There was a very important event in the annals of Neyland Sport when a special new book marking 120 years of football in the town was launched at the Ferry House Inn in Llanstadwell, written with a flair and attachment to the club by Tony Organ.
The invited audience was welcomed by Simon Morgan, the chairman of Neyland Football Club, with a special mention for the respective mayor of Neyland and chairman of Llanstadwell, Cllr Dr Simon Hancock JP and Cllr Geoff Wilson, plus the previous chairmen of Neyland FC.
Bill and Gordon sing The Nomad’s praises
He also introduced local sports journalist Bill Carne, who spoke about a number of the characters he had known at the club, from the time of great characters like Marwood Marchant, Mike Inker, Len Roberts and Mal Morris, then the likes of Jeff Button and Gary Lloyd through to modern players like twins Sean and Patrick Hannon, Jarred Campbell and Wayne Vaughan-Parry, whom he said could have joined most clubs in the county but had stayed loyal to The Nomads.Bill also spoke highly of the work of Manderwood Pembrokeshire League officials Mike Phillips and Ian Baker, plus League Sec Brian Hawkins, who was sadly unable to attend because he was in the South of England. Also there to say a few words was Western Telegraph sports editor, Gordon Thomas, who praised the club's efforts and attitude.
Son Henry sets the scene for dad’s reminiscences
Henry, Tony Organ's younger son, also spoke of his father's dedication to the work on his aged computer and described the family involvement as his brother Jo was also heavily involved with the production of such a mighty tome - and the pair had organised a special cake to commemorate the excellent end product.
It nicely set up the chance for Tony Organ to take centre stage and in a light-hearted look at what the book included took a real 'Walk Down Memory Lane' and mentioned a whole host of characters who had played for Neyland. A range of club sponsors were also thanked by Tony and there were club shirts aplenty on display with their names on them!
Tony shows total recall
He was understandably delighted that in attendance were the likes of Sammy Wells, who had played in the splendid team that won the Pembrokeshire Youth Cup for two years immediately after World War Two and were undefeated in winning the youth league in 1949/50 and very much the best youth team in the county for years as the team also included the likes of Cliff Babb, Billy Reeves, Roy Bryant, Peter Rees, Vernon Davies, Roy Griffiths, Kenny Roberts, Len Roberts, Des Davies, Colin Davies, Mal Morris, Arthur Arran
Emrys Inker had travelled down from Glasgow, an 800-mile round trip, and the former player was mentioned as one of the splendid sponsors of the club. Another who had journeyed down to Neyland was Graham Tregidon, who had played for the club in the late 1940s and was able to touch base with players he hadn’t met for over 60 years band since becoming a well-known name in Welsh rugby.
Due recognition for club stalwarts and a new award in memory of Brian
Also announced on the night was the fact that no fewer than SEVEN hard-working and long-serving club members received Honorary Life Vice-Presidencies and they were Emrys Inker, Jeff Button, Ian Baker, Ian Pugh, Mark Edwards and Steven Nordoff - who were all clearly delighted to receive their awards, whilst Peter Burton was unable to attend because of the impending arrival of his 10th grandchild!
A new special club award was also brought into being as the family of the late Brian Arran presented a splendid trophy to commemorate special achievement at the club and it was appropriate that Brian’s grandsons Ben Noden and Kyle Arran were there to hand the silverware over for the first time – and equally deserving that current stalwarts Wayne Vaughan-Parry and Jarred Campbell were joint recipients!To round off a memorable evening a significant number of those in attendance were delighted to buy copies of the book 'Proud to be a Nomad - the History of Football in Neyland & Llanstadwell', with many more likely to enjoy a rattling good read when the word gets around that is available!
