Merthyr Town Sports Club?

By Chairman Mao -

Merthyr Town is a fan owned co-operative as everyone knows. We’re registered as a Community Sports Club in effect. We’ve visited this idea before in the pages of the fanzine but should we look to adopt a more continental approach to how we use Penydarren Park for the future? In essence we’re talking about becoming a sports club rather than solely concentrating on football. Clubs throughout Europe have a wider portfolio of activities available to their members and it’s true from Barcelona to Istanbul via Stockholm. The opportunities for members can be varied and eclectic and most would be out of our scope due to both capacity and facilities but should we be looking to attract other sports or hobbies to Penydarren Park to further enhance our position as the best community venue in the Valleys?

If we use Galatasaray as an example, we’re not expecting to provide motorsport, water polo or swimming along Park Terrace but could we not use the new facility (why don’t we have a name for the complete building yet?) to host other clubs or societies for more low maintenance activities? The advantage of having a CEO is that we now have the ability to reach out to other sports via the council’s community network. So which of the following could be hosted at our famous ground? Chess, bridge, pool and darts would seem to be perfect for the sponsor boxes or Webley’s. Pétanque is widely played in South Glamorgan and the pitch (or piste) can even form part of the car park (Brecon RFC has a great example of this) so another idea to attract a different demographic to Merthyr Town FC. We’ve already started this process with the well supported weekly walking-football sessions so can we with our increased staff infrastructure take this further? Could we incorporate a mobile skittles alley into Webley’s? Is there SportWales funding for such an item?

The main benefit for the sports listed so far is that they are for all ages and can involve family members through the generations. Have I missed any other activities? Dance clubs for example?

So is this a worthy strategy for our community football club? Could we evolve into that Community sports club that we embraced when we took on the responsibility of Merthyr Town FC?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trust no one by Chairman Mao

By -
Image
I’m hoping this article will provide a cathartic release from the whole Farnborough debacle, from the home club’s pathetic response to the attacks (there were notable exceptions of course), the initial reaction by the media, the ineffectual investigation by the Hampshire Police and the realization that justice on this septic isle is out of the reach of the working classes. I also want to put the record straight for those if you who choose to read this. What really happened on December 4th 2021. The annual “Christmas Jumper” trip was one of the highlights for Martyrs fans in any season; a chance to be silly, wear daft festive fashions, meet exiled fans and lately raise money for local charities. Some of the toys donated by Merthyr fans at Harrow in 2020 In 2020 hundreds of Merthyr fans donated toys for the fans on the Christmas Jumper to take to Harrow Borough to distribute to children affected by the Grenfell Tower disaster. As usual the people of Merthyr Tydfil rose to the occasio...
Read more

OBJECT LESSONS NO. 2

By -
Image
Following on from the recent post about how a Merthyr Tydfil AFC badge accompanied my journey through the highs & lows of secondary school education in our fair borough, a recent clear out of stuff from my house has brought a few more items of memorabilia from that era of youthful exuberance back into focus. The seventies wasn’t a bad decade to follow the Martyrs. It started with John Charles and that beautiful mauve & yellow football kit. Broken hearts against Hendon and Tooting & Mitcham too. It ended with the heartache of that midweek defeat to Burton Albion and no promotion but in between we had the Chesham United FA Cup disappointment. Penydarren Park was a lot different to the stadium we enjoy today. The ground was only two-sided with just Main Stand and Wank Bank providing any cover so behind each goal there was plenty of space to play football, tell tall tales and run wild. We watched both Match of the Day and The Big Match every weekend and marveled at the b...
Read more