Dial M for Merthyr

Time waits for no man and of course time flies but aeroplanes crash. Nothing out of the ordinary there of course as it’s only death & me not winning the 50/50 draw that’s certain in life. The Dial M for Merthyr crew have been aggressively (not to everyone’s taste on most occasions) promoting this club since 1989. Over the years we’ve set up various non-sensical ideas to try to make watching the mighty Martyrs more of an occasion; from beach parties to full kit wanker days; from Ryan Prosser beard day to Inflatables at Dorchester day; from away day bike rides to a boat ride up the Thames – we’ve done it all including of course this long-running fanzine. Recently we’ve slowed down as the obvious effects of age and apathy have taken their toll. As we’ve mentioned elsewhere in this issue, next season will be one of celebration with plenty of landmark dates to target therefore we’ll try to repeat as many of our previous ideas over the course of the campaign. The emergence of the M...

“Do you know where hell is? Hell is Westgate Street, Heaven is up in Merthyr where they play the ball to feet”

Word has reached us that our Board has been meeting with the FAW regarding the possibility of Merthyr Town FC joining the Welsh pyramid system in the near future. There can be no issue with that, we need to understand the financial benefits to us giving up 111 years of history to make a leap of faith into the Cymru Leagues. Many of us remain unconvinced and the odds of the owners voting to abandon our current membership with a 75% majority, as per our constitution, must be pretty high.  If the FAW are looking for a repeat of Colwyn Bay’s damascene change of direction at Penydarren Park then they will need to convince us that they respect us and what we will need to leave behind in order to leave our spiritual home in the Southern League once and for all. It would seem that there is a steady stream on social media of Welsh football fans who think we are insane to continue our lonely furrow within the non-league scene in England. That is understandable. For every Merthyr Town fan...

“Penydarren Park is now a cashless stadium which just means we’re skint”

1.       Greg Downs 2.       Phil Evans 3.       Alan Mullins 4.       Ian Love 5.       Nigel French 6.       Alan Sullivan 7.       Billy Walker 8.       Doug Rosser 9.       Cohen Griffith 10.   Paul Sanderson

1.       Barry Town 2.       Bromsgrove Rovers 3.       Dudley Town 4.       Cheltenham Town 5.       Kidderminster Harriers 6.       Wealdstone 7.       Bath City 8.       Yeovil Town 9.       Worcester City 10.   Tamworth 11.   Atherstone United 12.   Bridgnorth Town 13.   Willenhall

W 1947 roku w październiku klub pilkarski Merthyr Tydfil znalazł wolną sobotę. Ze względu na pierwszeństwo angielskich pucharów hrabstwa, zwyczaj nakazywał w tamtych czasach, aby rozegrać mecz towarzyski. Celem było zaspokojenie głodu rewalizacji w powojennym mieście i dostarczeniu ludziom rozrywki. Dlatego w południe 11 października Merthyr Tydfil przyjęła wyzwanie i zagrała z Karpatami mecz towarzyski. Wydaje się, że sam mecz został zapomniany przez historię. Szkoda, bo tło zespołu gości było hołdem dla nowej Wielkiej Brytanii wychodzącej z globalnego konfliktu. Wydaje się, że publiczność Merthyr również zlekceważyła drużynę odwiedzającą Penydarren Park, jako że program meczowy na nastęny tydzień rozgrywek FA Cup przeciwko Athletic Lovellsa ubolewał: „Ci kibice, którzy zostali oszukani przez nieodpowiedzialne plotki dotyczące składu polskiej jedenastki przegapili piłkarską ucztę, a „klasa” naszych gości zadała kłam „konikom”, którzy rozpowszechniali pogłoskę, że zespół powstał z po...

A few home games ago I was wandering across the Theatre End en route to the magnificent Holvey’s Tea Bar to make my life worthwhile by buying a cob & chips with curry sauce. As usual at Penydarren Park there were the usual chats, nods and banter on the way but what united most of the talk was the health of the club and to be honest the negative outlook of a few of my fellow Martyrs. Now it’s no secret that we’ve faced a few challenges over the years with a couple of proper financial wobbles even as recent as a year or so ago. Our reputation as a fan-owned club has taken a bit of a battering as the source of our financial woes were our own decisions. There aren’t enough pages in this fanzine to list all of the crazy avenues that we’ve driven our club down over the past ten years. Lessons have had to be learned of course. We’re no different to hundreds of semi-professional clubs all over this island in that we’re operating in a very challenging entertainment market with new cust...

You will know that Merthyr Town FC as a community club has other teams within our brand. Walking football is very successful with a major European tournament being hosted at Penydarren Park in the summer and our Women’s team provide a welcome option for live football on a Sunday as they battle for a place in the Welsh Premier Women’s League. We’ve even got a darts team which is currently top of Division 4 to support on a Friday evening. Now we have a Futsal team competing in the Welsh Elite League on a Sunday afternoon. The game of Futsal is still in its infancy in Wales although the National Team has competed at UEFA level for over a decade. There are 5 players but it’s faster and more aggressive that its traditional weekly kickabout version, it’s 20 minutes each way but with the match clock stopped each time the ball leaves the court a game can take almost 90 minutes to complete. A team has been pitched into the league in order to hopefully provide another way for people to wear ...

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