A Trip to the Glorious Welsh Valleys

The welcome that was extended to me and Greg when heading into the valleys on our visit to Merthyr Town FC was truly amazing.

"The land of our fathers" truly did open their arms to welcome two Englishmen who immediately fell in love with the club, its facilities, the Stadium and, of course, the fans. Our Non-league day trip turned out to be a truly amazing experience that any groundhopper or fan of football should make.

Pen-y-Darren Park was the venue where Merthyr welcomed Chertsey Town in the Southern Premier League South division.

Merthyr, who are flying high in the league, sit top and are on a remarkable 30-game unbeaten run.

As we arrived in Merthyr, we were greeted by Matthew George, a board member at the club. He was an absolutely lovely man who took time out of his hectic schedule to show us around!

We were shown the wonderful facilities Merthyr have, including the boardroom, two bars, the private boxes and the balcony.

We absolutely fell in love with the Penydarren stadium, a proper, proper old school ground and an amazing backdrop of scenery to boot.

The old-school terracing just gives you that feeling of when you first fell in love with football, a feeling you would not find higher up the football pyramid.

This stadium is so worth a visit as a football fan or a groundhopper. You will truly not be disappointed.

Looking back in history, in 1987, Merthyr took on Italian side Atlanta in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, winning at home 2-1, which was a magnificent achievement for the semi-pro side. Unfortunately, the dream was ended in the second leg with Atlanta winning 2-0 giving them a 3-2 aggregate win.

Matthew was wonderful and a genuine asset to Merthyr Town Football Club. No question was too much, and his time was for us, which was greatly appreciated; Matthew introduced us to former Chairman Meurig Price, who, at 87 years young, gave us a great interview recalling his first-ever game.

As we'd finished our look around, it was swiftly approaching kick-off, we managed to grab an interview with a couple of Merthyr fans (Owen Money 😉 and John Strand) the videos can be viewed below:

We also were delighted to have the opportunity to speak to Merthyr Town’s record appearance holder, Matthew Harris ( no relation 😂). He is unfortunately out with a serious injury but hopes to be back next season. He was in good spirits all things considering>

It was time for the players to make their way out, and Merthyr were led out by a fan who was having his 91st birthday in what was a lovely

The game got underway, and Merthyr had the majority of the ball, but some careless play at the back let Chertsey in, and their player was bought down by Merthyr goalkeeper Jamie Cogman, Penalty to Chertsey.

The crowd held their breath as the ref went to his pocket but it was only yellow,

I think most Merthyr fans will think they got away with one from a very generous ref but at least it didn't spoil the game, Chertsey scored the penalty to put the strugglers 1-0 up against the odds, as the first half progressed, Merthyr had all the ball but couldn't break Chertsey down. And at the back looked a little vulnerable on the odd occasion Chertsey did push forward.

Deep into the first half, Merthyr looked to have upped the tempo and had a few very good chances, but as the half-time whistle blew, it was Merthyr Town 0-1 Chertsey Town, Half time, and it was time for a bit of grub and a pint. The service was lovely and the food quality was good.

The photo below shows the sausage, chips and gravy in what we'd describe as a boat of bread! And the photo doesn't do it justice as this thing was huge! At only £5.50.

Modelled superbly by our good friend Alan Jones and the amazing Mr George

It's time for the 2nd half, where the Martyrs really upped it! They looked like a side possessed to turn things around, and that they did. Cox and Ricardo were denied by the Chertsey keeper within 10 minutes of the restart, but eventually, Merthyr found the back of the net with a wonderful strike!

Callum Ryan-Phillips with a worldie! He cut inside from the left and bent one into the far top corner!

It was a goal to mark the occasion of non-league day! A wonderful strike and Merthyr didn't look back thereafter.

Two more goals followed for the hosts as they took the lead and swiftly took the game away from Merthyr, both goals coming from Tom Handley,

Merthyr managed to control things and see the game out well, winning 3-1 in front of a crowd of 1,519,

Merthyr fans were absolutely buzzing they'd not only come back from 1-0 down to win 3-1 but also that closest challengers AFC Totton had lost, meaning Merthyr were now 8 points clear.

After the game, we were delighted to be joined by 2 goal man Tom Handley, who was brilliant and gave us a good assessment of things!

Our final act of the day was to visit Merthyr's memorial garden Situated just behind the open-air terrace at one end of the ground a place the like of which you will not find anywhere else in the world as you look over the stadium from the garden and the magnificent backdrop of the valleys with its memorial bench’s and headstones. I can’t think of a better place for a lifelong town supporter to have their ashes buried or scattered. It is truly an amazing place. A couple of years ago, we did an article on this very memorial garden; actually, coming here and being in the garden ourselves was truly a moving experience.

It was a fantastic day, a club on the up, run by wonderful people who had so much time for us, facilities that were professional standards and views to match anything in the UK.

Thanks again Merthyr Town. It was our pleasure

Gary & Greg