Dial M for Merthyr

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The big one had arrived and it was off to Milan - officially pronounced Meeelan. Five of us set out from the Jewel of the Valley at 2pm on Friday. Having properjobs we couldn't get away days earier. By the time we left the Pearl the Dial M posse were on te train back from Bergamo. As we left we knew that the club's erstwhile Secretary (Pughy), would be waiting at the bar of the Hotel with a beer for us. The only problem we had now would be with our ticket bookings. Myself, Dan, Noddy (who’d be dubbed The Major later that night by a drunken North Walian), Spike and my ‘Paul Hunt’ lookalike brother hit Heathrow at 5pm knowing that we had 2 hours of Calsberg supping before flight time. A shake of the head at the check-in desk alerted me to the fact that my online booking was turning into shit. Without flight tickets the weekend was going to be a tad shorter than I'd antticipated - I hit the ticket desk and seek out someone sensible. His names David (a good Welsh name) and five...

http://publishing.yudu.com/Library/Aquye/DialMIssue05/resources/index.htm Apologies for the quality of this one, but it was originally shite and there was 2 blank pages in the copy I had. Typical!!

In 1993, BBC Wales arts programme 'The Slate' did a short piece on Football fanzines. Of course Dial M for Merthyr were very much centre of things. A youthful Wolvesy did the team proud.

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It's been the match that has stood out for all Martyrs fans since the season started, another opportunity to educate our neighbours from Gwent in the social etiquette of non-league football. Our chance to provide their supporters with the fundamental requirements for football at our level; hospitality in our clubhouse, four sides to a ground with no segregation (and no crowd trouble). What we couldn't rely on was what would happen on the lush green lawn that is Penydarren Park. It had been a tidy Christmas but to be honest it was all going to be little more than a warm-up for the main event; Merthyr Tydfil -vrs- Newport County. I'm glad they've adopted their old name, it just seems more honest and gives a historical edge to matches. Against my better judgement I felt quietly confident about the encounter, the Martyrs record against the Gwenties isn't very good but recent performances if not results had been encouraging with the lads attempting to play a passing game...

Just look at this Liverpool fans - this lot have got 9 of them. That's what you call History. The Santiago Bernabeu The Madrid Ultras, who we got to meet up close shortly after this. The ones in the black shirts real sh!t me up. They were well up for it and a little scary. The Real Madrid bench was looking a bit ropey at the end of the 2007 season. Wolvesy's stag line up: Knighty, The Brown Baron, Owens, BOB, Suntan Sammy, The Groom, Lukey, Rusty and Wingnut. Myself and Hulbachino out of shot. Click pictures to enlarge.

Above are some of the Dial M troop - Wolvesy, Mytton, Hulby, Wingnut and Typey. The sight of two portly gentlemen wandering around Briton Ferry's pitch on a warm afternoon in August 1989 carrying a box must have seemed a bit strange to those Merthyr supporters who were there to witness a pre-Conference season friendly match, especially so when those two Merthyr lads proceeded to sell a new magazine "written by the fans, for the fans!". The cover above is from the first edition after we dumped local rivals Newport out of the FA Cup. The header reflected the scoreline of the match. This was the birth of the Dial M For Merthyr fanzine. It was the era of Thatcher and her ridiculous ID cards for football, Colin Moynihan and Hillsborough. The football authorities seemed powerless to stop the rot. The renaissance of the national game began not from the comfy surrounds of the boardrooms but from the terraces, the rise of the Football Supporters Association under Rogan Taylor co...

Last Saturday (29-Jan) the Martyrs travelled to Lincolnshire to meet the DML league leaders Boston United. Today's fixture, at home to Burton Albion, will be the first game MTFC will have played since the 4-1 trouncing at York Sheet. But do not be too disheartened, my friend, last Saturday was not as bad as the scoreline suggests. For the DMFM crew this was the away fixture of the season. League leaders at their excellent York Sheet home coupled with the prospect of a major Saturday night SESH in Peterboro' afterwards. Quiet roads and some manic driving from Dai Jizz softened the journey up. Nottingham was reached in just over two hours but it took another 2 hours to get to Boston from this point, mainly due to the various tractors/combine harvesters/road sweepers that we got stuck behind on the A~2. Boston was reached at around midday. It was good to see another car full (Julie Martin's gang) arrive just after us as, due to a lack of numbers, the Supporters club were unabl...

You are depressed and happiness seems impossible but you couldn't be more wrong!. As long as your depression is not due to a chemical imbalance, which is often not the case (It is where Typey is concerned - the chemical being lager) these steps will help you feel happier by breaking your negative thought and the hold it has over you. SEVEN steps to being happier Gratitude Think of your life right now. What good things are there to be thankful for? Start listing them on a piece of paper or just go over them in your head. The fact that you can find many positive things in your life no matter how depressed you may feel is comforting and will change your mood. Example - You don't owe the bank 100s of thousands personally. The bank will not be repossessing your house soon will he? Also you were able to watch a pulsating 90 minutes of FA Cup football on Saturday - 3 goals, 2 sendings off. OK they were all against us, but it was entertaining. There you go, feeling better already aren...

http://publishing.yudu.com/Aq8la/DialMIssue03andahalf/resources/index.htm And a special bonus posting this week. Dial M for Merthyr issues 3 and a half. Everyone is reading it you know; " Was I supposed to have saved that boss? Can't you see I'm trying to read Dial M" - Scott Allison at Poole on Saturday. "I'll take care of business in a minute, let me just finish reading Dial M" - Chuck Chuck head of Lehman Brothers. " Now F*$k off out of my office Tosh - I'm reading Dial M". - Dave Jones.

http://publishing.yudu.com/Aq8l9/DialMIssue03/resources/index.htm Dial M issue 03 is now online.

