Transcribed by Phil Sweet
These articles which appeared in three consecutive editions of the Merthyr Express in March 1921 are Harvey Boots’ own reminiscences of the development of three football codes in the town up to that date.
ARTICLE 3 MERTHYR EXPRESS 19TH MARCH 1921
THE GROWTH OF FOOTBALL IN MERTHYR
(By Harvey Boots)
I concluded my last article by referring to the paucity of the gates at the new game. At this juncture, for some reason (of which I know not) the Northern Union Club gave up the College Field and procured a ground at the bottom end of the town, the field known as Rhydycar. This, in my opinion, was probably their undoing; it was inaccessible, and the view from the surrounding tips was equal to a seat in the grand stand. Whatever the cause was I am not in a position to state, but as it proved to be their last season nothing will be gained by what our Yankee cousins call “beating it” so I leave it at that. The fight had been a long and costly one. It was obvious from the beginning that there was not enough room for both codes, and it really resolved itself into a question of which would stay the longest.
We were left in possession, but we still had a deal of squaring up to do. Here I might mention that, being a private company, we couldn’t go to the public for money; we just had to shell out as far as possible as we went along. We had numerous pilgrimages to the bank – indeed the sanctum of the manager was quite familiar to us. I think Mr. H. C. Davies, whose business premises are right opposite the bank and who acted as our treasurer, must have felt like bombing the place off the earth. As for myself, I had got quite used to passing it by on tiptoe, in case the manager knew my footsteps. The horizon, was beginning to clear and the clouds to look a little less dark, so we took heart of grace and proceeded to try and make the new code as popular as the old. As it was still a case of going very warily; the public had not yet “cottoned” to the new game, but there were very evident signs that it was rapidly gaining in favour. While it was comparatively new to Merthyr, there were clubs in Aberdare, Treharris, Ton Pentre, Mardy and Barry, of very old standing, and I think the fixtures with those local teams and the very keen rivalry that is always manifest when such close neighbours meet, had as much to do with popularising the game as anything I can think of. We were beginning to take decent “gates”; Indeed, one match stands out very vividly in my memory, and that was Bristol Rovers, then like ourselves, in Division II of the Southern League. I believe we had 17 professionals signed on at this time and we played in the particular match to about £11 16s. I wonder how much wages could be paid out of that sum today? Of course, we had to visit Bristol on this magnificent response of our patrons, for the return fixture; and it is memorable for one point; if for no other, viz, they put on 11 or 13, I am not sure, goals against our side, which caused our goalkeeper to remark that it was the busiest afternoon he had ever spent in picking the ball out of the back of the net. I think his name was Daw, and he came from “Owdham”.
There is no doubt at this period we were gaining very valuable experience from our near, and shall I say “dear,” neighbours, but the mere fact that we were continually rubbing shoulders, to use a metaphor, was of the utmost advantage to us. Many were the very useful tips we received about this or that from that good sport Jack Lewis (then the indefatigable secretary of the Treharris Club and now one of the directors of the Town team); also A. (Tagg) Williams, then, I should imagine, one of the best centre-halves who has played for Wales. Then again, that guiding spirit of the Aberdare Club, Tommy Daniel Jones was always ready with a bit of wholesome advice, and so were a host of others. Of course, by this time Cardiff (they at this moment are making football history for Wales and, en passent, I wish them well), Newport, Swansea and Llanelly were members of the Southern League, too, but really, I opine that the greatest asset in those days was the old South Wales Cup. There are few among us who haven’t vivid recollections of those strenuous combats. Ye gods! What fights they were. Ton Pentre, Aberdare, Mardy, Treharris etc., etc. I am sure they are all tolerably remembered by the habitues of Penydarren Park today. Things were now becoming really ship-shape, and I think it was from this period that Soccer began to boom.
