Dial M for Merthyr

For many of us Tuesday, 10 th October 2017 will live long in our memories, but for all the wrong reasons! But as the events on the night started to unfold I could only cast my mind back to Dr. Kuber-Ross’s 5 step model of coping with loss - titled ‘Dealing with the Grim Reaper’ an article published in Issue 53. To be four nil up at half time and to lose five-four you have to ask yourself how on earth did that happen. How did Slough Town achieve the unthinkable? How did they manage to overturn a four-goal deficit and win the match in second half stoppage time? It is a result which left many lost for words, not least the Martyrs supporters. Joint Rebels manager Neil Baker exclaimed “I don't think you'll ever see a game of football like it in your life” . Were we heading in Mikey D’s words ‘on the journey to our inevitable mediocrity’? Unlikely, as we were ‘burning like a supernova’ in the first half! The Martyrs were in front after five minutes through Ian Traylor with ...

The phone rang at 6. In the morning. The call was coming from Merthyr to get up and get ready. Glamorgan were at Lords and the whole of South Wales seemed on the road. The DMFM crew were set to join them. Around 45 minutes later, the peace of my Cynon Valley haven was shattered by the arrival of our charabanc, whether this mini-bus would reach London seemed doubtful, it seemed to be held together by sellotape. I climbed aboard, all were present, only RTB to be collected at Quakers Yard to make up the nine selected to represent Merthyr Tydfil FC, having the dubious pleasure of delivering us at the home of cricket. The length of the M4 seemed to be full of all manner of transport transporting Glamorgan supporters eastwards, even the sight of two Gloucestershire coaches sparked weird celebrations as cars, vans, mini-buses and coaches tried to flag them down to share in the vast cider lake that was heading towards London. Wingnut had started his sesh at 6.30 am outside the Norton, he was ...

It's 8.30 a.m. The place, as usual, is the Merthyr Law Courts. The DMFM Crew are once more gathering one by one for what will hopefully be another memorable trip. The destination, The English Capital, for our F.A. Cup tie with the mighty O's of Leyton, E10. The Supporters Club buses are filling up nicely and the sight of about four hundred Merthyr fans queuing up is great. Just like the old days, eh? 9.00 a.m. arrives and our minibus still hasn't turned up along with a couple of the boys ie Jimmy Kranky and Mr Strong. However, we are joined amazingly by Typey sporting two bruised eyes courtesy of the bouncer at the Pitz. 9.30 a.m. and our minibus finally arrives with Mick, Gwynney, Hulby and, as Shaun Ryder would say, Mad Cyril on board. A quick trip back up to Dowlais to collect Mr Strong and the booze from the Miners and we are away, with a quick stop in Treforest to collect P.J. Woodcraft - Welsh Lovespoon maker. The journey up is quiet although the traffic in London is...

Issue 58 will be on the terraces for tomorrow’s visit of Basingstoke Town.

There’s a contradiction in how our club is currently being governed. On the one hand we have Board members calling their own press conference disguised as a so-called Special General Meeting to confirm their mass resignations and on the other we have the club continuing to operate with Christmas parties, charity collections and even a Soup Kitchen showing that despite the lack of formal leadership at Merthyr Town FC we are probably more united and are engaging with the wider football community more than at any time in recent history. Match day at  Penydarren  Park relies on a regular team of volunteers who ensure that we  can continue our love affair with our heroes in black & white. Their contribution to the Martyrs cannot be underestimated with turnstiles manned, programme production & sales, 50/50 tickets sales and of course stray footballs found on the tundra of the Theatre End plateau. This group seem to be working successfully as an independent unit from ...

