1984 Miners Strike
I
suppose that as you get older you notice more anniversaries on the horizon. One
of the more high profile events to be remembered this year is the Miners’
Strike of 1984 and its obvious legacy on the communities across South Wales but
what of its impact on Merthyr Tydfil FC at that time?
Well
I was just 17 years old in ’84 and the strike seemed at first a distant
conflict, there weren’t many if any miners in Trefechan, I recall the bucket
collections in the town centre to support the miners’ families but without
today’s 24/7 blanket coverage of the news there was only the now obviously
heavily edited news programmes to find out what was happening around the
country.
The
strike came home to me during an away match to the Midlands, it could have been
to Willenhall (they won the title in the Southern League Midland division that
season), Bridgnorth or even Oldbury. The coach was taking the usual route and
was climbing out of Monmouth only to be pulled into a lay-by just past the
“Welcome to England” sign by a police car. I remember the police boarding the
coach to check if we were flying pickets, no charm offensive here, this was
also during the time that the fans travelled with the team so the players were
questioned to prove they were on their way to a football match. A couple of
fans came from down the Valley and their addresses caused us more delays as the
police presumably had to check their details. We were delayed for quite a time.
This
occurred a couple more times before the end of that season. Looking back now it
was all part of the Conservative government’s intimidation of the South Wales
coalfield and its communities. A tactic that was to reach its nadir with the
Battle of Orgreave, an event that is well overdue an inquiry into the police tactics
of that hot summer day of 18th June 1984 near Rotherham.
I
still raise a smile as we roar past the Croeso I Loegr sign and remember those
days when freedom of movement was not so guaranteed for people leaving the
Heads of the Valleys area.
Oh
by the way, the other team promoted from our division that year was Shepshed
Charterhouse – what happened to them?
Chairman
Mao
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