Dial M for Merthyr

We asked Phil Matsell the question “If Merthyr Town FC was a film which 10 songs would make up the soundtrack?” and here’s his suggestions which look mighty fine to us;   Next to Nothing – Fat Boy Slim   Weekender – Flowered Up   What good am I – Darrow Fletcher   Something to say – The Action   At the edge – Stiff Little Fingers   Grown your own – The Small Faces   Groove Harder – Stone Roses   Gently as you feel – The Flies   Trick Shot – Ceasefire   Judge Fudge – Happy Mondays   A quality selection now all we have to do is finish the screenplay and we’re off to Cannes.    

Moses Russell was born in Tredegar , in Monmouthshire and after leaving school he began work as a coal-miner . In his leisure time he played both association football and rugby as well as being a boxer and competent swimmer, once rescuing a drowning child from a river. His first professional club was Ton Pentre , whom he joined in 1911 before transferring to Merthyr Town later that year. Whilst with Merthyr Town, Moses helped them win the South Wales & Monmouthshire FA Cup. He made his debut for Wales playing at left half against Scotland on 2 March 1912. The first player to be capped by Wales whilst with Merthyr, there would only be one other in our history. In the summer of 1912, Moses left South Wales to join Southport but with the club having financial problems, he returned to Merthyr Town on a free transfer in February 1913, rather than take a cut in his wages. Whilst with Merthyr Town, he gained his third " cap ", against England on 16 March 1914....

So it’s been 5 years since the last issue of Dial M For Merthyr, to be fair they’ve probably been the most turbulent at Penydarren Park since we started playing the round ball game at the end of Park Terrace. When you last read your favourite (and only) Merthyr fanzine we are in the final throes of the previous regime and their desperate attempts to get the supporters to fund more madness in the name of Merthyr Tydfil FC. The well had run dry. The chickens had come home to roost. The fat lady was singing. So in stepped the Trust to protect the club from itself. We’re still the only set of supporters in the UK that has placed its own club into administration. A bold move but ultimately an expensive one. Did we have a plan? Yes. Did we know how things would develop? Probably not but we had the determination and the support to move things forward away. The public meetings at the Penydarren Club were always well attended and the support & belief of those supporters was ...

An Open Letter To Merthyr Town Football Supporters – a message from your wives, girlfriends, husbands, boyfriends and families. We understand.   Monday is a big, big day.     Some of us – and I especially include myself here - don’t get football, don’t understand the offside rule, don’t know what leagues Merthyr, Swansea, or even Manchester United are in.   We’ve watched with gently mocking bemusement over the years as you meet the end of season with a either a deep and often unshakable depression or manic glee. But we understand - Monday is a big, big day.   Here’s the thing though.   It’s not just a big day for the supporters and the team.   Over recent years we’ve travelled with you on this rollercoaster.   We were there in the early days when you had no real stake in the club and watched helplessly at the unfolding results.   We held our collective breath when you took the first tentative steps toward independence, challenging...

The following presentation was made to the Merthyr Town FC Hall of Fame evening on Saturday 20th October 2012; ALBERT LINDON (1891-1976) Albert Lindon is a figure that transcends two football clubs and is paramount to the survival of professional football at Penydarren Park. He is no local. He was born in Kings Norton near Birmingham on 27th January 1891. His first clubs were the imaginatively named Birmingham Fruiterers and Delta Metal Works. Albert was a goalkeeper. In 1910 he joined his local club Birmingham City where he made 7 appearances for the St. Andrews club in the 2nd division of the Football League. The Blues had a disappointing season ending in 22nd place so our hero was on the move across the city to Villa Park where he managed one solitary game between the sticks for Aston Villa albeit in the lofty climes of the First Division. Albert frustrated by the lack of games first of all went to Barnsley and then Coventry City to seek regular games. He ma...

The pasts a different country...they do things differently there. I went to Football in the late 70's and 80's. It was different then. Much different. It had edge. No point saying it was anything else really. You learnt loads though. Was it better than now?...Different. There's a word...different. I used to just go to games. Any old games. My teams were Merthyr and Cardiff. Merthyr away was even more dangerous than Cardiff. Straight up. Non-league, no segregation, no reputation like Cardiff to scare people off...I had a clump once off a brick in Halesowen when a load of Zulu's turned up and the Copper laughed. Seriously...he fuckin laughed as I buckled. That was football then...we were animals. To be controlled. I didnt care. We were told we were nothing in school. Our Fathers lost their jobs in the pits and factories. I felt like we were under attack. Like they hated us, The Govt, the authorities. They did. I went to Newcastle on that fateful day. I drove ...

LIFE IN THE SOUTHERN LEAGUE SECOND DIVISION DURING SEASON 1911-1912 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 describ...

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