Alan Latham's Library

THE TEAM TALK

THE PRE-MATCH OR HALF-TIME TEAM TALK is now an essential ingredient in the make-up of the match day. The knowledge of the manager or coach in deciding tactics, allied to his motivational skills, can no doubt play a big part in his team's performance on the field. I remember well in 1973 reading of how Carmarthen's own Delme Thomas, Captain of Llanelli, had given an unforgettable team-talk to his players immediately preceding their match against the almighty All Blacks at Stradey Park - and we all know the outcome of this game.

I also remember vividly earlier in that year listening to the legendary Carwyn James giving a speech at a function in the Barracks in Carmarthen just after he returned as Coach of the British Lions in New Zealand and his talk to an obviously rugby-orientated audience was quite inspirational and at the end of it I felt like tackling the All Blacks myself, such was his motivating address.

Moving nearer to home, in the days when I was Club Secretary, after completing the team sheet in consultation with our team manager in the dressing room for the referee, I usually discreetly made an exit when the manager commenced his team talk On one occasion in Rhyl, however, I was just about to retire from the dressing room when our manager at the time, Tomi Morgan, invited me to remain, and I must say that his team talk was indeed uplifting and motivational. Obviously, I have not heard any of our current manager Mark Jones' team talks but I would imagine that at half-time in last Saturday's game against Bangor City when we had certainly come out second best in the first half, he must have given some valuable advice in some motivational fashion or other, for our second half performance was certainly to the liking of our supporters.

But there are team talks and team talks and it is nice to relate the story afforded to Maldwyn Davies of Merthyr, a flamboyant Bingo Hall owner in the town and a Managing-Director of Merthyr Football Club who were floundering in the Southern League Premier Division in the early 1970s. Before eventually appointing the great John Charles as manager, Maldwyn was at the helm which might explain the team's wretched results at the time. He had never played football but had simply been a lifelong supporter of Merthyr who had watched the team from the Penydarren Park stand. He had insisted, however, that he had sufficient knowledge of the game to run and pick the side. But, it appears that his team talk would amount to ‘ You're on a £10 win bonus today, lads.' An effective incentive, I'm sure, but that would be it, except for the time he said: ‘ Today, we're going to play with a sweeper, four at the back and five forwards.' One player asked him: ‘Who is going to play in midfield?' and the answer came back immediately from Maldwyn; ‘Oh, the forwards can come back.' Thankfully, soon after, the Gentle Giant was appointed Manager of Merthyr, but that's another story.

FINALLY, TO CONTINUE THE THEME, I would like to relate the story when many, many seasons ago, Leicester City were due to play Sheffield Wednesday and City Manager, Matt Gillies, was presiding over the pre-match team talk. He told Frank McLintock to pick up the opposition winger at corner kicks, and told Willy Johnstone to pick up Tommy McAnerney, Willy (not renowned for his intellect) protested: ‘Boss, that's not fair. Frank's only picking up one player.... I've got three.... Tommy, Mac and Ernie! ' Needless to say, the team talk disintegrated!

Latham

A FAMILY AFFAIR

IT WAS JANUARY 1979 and as an unofficial sort of Press Officer on behalf of the Club I missed a glorious opportunity of entering the Carmarthen Town Football Club in the Guinness Book of Records .

You may recall a few weeks ago that the Welsh Rugby team which played South Africa contained a considerable number of Jones's in their line-up and then there was an excellent feature in our Airbus UK Match Day programme referring to brothers who had featured in various football teams.

Well, the reference I made in my first paragraph puts these two matters in the shade. For it was on the January date that I mentioned above that Carmarthen Town fielded two sets of brothers which accounted for no less than eight of the players in the side. The brothers involved were the Turner and the Goldsmith brothers.

The former featured Nicky, Peter, Gary and Johnny and all four were playing members of the Club and of contrasting styles. Nicky, for example, was a hard-tackling and pacy full-back whilst Peter, of smaller stature, had sublime skills as an inside forward. Gary was a hard-tackling and workmanlike midfield player as was Johnny, a considerably under-rated player in my view, who should have represented our first team on more occasions than he actually did.

Then we had the Goldsmiths - Christopher, Nicky, Jeffrey and Martin, although another brother, Kenny, also played for Carmarthen but at a much earlier time. Jeffrey and Christopher played as forwards, with Jeffrey's strengths being in the air and Christopher often able to beat a man with consummate ease. Nicky was a steady full-back whilst Martin achieved his ambition of becoming a professional footballer, the highlight of his career must have been scoring for Cambridge United on his Football League debut against Newcastle at St James' Park.

As I mentioned, all the above players had represented Town at some time or another but never all together in the same game.. But on this one occasion, at Aberaman in January 1979, the omens were good. Our Manager at the time, John ‘Davo' Davies, had selected the four Goldsmiths and three of the Turners, with Johnny on the bench. Then came the big moment in the second half when the substitution was made and Johnny came on to the field. It was indeed a great moment and following the game the Press descended on the Club and features ensued in a number of newspapers.

In this remarkable situation other players who featured in the game, such as Kevin Colvin and Alan Williams, must indeed have felt lonely! As someone said at the time, Carmarthen Town must be thankful to Bill Turner and Stan Goldsmith, otherwise they wouldn't have had a side. Bill, of course, was the late and dear father of the Turner brothers whilst Stan, the Goldsmiths' father, still attends matches at Richmond Park and played as far back as September 1950 for Town.

YES INDEED, it would have been a classical entry for the Guinness Book of Records - if only I hadn't missed the boat.

