Dial M for Merthyr

In a few years time when people turn around and say "remember when we went down to Barry in March '98 and showed them who was best", I will turn around and say "I know, 'cos I was there!" And judging by the size of the Merthyr crowd that night, so will everyone else!" Not since our Welsh Cup and European adventures have I seen such passion and fanatical support given to the team. We had waited weeks for the game, and it certainly was to live up to all expectations. The scene was set…. Hundred's of Martyrs, black and white everywhere, flags blowing in the wind, our voices at fever pitch. God I love this team! However, the home fans did not see it that way, and feeling totally swamped by the events which were surrounding them, decided to begin throwing bottles, cans and several other objects in our direction. We must have appeared a fanatical bunch. The roles has been reversed, suddenly Barry were no longer the invincible force they proclaimed to b...

It was the game that just couldn't arrive quickly enough. The return to the Green Green Grass of Penydarren park, for one Sam Bowen, probably the most controversial player to don a Martyrs top and recently sold to Worcester City for £5,000. This game was always going to be a tough one but the return of Bowen and mark Kelly and the fact that the Martyrs had suffered a 3-0 reverse the previous day at Bath, certainly spiced up this top of the table clash. The club house was full, prior to the match, with a good turn out by the tractor numpties from over the border. All the talk in the clubhouse was of course about Bowen - would he get sent off, would he score a hatrick, would he react to the abuse? The Worcester boys seem to have taken to Sam a little better than us but then again we thought he was a God after his 5 goal debut. Only time will tell on that one! The smart money was on David Barnhouse to kick Sam into next week but there was even money on Dean Clarke and Graeth Abraham ...

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I've lost count of the number of times that I've actually travelled to Eton Park and couldn't find the ground. So this season armed with the directions from THE MARTYR we set off in confident mood. Even a detour to collect a poor impoverished University student at the British Rail terminal at the NEC en route didn't deter our confidence that this would be the year……..that we finally cracked the formula and found the ground without stopping to ask directions on the one-way grand prix circuit around the outskirts of the town. And guess what? Yes, once again the 'corner shop' routine worked a treat! We passed the Derby Turn pub without a glitch but when we were faced with a set of traffic lights at a junction with roads leading everywhere the consensus of opinion became the wrong outcome. But fortunately we had only turned in the wrong direction and we were soon back on track. Phew. The next mistake was entering the ground to partake of the hospitality in the soc...

   The season 1911-12 was certainly a successful one for Merthyr Town as they finished champions of the Southern League Second Division. This was no mean feat as, over the course of the season, they had to contest local derbies with Cardiff City, Pontypridd, Ton Pentre, Treharris, Aberdare, Mardy and Cwm Albion. The biggest ‘ name ’ in the division was, current Premiership side, Portsmouth, who had been relegated from the Southern League First Division at the end of the previous campaign. Not surprisingly, the south coast club were hardly enthusiastic about the number of visits which they would have to make to the South Wales Valleys.    In an attempt to avoid travelling to the Valleys in the winter months, new Pompey Manager, Bob Brown, shrewdly arranged the bulk of his Club ’ s away fixtures for the first half of the season. Even so, the facilities and pitches at many of the South Wales grounds could, at best, be described as basic. What follows is the views,...