The Dial M group assembled at Anthea's cafe at Bro Dawel with the news of the Newport deals fresh from the press. Shepherd in exchange for our old friend Clarkey, it seems good business to me. Gary Shep has never really caught the imagination of the Martyrs fans, we've been used to players like Paul Caviel and more recently Phil Green who always gave everything for the black & white shirt no matter what the occasion. It was never a matter of confidence for these players but more of pride in the Merthyr shirt. Gary Shep is capable of getting goals, his goal at Ninian Park in the FAW Premier Cup being one of the best of this season, an exquisite header showing that he can finish. Maybe a change of scenery will suit him, let's hope he doesn't finally get going at Spytty Park on April 24th, irony? Don't get me started. I only hope that by the time that this issue appears that Darren Ryan has returned from his loan deal at the Gwenties a favourite of this publication...

So I'm standing outside the Main Gates at Worcester City when Miss Marple gets out of a taxi, she's short of the fare, well it's ridiculously expensive in England, she obviously doesn't know the taxi chat ("Working late drive?" or Busy in town tonight?") so I step over and hand out some arian and pretty soon she's through customs and into the crime scene. Worcester have stolen a point and I want it recorded for the record. Worcester is not really a favourite destination for the Dial M For Merthys entourage, we were and still are innocent ! For me, it's an awkward trip - it's neither here nor there, it's a half day off work and a mad rush to Merthyr for the fast car over the border. Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to your pilot; The Brown Baron. Now, Mr. Brown loves a burger, and especially a burger from Dowlais Top so almost sixty minutes after leaving the Baili Glas we've travelled less than two miles, but soon it's the...

Dial M have found out where Tosh got the idea of playing one up front at home against Azerbijan. Cheers Wolves. Picture courtesy of today's METRO Newspaper.

The Poland Trip Sunday had finally arrived. All that waiting seemed to take an eternity, especially the last two weeks. Myself and Billy the Fish (BTF) decided to meet up slightly earlier than planned to enjoy a couple of liveners around town prior to meeting the rest of the boys in the Baili Glas, Afershave Hill, CF48. On arrival at 9.30pm we were the first there and "pussies" seemed like the perfect adjective to describe everyone else. Two minutes later and Dai and Mopp steam in looking exited. We are finally joined by the rest of the "Polish train mob" which consisted of Wingy, Rob the bomb (RTB), Hulby and the Brown Baron. The trip had already taken a major setback the previous week as Typey was forced to withdraw with a broken limb. In fact it was that man himself who, as usual, had tirelessly arranged all travel and accommodation for the boys (cheers Rob). Now we were down to eight. The haul to the Polish capital was to take us over 20 hours via minibus from M...

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14th September 1999 - the day Roger Gibbins, as soon as he stepped onto the team bus after the game away to Newtown in the FAW cup, should have been sacked as manager of Merthyr Tydfil FC. Basically the performance at Latham Park that evening was shocking. A 1-0 defeat against a Newtown side who, on the night were the better team even though they played most of the game with ten men and the majority of the second half with nine players. That was bad shit. It was also evident from that match how totally inept Haydn Fleming was as a 'footballer'; this guy was a professional once, he's now with Maesteg Parc. Enough said I think. But the big pisser of the night was the non-appearance of the Merthyr players & officials in the Newtown clubhouse after the game. The only excuse I can think of on their behalf is that they were embarrassed that they had been outplayed, outfought & were found wanting tactically against a LOW side. If Gibbo had any bollocks at all he would have...

The phone rang at 6. In the morning. The call was coming from Merthyr to get up and get ready. Glamorgan were at Lords and the whole of South Wales seemed on the road. The DMFM crew were set to join them. Around 45 minutes later, the peace of my Cynon Valley haven was shattered by the arrival of our charabanc, whether this mini-bus would reach London seemed doubtful, it seemed to be held together by sellotape. I climbed aboard, all were present, only RTB to be collected at Quakers Yard to make up the nine selected to represent Merthyr Tydfil FC, having the dubious pleasure of delivering us at the home of cricket. The length of the M4 seemed to be full of all manner of transport transporting Glamorgan supporters eastwards, even the sight of two Gloucestershire coaches sparked weird celebrations as cars, vans, mini-buses and coaches tried to flag them down to share in the vast cider lake that was heading towards London. Wingnut had started his sesh at 6.30 am outside the Norton, he was t...

Corby? Now that’s a long way. The lads have hit form of late and we’re starting to climb the table but still it’s a long way to Little Scotland so what are the alternatives to traversing the windy plains of England; Only 1 really, get down to the Millennium Stadium and watch the young Wales team take on Azerbaijan. Kick off is at 3pm, if you’re lucky you can sit next to Hulby Marulby and enjoy his match analysis. Nowt else to report on cultural events in the Glamorgan area, just keep your mind on the season ahead. Whatever you decide, don’t forget ……… choose wisely!

Issue one of Dial M for Merthyr went on sale in 1989 and here it is in all it's glory. Over the next year we will bring you the resulting 50+ issues of Dial M that found their way to the fans of Merthyr in the19 years following thie landmark in publishing. http://publishing.yudu.com/Freedom/Ao9l7/DialMforMerthyrIssue/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl =