A WARM WELCOME to you all to this long awaited clash against our LoW flagship bearers from the Vale of Glamorgan.

This week I shall go straight on to the subject of publicity, an item which is very high in the LoW agenda. Unfortunately here at Carmarthen, unlike the situations at Aberystwyth, Haverfordwest and Llanelli, where professional sports writers preview and report on these clubs in their local papers, we have to generate our own publicity. We are, however, still appreciative of the fact that the local papers publish reports, even though we do them ourselves. Our publicity machine is however in full swing starting with our Website Editor’s prolific contribution to the Internet and to the LoW Newsletter, and indeed in the considerable amount of correspondence via E-mail.

Then we have Malcolm Williams, who broadcasts quite frequently on Radio Ceredigion and BBC Radio Wales, as well as some lesser known radio stations in Wales and on the English borders, and you may well have seen Malcolm in a very familiar pose with telephone to his ear during matches, giving up-to-date reports.

We then have to supply reports by way of a 100 word contribution to the Sporting on Saturday evenings and more often than not a 500 word report to the Evening Post on Monday evenings. Unfortunately, since Jonathan Wilsher’s promotion in the Evening Post Sports Department, and we welcome Jonathan’s article in today’s programme, the Evening Post has relied on Press Agency reports and contributions from clubs. Other contributions are made via a Press Agency to the Wales on Sunday and the Western Mail and during my period of inactivity at present I was very grateful to Howard Williams, Nigel Williams and Paul Ashley-Jones for their assistance in this respect. I liked Paul’s turn-of-phrase in describing Jamie Hughes’ goal for Cwmbran - whilst on loan from Cardiff City - as showing a touch of class which had been sadly lacking by the Nationwide club’s forwards this season. Then, of course we have our Chairman Jeff Thomas’ considerable contribution in the media in the form of interviews in both English and Welsh with considerable panache, a skill no doubt developed through his professional work.

Our major contributor to the media, however, is of course, our manager by way of his many TV appearances, particularly on Heno and frequent post match interviews on BBC and S4C. Tomi makes written contributions regularly in the Welsh language weekly Y Cymro and also the Cambrian News in Aberystwyth. You will also see Tomi oft quoted in the press, after his many interviews with the various Press Agencies.

Finally, a little word of thanks to one of our Season Ticket Holders, Kevin Thompson, who hails from Gors-las. He meticulously undertakes a duty which is compulsory for the LoW and that is recording details of the teams,substitutions, cautions, sendings-off , goalscorers and times thereof for all these aspects . The information is immediately transmitted by fax after the game to SOCCERFILE WALES for transmission to the newspapers. No doubt, the media circus will roll after today’s high profile game but don’t believe every word you read!

Enjoy today’s game.

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A WARM WELCOME to you all to this afternoon’s Cup match and especially our visitors from East Wales whose side produce the goods year after year and I wonder if it is more than a coincidence that a not inconsiderable contribution to their successes in recent years may be due to the ability of a manager in Tony Wilcox who is regarded so highly in Welsh footballing circles.

It was interesting to read in a recent article in the Evening Post by Jonathan Wilsher when following Swansea City’s match versus Hull on 26th February after ten days of substantial rain, manager John Hollins had described the pitch as appalling. Jonathan went on to quote the Swansea Chief Executive, Malcolm Lewis, as saying that the condition of the pitch should be attributed to years of neglect.

Well, I think that the same accusation could at one time have been levelled at our own Richmond Park pitch and I am sure that there are many of you here who remember some ‘forgettable’ surfaces here in days gone by. But in fairness to this Club, spearheaded by Malcolm Williams, efforts to redress the situation started in the Summer of 1998. The fruits of the labour of Malcolm and others were clearly illustrated on the same day as the Swans played Hull. The same rain had fallen further west and our match against Rhyl was played in very good conditions. Back then to Summer ‘98, when £20,000 was spent on the installation of a new drainage system and last Summer a further £6,000 was spent on the importation of sand and loaming, together with the process of soil conditioning.

The pitch, however, still needs improving and a further £8,000 will be expended this Summer. Of course, there is the possibility of qualification for next season’s Premier Cup with up to £55,000 of improvements necessary for Richmond Park to fall in line with FAW requirements on additional seating, improvement of floodlights, erection of TV Gantry and Studio. If these are necessary there will be an automatic payment of £20,000 from the BBC plus additional money depending on results in the Competition.

Whatever the scenario, you can see that he Club hasto raise cash on two fronts, one to provide for the various teams within the Club and the other for the development of Richmond Park. The Club’s Millennium Fund is earmarked for the latter in respect of which money is raised by way of the Sportsman’s Dinner, Gala & Fete, and Millennium Raffle. And speaking of raffles, we have a smashing millennium raffle ongoing at present and you could help us by selling tickets on our behalf at a 50% commission basis. Please contact any committeman.

I HOPE that you enjoy today’s article by Alun Williams. He is quite an asset to the Club, particularly as a link with sponsors and advertisers, etc. He took over the Vice Chairman’s reins in 1998 and despite, like me, being an avid Glamorgan supporter and Swans fan he has now put Town on top of his list . Long may the association flourish.

Enjoy today’s game.

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