Everyone was relieved when the credits finally rolled at the culmination of last season. Similar to reaching the end of a traumatic biopic, it took a while for everyone who holds the club in esteem to absorb the problems that the Club faced. Had the trigger been pulled to spiral the Club towards the end game button? Well not quite, because our supporters are made of sterner stuff as the debate bubbled and frothed. It seemed in retrospect to re-energize the club’s fan base. Increasingly as last season progressed, we witnessed the teams work ethic under Gavin’s leadership, their commitment and what the ‘values’ that existed at the club mean to everyone. All the supporters spoke of their ‘loyalty’ which confirmed the players integrity during the final 6 traumatic months of last season. It became increasingly difficult for Gavin and Dean to implement their ‘philosophy’ as the players wages were cut, through no fault of the management or team. After being reformed in 2010 and gainin...

Berliner Pilsner, Snickers, shit train journeys, depressing towns, miserable aggressive coppers with guns, Grizzly bears, snoring, McDonalds and more snickers The Poland Trip Sunday had finally arrived. All that waiting seemed to take an eternity, especially the last two weeks. Myself and Billy the Fish (BTF) decided to meet up slightly earlier than planned to enjoy a couple of liveners around town prior to meeting the rest of the boys in the Baili Glas, Afershave Hill, CF48. On arrival at 9.30pm we were the first there and "pussies" seemed like the perfect adjective to describe everyone else. Two minutes later and Dai and Mopp steam in looking exited. We are finally joined by the rest of the "Polish train mob" which consisted of Wingy, Rob the bomb (RTB), Hulby and the Brown Baron. The trip had already taken a major setback the previous week as Typey was forced to withdraw with a broken limb. In fact it was that man himself who, as usual, had tirelessly arrange...

On Saturday 15th December the Merthyr Town FC supporters’ groups  Red Flag Martyrs and MTFC On The Terraces   are heading  to Harrow Borough for our Southern League fixture but more importantly for our annual Christmas jumper trip. This year’s event will be slightly different to previous years as we will also be supporting Solidarity Sports and the Non-League 4 Grenfell movement by firstly raising awareness of the awful Grenfell Tower tragedy that affected so many people and has displaced many families including young children. They say travel expands the mind but coupled with football it certainly expands your horizons and during a trip to Blackpool we caught up with our new friends from Whitehawk who are behind the  @nonlge4grenfell  twitter  account which uses football as a vehicle to remind people of the continued plight of the survivors of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. As football supporters  of a community-owned club  we feel now it’s tim...

WOW – what a weekend. An invasion of zany Liverpudlians descends on the County Borough. The Purps had landed at Penydarren Park and brought with them their infectious brand of fanatical support. Fair play it was extremely impressive for a Club at Step 5 of non-league football to travel that far, in considerable numbers for a weekend in South Wales. But it was the Supporters Direct Shield that had brought the two clubs together and everyone who failed to attend the game missed a truly unique experience. The Purps fans were noisy and just happy to be here. Anyone who adores eating raw cake mixture (only that which is freshly made by your Mum), will understand what this was like. The atmosphere in the bars and around the ground was festival like and the football was good. It all started on the Friday evening with Liverpool legend Jimmy Case spending the evening in the Red Flag Bar. Then the following morning a handful of intrepid Martyrs fans walked the thirteen miles from Talyb...

It seems that the ever curious football fan has returned to following our national team home and away, you know the one I’m on about, he (and it’s always a he) needs to know where you’re from in Wales and of course more importantly who you support? We’ve covered this issue before in the fanzine. A very long evening in Vienna was endured by about twenty of our fellow Martyrs as our loyalty to our black & white heroes was called into question. You aren’t Cardiff fans? Then you must be Swansea seemed to be the logic of that Austrian adventure.  We have a giant Wales flag that appears every now and then at Penydarren Park, it’s too big for most grounds in our league so it very rarely leaves the Pearl too. It’s banner headline is a play on the Socialist Workers’ Party slogan but for us it’s “Neither Cardiff Nor Swansea But International Merthyrism” and it tells a tale for all clubs in Wales in that we have our identity and most certainly culture that sadly a lot of football...