Latham

THERE HAS BEEN A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT of publicity lately on Premiership referee Mike Halsey's action in changing a decision based ostensibly on the body language of the players involved. You will recall that Mike had originally awarded a penalty to Fulham but then changed his mind - a surprising decision which could have serious repercussions for him and indeed other referees. I firmly believe that the referee might have taken the inappropriate route and I can imagine the furore that must have taken place in the dressing rooms at the end of the match. Once a decision has been made, it must be strictly adhered to, irrespective of any protestations for in making the decision the referee must have felt that he was on the right track in the first place.

During my refereeing career, I must have made many wrong decisions, perhaps more so than other referees. However, two controversial decisions come to mind where the end product of my feelings was completely different on each occasion.

The first occasion was in a Welsh League match at Clydach when the home side were playing Ebbw Vale, now sadly defunct. Unfortunately, one of the linesmen withdrew at the last minute because of illness and the position had to be filled by a member of the Clydach Club. With the score at 1-1 and with just a couple of minutes to go, the ball was delivered into the Ebbw Vale penalty area and in my view headed into the net by the Clydach centre forward. All hell broke loose as the Ebbw Vale players protested that the ball had been punched into the net. I was beginning to have doubts about my decision but even so I was not going to change my mind but condescended to speak to the linesman who I knew would completely agree with me anyway as it was the Clydach Club linesman who was in focus. Not unsurprisingly, then, he agreed with my decision, so that was the end of the story. Immediately after the game, I was sitting in the dressing room with the qualified linesman who had not been involved in the incident when the door burst open and I was confronted by an Ebbw Vale Club Official. But before he could say anything,
I got in my retaliation first a la the legendary rugby coach Carwyn James, and told him: ‘Before you tell me that I will be getting 0 out of 10 for my performance today, I deserve 1 mark for turning up.' This seemed to deflate the situation but my anger at the Ebbw Vale reaction left me with no regrets at all about the decision I had made - even though it may have been the wrong one.

On the second occasion, a similar controversial situation arose in a Llanelli v Ammanford Welsh Cup match at Stebonheath. The winning goal came in the final minute from a header from the Ammanford centre forward - as I saw it, anyway. I glanced at my linesman for confirmation of my decision, as the protests from the Llanelli defence were profuse, but he shrugged his shoulders, absolving himself from any responsibility and leaving the decision to me. I stuck to my guns and Llanelli lost 1-0. At the conclusion of the match in my dressing room, that grand old man of Carmarthenshire League football, Wilf Davies, who was the League's Treasurer and also the Llanelli Treasurer, came in to pay our match expenses. His approach was completely different from that of Ebbw Vale as outlined previously and he said quietly and calmly: ‘Do you know, something remarkable happened at Stebonheath this afternoon. There were 520 spectators, plus 22 players and 3 officials, and of the 545 in attendance, three didn't see the hand ball for the goal.'

THE STATEMENT HAD A LUCID EFFECT on me as obviously I had made a mistake but such a dignified approach made me feel rather guilty as I wended my way home. I learnt a little lesson there in my service as Secretary of the Carmarthen Town Club as a dignified approach to controversy can be more effective than the ‘bull at the gate' and ungentlemanly tactics which, unfortunately, are rife in football these days.

Latham

THANKS FOR THE MEMORY 18.09.04

THE RECENT PASSING OF JOHN CHARLES attracted tributes not only from this country but from all over the world. He was indeed a footballing legend, a view that very few would disagree with.

To many followers of Association Football in Wales, however, another name comes to mind – a person who was revered by all walks of life. Yes I'm talking about the Golden Boy of Welsh football Ivor Allchurch. At Ivor's funeral at Morriston Crematorium in July 1997 famous footballers of yester year rubbed shoulders with dignitaries, officials, the press TV and radio and so forth as well as ordinary fans the majority of whom thronged the forecourt as the service proceeded inside the packed chapel.

In due recognition of one of the greatest footballers of all time, our President Anthony Jenkins attended the funeral that day not only on behalf of our club but also on a personal basis.Ever since the day that his father took him to the Vetch Field as a young boy to watch the maestro in action he has been convinced that Ivor was the greatest Welshman to ever have put on a pair of football boots. Anthony has continued to be captivated by a player whom he considers to be a footballing genius. And who could argue with that?

After the service as the crowd disperced and hundreds of memories were being shared two gentlemen Dr. Davd Farmer a Director of Swansea City and former Emeritus Professor at Henley and a visiting Professor at Birmingham University and Bath University and Peter Stead a former Senior Lecturer in History at Swansea University and frequent broadcaster, presenter and commentator on political and cultural issues found themselves proposing almost simultaneously that a book should be written about Ivor. No such book existed and, given his stature in the game and the enjoyment he had given to so many, it was important that the story should be recorded for posterity. Both men set about the task and the book, titled simply Ivor, is well worth a read. It was an inspiration derived from reading about Ivor which has prompted me to make reference in today's programme.

The 1950s rightly saw the town of Swansea, as it was in those days, labelled a hotbed of football, producing great players. Trevor Ford had just a couple of seasons for his home town before going on to Aston Villa, whilst goalkeeper Jack Kelsey was signed by Arsenal directly from his village side Winch Wen. Cliff Jones did have five years before joining Spurs but John Charles went straight from the Vetch's ground staff to Leeds before playing any games for the Swans. But Ivor stayed at the Vetch for nine years before moving to Newcastle, which might explain why he is so revered in Wales especially Swansea.

