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...