Dial M for Merthyr

Nick Deacy was one of those players that my Dad would talk about with reverence, he arrived at Penydarren Park, scored goals for fun under John Charles and then left for Hereford but it’s what he did next that makes him one of our most successful players. Nick Deacy signs for PSV Eindhoven, wins the UEFA Cup and plays for Wales. We’ve tried to track down Nick down for a few years now as part of our Ex-players Day event but with no luck but a recent (and excellent) Radio Wales programme with Steffan Guero finally got us in touch and so one cold evening I went into deepest Cardiff to meet the man who was discovered by John Charles and replaced John Toshack for a while in the Wales team. Nick and his lovely wife Frankeline (I hope I’ve spelt that properly!) were amazing hosts and we spent a hour or so just discussing football in general and now and then I tried to ask a question relevant to the Martyrs, so here goes; Who saw you play for Cardiff Corries and signed you? I was pl...

The current paranoia running through the 1 st floor of the Price Strand folly at Penydarren Park seems not to be concerned with how Merthyr Town gets out of its current financial crisis but more about how a very small percentage of its loyal support spends their hard-earned loot on Saturdays. Quite why the antics of a group of lads drinking in a tiny pub would affect a business with the turnover of Merthyr Town escapes us all but I’m trying to make sense of it by challenging my own part in this dastardly plan to close a much-loved football club. I’m not that big a drinker anymore, I’m getting old, the hangovers last forever and my mental health comes first. However on a Saturday I still enjoy a couple of scoops prior to kick off in the Park View. I probably spend more on the jukebox than in booze but that’s just the way it is now. I go to that pub because of the atmosphere, the banter and of course the music. I used to play darts for the Football Club and during the club’...