Dial M for Merthyr

The FAW Amateur XI that beat Oxford University 3-2 at Penydarren Park on 5th February 1949.

The Welsh Schoolboys team that played at Penydarren Park against England on 19th April 1913 unfortunately we lost 4-0 in the match.

The Big Freeze of 2010? So another day with snow, another day off for the kids, and continued coverage on both radio and television as to the effects of the current arctic conditions for South Wales. It’s certainly affecting the Martyrs, we haven’t played a match since 12 th December and we’re unlikely to do so until 23rd January for the visit of Chippenham , but how has snow and ice affected the club in previous years? I spent a few hours researching the “big freeze” of 1963 and how we coped in days of yore with frozen pitches? I’m sure older readers will have some memories to share too. It seems the cold weather hit the UK and South Wales in particular on the evenings of 28 th -30 th December and the Lilywhites were only just able to complete their 1962 fixtures with a 4-1 defeat at Rugby on the final day of December. A match played on two inches of snow, cleared lines and sanded goalmouths. A match remembered for the great performance by goalkeeper John Clarke who prevented a rou

It was August 1989 and two Merthyr supporters are carrying a box around Old Road, Briton Ferry during a pre-season friendly in the sunshine (can you remember when we had a pre-season and it was sunny?), the majority of the crowd that day bought a copy of the new fanzine Dial M For Merthyr, probably most of them thought it was the programme (in the early days we were always asked "Is this the programme?", we'd say yes, sell one and then hope they didn't realise until we were safe in Strikers drinking the profits!) but it was the start of the Dial M For Merthyr fanzine. The late 80s had spawned a new generation of publications dedicated to raising the profile of the ordinary supporter on the terraces, the early pioneers being When Saturday Comes, The City Gent (Bradford City), The Pie (Notts County), Orientear (Leyton Orient) and Watch the Bluebirds Fly (Cardiff City), it was a post-Hillsborough landscape with the fight against ID cards being led by the fledgling Fo