Ivor played against 50 year old Stanley Matthews in 1962 and he might not have guessed that he himself would still be playing when his own 50 th. birthday came along. On achieving the age of 50, Ivor did in fact play and it was for Pontardawe against Ynysybwl in the Welsh League in a game in which he scored two goals. He had left League football in 1968 and went to play for Worcester, Haverfordwest and finally Pontardawe. Looking at the Pontardawe v Ynysybwl match programme the referee was a certain A. H. Latham from Carmarthen. Yes in the mortal words of Max Boyce it was nice to say that “I was there.......” and indeed involved in a little piece of history.

IVOR ALLCHURCH MBE – thanks for the memory

Latham

A SPECIAL DAY

TODAY'S DATE, 21st. AUGUST 2004, is indeed a special anniversary. For it is 50 years ago to this very day that the first ever Welsh League game was played at Richmond Park. The Ground had actually opened some six months previously where a few Carmarthenshire League games were played prior to Town's election to the Welsh League. It was during the 1953-54 season that the Local Authority acquired the purchase of the Richmond Park Ground, which was composed of a large grassland area divided up the middle by a hedge and with an abundance of shrubs, a few trees, and some derelict allotments. Adjacent to the Richmond Park ground was the White Horse Field, now the Car Park, but spectators gained entry through a turnstile at the Richmond Park entrance behind the goal.

It was interesting to speak, the other day, to Stan Welsh who played for Town in the late 40s and early 50s, as well as the famous Carmarthen GPO team before Town's formation in 1948. 83 year-old Stan, still residing a stone's throw away from Richmond Park, was one of a number of volunteers who cleared the ground of its undergrowth to make way for a football pitch, and Richmond Park was born. Stan recalls at the time the archaeologists also moved in and had had a field day (excuse the pun) whilst the ground was being developed. And we all know, of course, of the incredible Roman antiquity which lies below our sacred turf.

Town's first match on that historic day was against Morriston, with some 800 or so spectators present and the then Mayor of Carmarthen, Councillor J. J. Lewis, was presented to the teams before the kick-off. Town included two local boys in Harold Harding and Ernie Lynus although full-back Tommy Davies did not reside too far from the town in nearby Cydweli. Interestingly, Tommy, now 78 years of age, was in attendance at last Wednesday's match against Llanelli as was Idris Lewis, now approaching 74, who joined Town from Llanelli a few weeks after the start of that first season. Also at that match was Harold Harding's son, Peter.

And times got better for in October, in a top-of-the-table clash with Gwynfi, well over 2,000 people turned up. There was, however, a flutter in the dovecotes with complaints by Town Officials that although large crowds were attending games at Richmond Park the gate receipts did not show it: 'I can understand kids sneaking in by going through hedges and climbing over walls,' said an Official, ‘but when it comes to grown-ups doing that sort of thing to avoid paying a shilling for admission, well …….' The Official rightly shrugged his shoulders as if it passed understanding. Arrangements were then made, to have a police constable on duty at Richmond Park.

However, whilst the Club were happy at the crowds flocking to Richmond Park (nearly 3,000 people attended the Boxing Day match against Haverfordwest), there were rumblings that spectators would get fed-up on cold and wet days and keep away in the winter months, for at that time there was no covered accommodation whatsoever to protect them. And if this situation prevailed Town would feel the draft financially.

An Official explained that the Club was willing to erect accommodation provided they had permission from the Carmarthen Town Council but the Council were stalling on the issue. It appears that the Council reacted to this criticism by saying that the Club's concerns were exaggerated and a Council Official indicated that they did not find money growing on trees.

In December 1955, however, came the breakthrough when at a Town Council meeting the Borough Authority confirmed a recommendation of the Finance Committee that authorisation be given for the provision of covered accommodation at Richmond Park, subject to the permission of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. The estimated cost of the provision was £510. And I understand that the President of the Club at the time, Mr W E Morgan (affectionately known as Morgans the Lyric ) played a considerable part in this investment.

The improvements to the Richmond Park Ground were recognised when it was allocated a Welsh Amateur International Trial. After the game, a dinner was held at the Dolwar Hotel which was attended by Officials of the Welsh FA. The Club President said at the function that if the Welsh FA were to honour the Town with such a match again, the game would be played in a stadium which would be one of the best in South Wales.

I'M AFRAID THAT IF THE PRESIDENT'S AMBITION at that time was to be achieved, would it not have been necessary for someone like our present Chairman to be at the helm?

Latham

RUSSIAN REMINISCENCES 22.11.03

THURSDAY,13 NOVEMBER 2003: it was 5.00am.and, waiting on my doorstep on this dark, cold morning for my lift to take me to Cardiff International Airport I was questioning my sanity! There would be temperatures of minus15 degrees, I was told, and in a supposedly authoritarian state the pleasure of the trip would be far removed from that of my previous visit to Serbia. Yes, I was off to Russia and in my mind were the serious problems that had already been encountered by our worthy excursion organiser, with regard to Russian visas, passport numbers, etc. I thought to myself, why couldn’t it have been Scotland or even the redoubtable Holland?!

Still, off I went in good company. On my Welsh pilgrimage to Belgrade in August I had been accompanied, amongst others, by our Club Chairman, but this time it was a former Chairman. On arriving in Moscow my initial fears turned out to be completely unfounded as the whole excursion proved to be a memorable occasion. The weather to start with on arrival was a very bearable 2 degrees centigrade and during the four days never ventured lower than minus one..Being well wrapped up solved all our problems in that respect, with little wind to create the chill factor. There were the down sides which I will reflect upon in a moment but to have visited the centre of Moscow encompassing the Kremlin, Red Square, St Basil’s Cathedral, Pushkin’s Square and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior with its eternal flame and unique Changing of the Guard, was breathtaking.

