Reply With QuoteGood fun but absolutely shit standard of play.Originally Posted by Bluebird23
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I remember playing there against Grangetown Boys Club who strangely opted to play in the Barry and District U16’s as did Llanrumney. Horrible pitch but Barry Island was far worse. That was truly a mud bath.
Good fun but absolutely shit standard of play.
Maybe in the lower divisions, but there were many decent Welsh league players And ex-pros in those league’s (Including Phil Dwyer, Bobby Woodruff, John Parsons etc)
Of course, it would be shit to you, after all, didn’t you play against Juninho and he was so impressed with you he asked to swap shirts and could you check if you had any Brazilian heritage in your family tree, as you’d walk in to the Brazil side.
Let me tell you something. He was about 4ft 9 and 5 stone. I didn't get near him. The same would've happened if i had played against you, i bet you were shite.
bluebird23 was there really a wednesday league ? can't recall that
Yes, around a dozen teams from Operation Sport, Post Office, Idem Papers, Bass Brewery, City Centre Cars, Cossacks, Nomads.
Run by Emlyn Morris from Llanrumney.
We played a London representative team home and away two years.
Won 1-0 up there, beat them 5-1 here down the Riviera in Llanrumney.
Our goal keeper Wayne Russell went on to play for Burnley.
o i see looks like work based teams
you must have played on wednesday afternoons . was it difficult to get referees then ?
I don’t recall it being an issue.
One of the best park referees was Pete r ‘to me’ Andrews.
He ref’d midweek and then Welsh league.
Unlike yourself, I don’t need to be bragging on here about how amazing I was.
I’d be happy to let those who played with and against me, judge me.
I’m more than confident, it would be very positive.
I was in Cardiff Boys with Wayne Russell.
I played for Grange Albion as a kid and then Ely Rangers South Wales amateur league as an Adult.
Also played Sunday football M an W developments league.
I've never bragged about anything on here, i've got nothing to brag about. The question was 'Who was the best player you have ever played against' And i answered, that's all, i even said that i didn't get close to him, no bragging, that's something even you could have achieved.
I was with the club many years back, and i've only ever posted anecdotes that didn't show me or the club in a very good light. I got involved in a thread about young players and how they were treated during my time, i hope it was informal. I've told some stories about how amateur it all was, including myself, never once have i said that i was good enough, i wasn't. But seeing as this is a CCFC forum, i'm a City Fan (way before got with the club) i thought that it may be of some interest to those who were about at that time, that's all.
I'm pretty sure that people on hear don't want to see petty shit flying about, and you seem to want to have a bit of a pop at me or accuse me of acting in a way that's completely untrue. If you like, come and see me, anytime you like, we can have a chat about football or whatever. You can have my details over PM.
The Wednesday League was originally nicknamed the shopkeepers league due to Cardiff’s tradition of half day closing on a Wednesday. Very often if I was rained off I nip down to Pontcanna with my boots on a Wednesday afternoon, you’d always get a game for a team that was short. Emlyn Morris was mentioned earlier in the thread, Emlyn reached a quite high position in Welsh FA administration, he was a lovely fella who was also involved with Rover (Pengam), the Cardiff & District club, Peter Andrews, who’s also been mentioned managed Rover for a season or two.
As for the standard of football being poor, I beg to differ, during the twenty odd years that I played I came across some excellent players, players who stuck to local football for various reasons. Neil Lord was a lynchpin at Bridgend St, an excellent player who took no prisoners. Most District Premier Division sides had one or two players who were a class above. Kenny Gerrard at Wiggins Teape held them together for years, the Jeremy brothers at Grange Quins, Stephen Gill at Trelai, Eugene Cumberbatch at Doyle Albion and many others. Combination sides also had their fair share of decent players, parks football in those days in the top divisions wasn’t poor and to perform to any standard on the nightmare pitches that players encountered took no little skill.
I remember my father telling me about the Wednesday League and it sounded quite popular back in the day. As you rightly say, it was half day closing in Cardiff but a lot of shift workers as well as shop workers played. I've got a collection of medals he won playing for the Cardiff Transport team and a side called Roath Wednesday.
There were decent individuals who could've played at a higher level, hut you can't say that the standard of play was good, it wasn't. I played a few games in the district Premier league or whatever it was called, and the senior league. It wasn't good in my opinion, just very physical at times.
Correct, Memory Lane Cakes had a team in the wednesday league.
Memory Lane would have been a good title for this thread.
My mate used to play for a team called Roath Villa, he dragged me along once. I was more shocked at the drinking back at The Royal Oak. Game finished and there until closing. No way would blokes get away with that todayMemory Lane would have been a good title for this thread.
Opinions on standards can vary greatly, football has so many levels. Do we think the City at present play in a good standard of football? Some fans of Premier League clubs would say we’re shit, while, say, if one of us nipped up to watch the County play we may come back with the ‘shit’ verdict on their match. I wonder if old pros have the same opinion as you after retirement? Graham Kavanagh, say, having a chat with someone like David Unsworth who tells him that there were a few decent individuals at his club but the standard of the club’s play but wasn’t good. Then Unsworth having a chat with Paul Merson who tells him the same thing. The pecking order in football can no doubt be very condescending on times I’d imagine.
Ok, but Parks football is the lowest level of football, it is generally shit. That's fine, it's about enjoying the game and the social side of it. There are individuals who can play though, that's for sure.
Even parks football had the pecking order snobbery as well, some players with higher division teams would sneer at the standard of the lower divisions. Football can be like the John Cleese/Ronnie Barker/ Ronnie Corbett sketch on times.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?clie...ile-gws-wiz-hp
Memory Lane would have been a good title for this thread.
I can remember playing a few games in midweek for GKN, at their club/pitches on Sloper Road. Memories hazy, not sure if they were league games or friendly’s (not very friendly, I might add)
Good pithe(s) that were quite level and well drained unlike many of those on offer on parks. Cardiff City used to train there. I recall, during a training break, speaking to Richie Morgan when he was manager with the team (and Morgan) sitting on the grass smoking.I can remember playing a few games in midweek for GKN, at their club/pitches on Sloper Road. Memories hazy, not sure if they were league games or friendly’s (not very friendly, I might add)
Tough guy as well now, are you. Yawn!
Don’t tell me, you once sparred with Lennox Lewis and he couldn’t believe you hadn’t turned pro, as he had no doubt you’d have unified all the belts!
Good, level pitches were and still are a horses for courses thing. Watched Bridgend St against Cardiff Met two weeks on the trot, one game at The Willows (Bridgend St’s home ground) & the week after at Cyncoed Rd) a few seasons ago in the Welsh League ( before the Met shot up the league system). The pitch at Willows is pretty unpredictable and the students couldn’t cope whereas the Bridgend St lads kept their eye on the ball when it was on the deck and controlled it before their next move while the Met boys were miscontrolling or the ball was bobbling over their feet, Bridgend St ran out winners. What a different ball game the week after on the billiard table of a pitch at the Campus. The students were knocking it about, playing their next moves in their head confident in the fact that the incoming pass wouldn’t deviate, Bridgend St were chasing shadows and got done about 5-1.
It did used to be a pleasure all those years ago to sometimes escape Pontcanna, Splott Park etc and play on GKN or The Civil Service. Some of the better parks players who excelled on the mud heaps and hard rutted pitches of the public parks, had they possessed the bit of ambition and will power to move up a few notches may have achieved a bit more in the game.
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