
In recent times its come on leaps and bounds
Just like support Jonny Brown

From Cefn to Castle Bingo
Our boys do us proud
Merthyr Town till death do us part
Merthyr Town always in my heart

We’ll support Merthyr Town until death comes around
Making us proud to say
This is Merthyr
This is our town

Joshua “Bronte” Williams

Dealing with the Grim Reaper It’s been 7 years since we resurrected our club from the ashes of Stan’s apocalyptic bonfire. It’s been challenging, euphoric, fun, frustrating and uncomfortable. This last season has seen our progress inevitably slow as we are now mixing with clubs with equal resources to ourselves. The euphoria of the initial years where we faced new opposition each week has ebbed away. We now get to visit familiar shit holes like Chippenham and Cirencester with that Stock Aitken and Waterman repetitive beat and feeling. “Never gonna give you up” is up there with the “we’ll support you ever more” songs. I will never sing either. Both parties need to earn the others love in my book, care and respect. End of!
Off the field the early incarnation of Merthyr Town FC was a firebrand club burning like a supernova. Every week we had something new, we were the trailblazers. Whilst our local league club Cardiff City imploded under the mad Malaysian, the Martyrs were the poster boy…

It could be argued that the fans who own our club have already achieved our aim of returning Merthyr Town to its historical place in the Southern League but we do have further ambitions to reach the heights of the Lyn Jones era of the late eighties. The fans are of course disappointed to lose out this season but there is a lot of pride and satisfaction in the nascent talent of our management team of Gavin Williams and Dean Clarke. Merthyr is a resilient town where football has a special place in our hearts so we will be back stronger. Off the pitch there is a new commercial facility but it’s on the terraces where the real future of the club is unfolding. New songs, flags and a terrace culture from the youngest of our fan base upwards. It’s becoming an event just to visit Penydarren Park of late and coupled with our USP as a fan owned club it’s a heady mix which could take us a long way. Brighton is a club that followed play off defeat by winning direct promotion. We can do the same. 

Word by Chairman Mao.
The day started early in the Park View. The lounge was full by the time I reached the Brecon Road hostelry. The pool table was busy and there was a queue at the bar. It’s 9.30am. The Queen’s Park lads are there of course drinking in earnest whereas my colleagues all seem a bit jaded from the night before when the Glasgow contingent had arrived in the Pearl. Still there’s nothing better than a Merthyr away day to raise the spirit. The jukebox is banging out tunes, there’s a few tall tales being shared and the pints have started to flow. It’s almost eleven so it’s time to start the journey to Chippenham; pints are thrown back, everyone leaves and heads down the British Tip to the Travel Club rendezvous outside the Law Courts.

Two buses today. We’re going to Chippenham. They’re top of the league. We’ve a few injuries but we fancy our chances at Hardenhuish Park. Now we’ve not always been welcomed with open arms in Chippenham, there’s been a few issues, a little bit …

After many years of turmoil at the club things started to come to a head with Eugene Caparos whose intention was to return Penydarren Park to hosting greyhound racing. I was joined by other fans to raise £25,000 to place a counter bid to the Caparos bid. Although this money would be enough to take ownership of the club there would be no capital for the running of the club.
It was at this time I was introduced to Bob Phillips who certainly had the business acumen and financial means but unfortunately Bob was a major shareholder at Cardiff City FC and football regulations stated that he could not be a director of two clubs however he was part of a group called Just Players, a sporting agency whose legal representative was Bill Snowdon. Bob was reluctant to give up his position at Ninian Park but Bill Snowdon was the legal representative of Wyn Holloway and it was agreed that Wyn & Just Players would bid for the club instead. In order for this bid to be successful we had to withdraw o…