Talking about the downside, there were some 2,000 Welsh fans in Moscow, easily identifiable of course, and whereas the people of Moscow were extremely friendly and polite it was a minority of so called skinheads, a small one indeed in a Moscow population of nine million people, which meant us having to be wary of our movements, especially at night. Our hotel, which had 6,000 beds, was on the fringe of Red Square, well-located, containing numerous bars and restaurants but I can assure you that the trek to our bedrooms at night was indeed an awesome task! With roughly 1,000 fans entrenched in the hotel we had to surrender our passports on arrival and were requested to collect them some three hours later as it was an offence to leave the hotel without our passports. You can imagine the congestion and chaos when the fans engulfed the reception area to collect the passports and with just two very charming Russian receptionists handing them out it was chaotic. In their wisdom they decided to call out the names on the passports for collection as both spoke fluent English - the first name that was shouted out was ‘Mr Jones’ and you can imagine the response!

Disappointingly, the food was not to my personal liking or that of my friends. Some pamphlet or other advised us to visit Rosie O’Grady’s Bar in Moscow where we could obtain roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. This was manna from heaven! So, on Friday afternoon, we hired a taxi from under the shadows of the Kremlin, which was some 50 yards away, and after a protracted conversation the monoglot Russian taxi driver finally understood our destination. The journey, however, went on and on and on, as did the taxi meter - some 30 minutes past and we started getting anxious. And it was after 45 minutes that the taxi driver finally pulled in outside Rosy O’Grady’s. On disembarking we looked around and guess what - yes, you’re right - we were still in the shadow of the Kremlin, just some 100 yards from our starting point. I won’t tell you the price of the taxi .

UNFORTUNATELY, I didn’t get my beef dinner but an all-day Irish breakfast instead. A Welshman receiving an Irish breakfast in Moscow did not constitute the right mix, I’m afraid.

Latham

THE CUP FINAL TICKET

The death of Roy Paul during the summer must have evoked many footballing memories for those older ones of us who still support the beautiful game. Notwithstanding his disillusioned adventure in Bogota in South America, he had a distinguished career which included 33 Welsh caps. Amongst his highlights, however, must have been the Cup Final of 1956 when he captained Manchester City to a 3-1 win over Birmingham City. This game will go down in folklore as the time that the former German PoW, Bert Trautman, valiantly played on as goalkeeper despite a broken neck after an accidental collision and for the famous Revie plan which changed the face of English football. To quote that well-known ‘bard’ from the Neath Vale, ‘I was there’. And herein lies a story.

It was in 1956, in the final couple of months of my service to the Queen in the RAF. During the previous 18 months I had played regularly for the Camp team – in fact, the only Welshman to have played during the whole of that time, as most of my fellow ‘Taffs’, not surprisingly, gravitated towards the rugby section. The Camp team, being members of the FA at Lancaster Gate, received an allocation of one stand and one field ticket for the Cup Final and an advert duly appeared on the notice board inviting personnel to append their names to ballot for these two tickets. Not surprisingly, the numbers who applied were vast, although the true football followers in the list were considerably outnumbered.

One morning I received a summons to attend the Squadron Leader’s Office who also acted in his spare time as the Football Officer. It was with great trepidation that I marched smartly into his room with the usual upright salute before being requested to remove my hat and take a seat. The Squadron leader then told me ‘I have made the draw today for these two Cup Final tickets. I was on my own for the draw and, believe it or not, I have drawn the stand ticket and you the field ticket.’ ‘Glory be’, I thought, before being sternly reminded that on no account would I ever tell anybody of the nature and method of this very intransigent draw! Needless to say, and those of you who actually served as National Service men will bear me out, there was no way that the Officer would give me any assistance to travel to the game, and it was necessary for me to hitch hike to Wembley. With the distance involved, it was too exhausting for me to start hitch hiking back to camp straight after the game, and, with no room at the Union Jack Club, being a good Presbyterian boy, (Calvinistic Methodist, of course in Wales), I made my way to a London Salvation Army Hostel. I don’t know whether I was expecting to see a bright young lady in blue uniform with red and gold trimmings, with a tambourine in one hand and the War Cry in the other, but I decided that the hostelry was no place for me and I was back on the road. This was no reflection on Sally’s Army as it is doing a tremendous job for the homeless and were they not on the front line during the Great War, unarmed and rescuing the wounded? …. but that’s another story.

After 44 years, I’m sure the Football Officer will forgive me for making public this story. He was a brave Pathfinder during World War 2 and I’m not sure whether he has now returned to his home in the sky, the scene of his former glories.

Latham

THE GAME AGAINST BLAENAFON

As a former incumbent of the post, I can say that the position of Secretary can have its scary moments. On my oft journeys to North East Wales, to such friendly locations as Connah’s Quay and Rhyl, a road sign to Abermule always catches my eye and immediately my mind is cast back to such one of those moments when things do not quite work out according to plan. And if I may I will relate the story to you.

It was during the 1980s when we were due to play Blaenavon Blues away in the Third Division of the Welsh League. At that time, our third team operated in the Cardiganshire League and we were, therefore, associate members of the Central Wales FA, competing in the Emrys Morgan Cup, the Central Wales equivalent to the West Wales Intermediate Cup down here. And on the day in question, we had a home game against Abermule in this competition.

As far as the Welsh League is concerned, it was customary for the home Secretary to confirm the fixture with his opponents. As the week passed by, this confirmation was not forthcoming from Blaenavon and taking the initiative to phone my counterpart, it transpired that the Club Secretary had suffered a heart attack and was therefore indisposed.. With great concern I then phoned their Club Chairman and after reminding him of our forthcoming fixture, he responded by saying ‘That’s all right, we’ll see you at 3.00pm.’

So the day came, and off our coach went to Blaenavon, one of our longest journeys of the season, whether it be via the M4 and up the Gwent Valley or the Heads of the Valleys Road and down from the top. Unfortunately, Blaenavon also had the same idea and travelled to Carmarthen. On arriving at Richmond Park they were met by our Third Team Manager, Richard Gealy, who in his usual polite way, enquired about their journey from such a long distance, and how had they negotiated the sometimes difficult and narrow windy roads of Mid Wales, being under the impression, of course, that they were the Abermule team. The retort from the Club ’Oh no, we travelled down the Gwent Valley and along the M4’ really surprised the bemused Richard until he realised it was not Abermule but the Blaenavon team. Obviously, Blaenavon had had their lines crossed in no uncertain manner, no doubt arising from the indisposition of the Secretary.

From my own personal point of view, I heaved a sigh of relief when after arriving at Blaenavon and noting that our hosts had travelled to Carmarthen, the three Match Officials had also turned up at the Blaenavon ground.

At the time, there was no provision in the Welsh League Rules for such an eventuality where two opposing sides actually passed each other halfway between the destinations and at the AGM the following year there was a modification in the Rules whereby the non-offending Club received greater compensation for their expenses. There was, however, no acrimony from our point of view as we saw the funny side of things, which we always do here at Carmarthen, of course, and such discrepancies do happen now and again.

Latham

MEMORIES OF MY RETIREMENT 28.09.02

I must admit that I have had a lovely summer. First of all, to recognise my retirement as Secretary of the Club, I was presented with a suitable memento by the Manager and Players. Then I had a farewell party which was superbly compared by the indefatigable Richard Gealy and the Chairman presented me with a framed original painting of Carmarthen..

Another joyous occasion for me was at the LoW Dinner when after some persuasive work on the LoW Board by our Chairman and the Club, I was presented with a Long-Service Award which coincided nicely with my retirement. It is prudent for me to mention that the presentation was made by none other than Neath MP and Government Minister Peter Hain which gave me added pleasure if only for the admiration I have always had for Mr Hain for his endless campaign against apartheid in the 70s and 80s. Which leads me on nicely to today’s visiting Chairman. And I say this because Garth Williams was also a fellow recipient of this award at the same function.

As the League has evolved since 1992, Club Chairmen have indeed had increasing profiles and Garth is no exception. I’m sure it must have been a proud moment for him when his Club qualified for this summer’s Intertoto Cup against Bulgarian opponents FC Marek. It was interesting to read in the Welsh Sunday Press that Garth had never travelled abroad before. Garth no doubt loves Caersws with passion and admitted that he had to finally succumb and apply for his first passport at the ripe old age of 62!

I’m sure Garth enjoyed his trip to Bulgaria as much as I did when I similarly visited Stockholm on Mid Summer’s Day 2001. It was, of course, our Intertoto Cup adventure and a memorable moment came on the evening of the match when Officers of the Club, which included the Chairman, Vice Chairman, Team Manager and Chairman of the Junior Section, were the guests of the AIK Club at a special reception in Stockholm. After receiving a warm welcome from the President of the AIK Club, our Chairman responded in an inspirational manner. He indicated how proud he was to be Chairman of a Club which had made so much progress in the last ten years. through effort, commitment and grit, culminating in playing at one of the great stadia of Europe and against a side of such high standing in Sweden. I must say, in looking around, there was more than a tear or two in the eyes of Alun Williams, Tomi Morgan and Co. and it was a moment I will never forget.

I know that Garth has a similar sense of pride in his Club, considered to be the smallest club to have ever participated in Europe. May I suggest that he carefully keeps his passport in a safe place - for who knows what the future might hold!

Latham

PARK AVENUE AND THE INTERTOTO CUP 04.10.02

Since our intertoto adventure back in June 2001, any mention of the Aberystwyth Club always evokes pleasant memories of that historic occasion. Playing our game at Park Avenue had its tremendous downsides, however, in so far as our Ancient Borough did not benefit from the visit of our illustrious opponents from Stockholm. More so, our Mayor at the time was an ardent follower of the Club, but was unable to take full advantage of his timely year of Office. There were other downsides, of course, such as not having advantage of the spin-offs which would have accrued had we played the game at Richmond Park. There was also the inconvenience of our Supporters and Sponsors having to make a 100 mile round trip for a ‘home’ game. After saying that, however, the Aberystwyth Club did us proud with their superb arrangements for which we are extremely grateful.

The organisation of the match from our point of view was immense, with our Chairman leading the way with some inspired organisation. Can I say that I thought it was a blessing that he had retired from his employment, such were the pressures and demands upon him. He was ably supported by some superb back-up work within the Club, none more than the Chief Steward’s role undertaken by Malcolm Williams. You would have noticed the liberal sprinkling of fluorescent-jacketed personnel at strategic places at Park Avenue. And all this organisation came under the watchful eye of the UEFA delegate who was there, not only to assess the performance of the Match Officials but also how our Club had organised the event in all its aspects. The Delegate on this particular occasion was from an Eastern Mediterranean country and I had the duty of meeting him at Cardiff International Airport and accompanying him in a chauffer driven car, may I add, to Aberystwyth. His flight to Cardiff had been a long one, punctuated by a long delay at the Amsterdam Schipol Airport and after arriving in Wales at about 6.00pm on Friday evening, I sensed that he did not relished a further drive of about three hours from Cardiff to Aberystwyth. An extremely genial person, with a considerable amount of charisma, he was obviously here to do a job of work and had not come for the ride. But I think his journey was somewhat made more enjoyable and relaxing when descending down to Aberaeron and out the other side he was able to view the Cardiganshire Bay with the shimmering sea in the summer sunlight being a joy to behold.

It is traditional to present Match Officials with suitable mementoes on their visit to Wales and in this instance the three Yugoslavian officials concerned appropriately received Miners’ Lamps to take home with them and I’m sure that the UEFA delegate must have been impressed with the eloquent way that our President, Anthony Jenkins, spoke at the after match reception, when he highlighted how such competitions as we were participating in today forged friendships between nations.

On our journey to Aberystwyth, the delegate seemed to express a considerable amount of interest in Welsh place names, with their common prefixes such as Llan and Aber occurring frequently on our journey. I took pains to explain to him that Llan meant Church and what followed usually referred to the particular saint, such as Llanelli and Llandysul, which meant of course the church of Saint Elli and Saint Tysul and so on, whilst Aber represented the mouth of a river, eg. Aberteifi, Aberystwyth, and Aberaeron. I’m afraid that I drew a blank when he asked me to translate Ffostrasol!!

Latham

REFEREE J. RAYMOND DAVIES 12.10.02

Today’s visit from Gwynfi takes me back to my very first game as a linesman in the Welsh League. This first appointment for me was a great moment, and my visit to Gwynfi that day, where - unlike these days - we played on the side of a mountain, stays bright in my memory. I am going back to the early sixties, and in those days the Welsh League was the most senior League in Wales under the jurisdiction of the FAW. You see, many North Wales clubs such as Bangor, Rhyl, Caernarfon, etc., played in the English system (no pyramid in those days). Only a couple of South Wales teams, notably Merthyr and Barry, played across the border.

I remember well on that particular day that the man in the middle was the Gower based J Raymond Davies, whose funeral I regret to say I attended just a short while ago, together with a considerable number from within the footballing fraternity. I remember in relation to the game in question, receiving a copy of a letter which Ray had sent to the FAW, indicating how efficiently I had executed my duties, being a first timer. Now my performance actually had been no better (and perhaps no worse, I hope!) than any other budding linesman, but nevertheless Ray’s action had given me a tremendous psychological boost as I embarked on the most unenviable task of becoming a football official. Ray, a mentor for many a referee in the Carmarthenshire area, became an Official of the English Football League, and often amused us with interesting anecdotes. Once, he was officiating at the Arsenal Stadium at Highbury, (as a linesman, I think) in the days before any crowd misbehaviour could result in closure of stadia, and after giving a marginal off-side decision against the Gunners, was pelted with coins from the terraces. Ray calmly picked up his “ill-gotten gains” which he counted carefully, and thereon placed in his pocket, much to the amusement of the previously agitated spectators.

There is another good story I would like to relate, regarding an Inter-Cities Fairs Cup match played in Scotland, when the three Officials were from South Wales, though I am not sure whether Ray was one of them. It is customary for clubs to offer mementoes to officials in recognition of their visit to a particular country - some of you may recall that we presented the three Yugoslavian officials with miners’ lamps when we played AIK in our Inter-Toto Cup match. On this occasion, the Chairman invited the three Officials to accompany him to a Scottish Woollen Store to select tartan blankets of their own choice, which would be presented to them after the game. The home team had already drawn one-all away to an English club, and in the return leg were drawing nil-nil with three minutes to go. This result would put them through to a lucrative next round on the away goals rule, but in the 87^th minute the Welsh Referee controversially penalized the home keeper for taking too many steps. From the subsequent indirect free kick, the ball was headed home by the visiting side which gave them the victory amid uproar from the home manager, players, supporters and all! I am afraid that I have to report that there was no presentation after the game, and the Welsh Officials never saw their chosen blankets!!

Latham

TOSHACK AND THE ITALIANS 26.10.02

I don’t know about you but I have just come down from cloud nine after witnessing that most memorable match at the Millennium Stadium last week. In the electric atmosphere, there was a perfect start to the evening with the rendering of our National Anthem by the inimitable Bryn Terfel which set up the platform for an historic evening.

It was nice to see once again that our own Tomi Morgan had a high profile spot on S4C’s Welsh language broadcast of the game and is now establishing himself as an authoritative pundit on the game.

The match was also broadcast in English on BBC2, although with a football slot also allocated on BBC1 at the same time, I fail to see why this match was not broadcast on that channel. I understand that John Toshack’s contribution as one of the match summarisers was quite inspirational. A man with an extremely positive approach to the game was not content at half time to settle for a draw like some of the other pundits in the studio. He emphasised that there would be no greater opportunity to beat the Italians than we had now, and any negative approach to the game would cost us dearly. Of course, Mark Hughes continued to go at the Italians in the second half, justifying Toshack’s theory.

Our Assistant Manager, Nigel Stevenson, was explaining on the journey to Welshpool last week how Toshack’s knowledge and positive approach to the game, came over strongly whilst he played under his managership at Swansea City during the early 80s. He explained that Toshack must have been the first manager in British football to adopt just a three-man defensive system with five players in midfield and quotes a match in Ipswich when in the pre-match briefing he suddenly sprang the system on the players and guided them through the match with great success. On another occasion, after drawing 2-2 against First Division Tottenham in a League Cup match at the Vetch, promptly adopted the 3-5-2 system in the second leg at the impregnable fortress of White Hart Lane and won the match 3-1. Nigel explained that John had always had an in-depth knowledge of European football having played for Liverpool in countless European tournaments which is something that held him in good stead. It was interesting to note that the Swans’ away kit during that era was the Barcelona away kit of a diagonal blue stripe across a yellow jersey.

Of course, John Toshack himself has not had a resemblance of any connection with us here at Richmond Park but those of you here with good memories will remember two sensational goals in the dying moments that his son Cameron scored in a match against AFC Porth a few seasons ago.

Yes, John Toshack’s knowledge of European football certainly came to the fore last Wednesday in his assessment of the Italian challenge.

Latham

WELSH RUGBY SHIRTS AT SALE PRICES 04.01.03

Well, Christmas and the New Year are past us and the festive season is now a distant memory. I had my usual socks and shirts as gifts from members of my family and friends, etc., and, without fail, other regular offerings in the form of some football books or other for which I am also indeed grateful and appreciative that people are able to read my mind in such things. Two renderings under the Christmas tree this year were a book entitled One Cap Wonders by Graham Lloyd whom I have had the pleasure of meeting during my time as Secretary as he has been very much involved with the football scene on BBC Wales, and John Toshack’s Biography by Chris Hughes, a writer and expert on Liverpool FC football matters.

There was another bonus in my stocking. It was a video recording of ‘Bellissimo: Wales 2 Italy 1’. And I must say on viewing the recording that with Wales leading 2-1, a succession of Italian free kicks outside the penalty area still set my nerves jangling!

But this year, there were some surprise packages, my two grandsons who visited on Christmas Day were recipients of the new Weleh football shirts, one with Bellamy and the other with Davies emblazoned on their backs, and as far as I am concerned this is something very new. What, no Beckham or Owen supplemented by a proliferation of Man U away kit?! Do I detect that times are changing? But I think that football merchandising in Wales has got a long way to go. We have had our Welsh sporting icons in recent years - Southall, Rush, Ratcliffe and Hughes come to mind but I suppose not being part of a winning team lessened their marketable impact in Wales.

Incidentally, it is worth mentioning that Wales’ new strip, produced by Kappa, could well have been on the shelves before the Finnish match but for marketing reasons were held back until just before the Italian match, some four or five weeks, whilst Welsh rugby shirts, at the time, were on the market at sale price. And by the way, looking at the video again, it was very noticeable that many fans did sport Welsh rugby shirts which suggests that many Welsh rugby followers attended the match which was indeed pleasing.

But back to the FAW’s shop. It appears that there’s no reference to this on its website, and with the hype at its peak and the Azerbaijan game a sell-out, I think that the FAW would be justified in taking a gamble and providing a range of products which Welsh supporters are likely to buy, such as mugs, fleeced jackets anoraks, key rings, pens, ties and so on.

It was my family who actually bought the shirts I mentioned earlier for my grandsons and they were not easy to obtain, I can tell you. Welsh rugby shirts at sale prices! Indeed, how times have changed.

Latham

THE REUNION 25.01.03

Time for nostalgia and memories. You see, today brings a gathering of a number of former players to a reunion at our ground and my word, doesn’t this bring back memories. There is a good mix here today, some being outstanding and regular players in the first team, others sometimes on the fringe of the first team, whilst others did sterling work in the other teams within the club, when, I recall, in one period we had four senior teams operating from Richmond Park.

We have here today players who played in the early 50s and others who played in the 60s, 70s,80s and 90s. Before election to the Welsh League in 1953, we still had a Carmarthen Town team who operated in the County League and in 1951, at the young age of 15, I was myself a member of the team. Two here today played however in the previous decade for the team in the form of Alvaro Velasco and Stan Goodridge.

Another interesting former player present is Peter Harding, a member of the Harding football dynasty here in Carmarthen. Only this week I was talking to Peter Rees, a Vice President of the Football Association of Wales, and he was telling me that Jack Harding, Peter’s grandfather, was indirectly instrumental in his reaching this high Office today. It was back in the 50s when Peter Rees, having already been unsuccessful on the previous three occasions, was again trying to gain election to the Council of the Welsh Football League and on this occasion happened to be sitting on the same table as Jack, who was representing Carmarthen as their Secretary or was it Chairman. He indicated to Jack that if he failed to gain election on this occasion, that would be his lot for good. So Jack gave him his vote, and he subsequently got in by one vote! He went from strength to strength thereafter, achieving Honorary Treasurer of the FAW, and now the elevated position of Vice President and no doubt the Office of President within his sights.

I could relate many stories if I had space but I would like to recall an occasion in a particular match the Town team contained two sets of four brothers which must have been some sort of record and created a lot of media attention. The brothers concerned were the Turners and the Goldsmiths, the former being made up of Peter, Nicky, Gary and Johnny, whilst the Goldsmiths had Nicky, Martin, Christopher and Jeffrey. Another Goldsmith brother, Kenny, also played for Town but not on this auspicious occasion. It’s nice to see that father Stan Goldsmith still attends matches regularly.

On of my worst memories, however, was in August 1996 when our former player Mark Delaney, now having a distinguished career with Wales and in the Premiership, was seriously injured at Briton Ferry in our first ever League of Wales match. A damaged spleen was initially diagnosed which, of course, would mean the end of Mark’s footballing career, but thankfully, it turned out to be something less serious, and the rest is history.

Seeing so many former managers here today reminds me of the time when I appeared before a Disciplinary Commission - the only time in fact.. It was a match in Cardiganshire when one of our players was sent off and our team manager, who is not here today, incidentally, and who shall remain nameless, showing his displeasure, informed the referee that if one Carmarthen player was sent off they would all go off. Obviously the referee stuck to his guns and the manager took all his players off the field and the match was abandoned. I can tell you that I was not amused having to appear before the Commission as Club Secretary when my diplomatic and persuasive skills were tested to the full. One out, all out, I ask you!

Latham

TONY WILCOX 08.02.03

In the fickle world of the football supporter, the manager’s lot can be precarious. If his team is successful, the embrace of the supporter can be all-consuming. If, however, failure looms, this affection can abruptly end. This trait is not only prevalent in the English Premiership: its counterpart in Wales can also be subject to this fickle mood though perhaps not to the same extent. May I refer to our three near neighbours, Llanelli, Haverfordwest and Aberystwyth who I understand between them have had 16 different managers during the time of our own Tomi Morgan’s tenure here which illustrates how precarious the occupation can be.

Three managers in Wales, however, stand out as shining lights in their ability to maintain a long-standing managerial position. Yes, the three who have been with the same club since the inaugural LoW season in 1992, are Mickey Evans, Caersws, Brian Coyne, Newtown, and today’s visiting incumbent Tony Willcox. And I would like briefly to profile Tony in my article today.. Can I say, however, that it is unfortunate that Tony has had to temporarily relinquish his position due to ill health to which reference is made elsewhere in this programme.

Speaking to members of the football fraternity here in Wales, I have received nothing but praiseworthy vibes from all concerned regarding Tony. Only last Saturday at Caersws, Mickey Evans was lauding the praises of his adversary with whom he has been in combat for ten years. praising his gentlemanly and sporting approach to every situation regardless of the result. Terry Daley, a former Newport Argus Sports Columnist and now a considerable contributor to that excellent Sunday publication The Non-League Paper was appreciative of Tony’s excellent public relations qualities where, for example, he would always return a phone call, never refuse a press interview, irrespective of the circumstances, and never made derogatory remarks about his opponents or any other aspect of Welsh football. What also impressed Terry was Tony’s ingenious ability to attract good players to the Cwmbran Stadium. In a world where money often counts for everything, Tony’s personality and the knowledge that they would have a fair crack of the whip under his leadership was often a magnet in their decision to join the Crows.

For the record, Tony had seven seasons as a player with Barry whilst they operated in the English System in the Southern League, and then in 1980 joined Ton Pentre where a cruciate ligament injury at the age of 30 forced him to give up the game. So in 1989 he joined Barry as an Assistant Manager when they were in the Welsh League but a year later when the Dragons returned to England in the Beazer Homes League he became their Manager. In 1992, he became Manager of Cwmbran and his record with the Club during the last ten years speaks for itself –qualification for six European campaigns and a record of having competed in four different European competitions, i.e. the European Champions Cup, the UEFA Cup, the European Cup Winners Cup and the Intertoto Cup. It was a noteworthy performance in 1992 when in the European Champions Cup (now the Champions League) they only lost to the Republic of Ireland Champions Cork City on the away goal rule.

Unfortunately Tony had to hand over the reins to Roger Gibbins a short while ago after being diagnosed with heart trouble. Tony is now awaiting a call to have tests and hopes that subsequent treatment will see him making a complete recovery. He intends to be at today’s game and emphatically states ‘I haven’t quit by any means’. I think we’ll all settle for that!

Latham

KEENOR’S UNKNOWNS

It was interesting to read the other day how Tommy Smith viewed his international involvement with England. Smith, some of you will recall, was the guest speaker at our Sportsman’s Dinner last May, who impressed the large gathering at the Halliwell with his lucid reminiscences and his fine personality shone through. The Liverpool legend, however, received just one cap for England and did not seem bothered about being a member of the One Cap Wonders Club. His lack of passion about turning out for his country may have been attributed to the fact that he achieved so much with Bill Shankley’s Liverpool side, being the most successful team of the 70s during which time they won nine major titles.

I have a feeling, however, that being successful with their clubs or not, I could not imagine players such as John Mahoney, Ivor Allchurch, Mike England and Trevor Ford, not to mention George Latham (I couldn’t resist that!) being indifferent about their international prospects. And of course, here in Wales, unlike that of England, dare I say, (before the Australian game, anyway), players have often been denied the opportunity of representing their country at crucial times due to the intransigent approach of some of the English clubs.

Harping back, however, to the recent Azerbaijan game and to the instances involving Craig Bellamy and Robbie Savage, I do believe that the decisions of Messrs Robson and Bruce were probably right as given Bellamy’s injury situation, it would have been inappropriate for him to make the long trip to Azerbaijan, whilst Savage was indeed injured for that game. The sad part however from my point of view was firstly the hue and cry preceding the Azerbaijan game by the Birmingham City manager which eventually culminated in Savage playing for his club just three days before the vital international match. And secondly, Sir Bobby’s selection of Bellamy twice in the space of seven days after being adamant that the player could not manage two games in one week.

But the spectre of unavailability of Welsh players in recent years pales into insignificance when one relates an instance in the pre-war 30s. In those days, internationals were played on Saturdays when there was a full English League programme. It was in October 1930, when Wales had a game with Scotland in Glasgow and Welsh team manager (although that might have not been the description in those days) Ted Robbins’ side was decimated by a host of withdrawals when all the Football League clubs refused to release their Welsh players. Robbins was then forced to call on players from the four Football League clubs based in Wales as well as players from amateur clubs in our country. The team was captained by Cardiff’s Fred Keenor and became known as ‘Keenor’s Unknowns’. Well, I can tell you that the side played like a team possessed to upset all the critics and gain a creditable 1-1 draw which illustrates the passion displayed by a Welshman when he pulls on the red shirt of Wales!

I do think, however, that Mark Hughes’ influence is turning things around and such a joke as ‘somebody has as much chances of doing a particular thing as Ryan Giggs has of playing a friendly international match in Eastern Europe’ will, hopefully, will be a long distant memory.

Latham