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Mike makes Angle tick smoothly
If there was a sporting medal cast for unsung heroes than one of the chief claimants would have to be Mike Hughes for his amazing service to Angle AFC, where he has been Hon Secretary from just after the time that the village football club was formed 43 years ago up to the present time.
Even a bout of illness couldn’t halt Mike’s involvement and he is still as busy as ever because he lovingly tends the club’s playing surface, which is so good that they are regularly chosen to have semi-final matches on it, and as the club’s statistician has the most interesting details of every player’s records since those days in 1966.
For example, he was able to tell us that since the club started they have played 1295 matches, with 616 victories, 205 draws and 474 defeats – and there are more than a dozen players who have turned out more than 500 times for Angle as proof of the loyalty shown by others at the club.
“We’ve been lucky to have Peter Thomas as chairman from the start,” says Mike, “and he is still heavily involved. We go to almost every match and enjoy a pint afterwards with other old-timers in Ian Walters, Steve ‘Chick’ Panton, Kevin Jenkins and Gary Williams, with Haydn Phillips and Danny ‘Sticks’ Richards also with us sometimes. We go to the Hibernia Inn in the village after home matches and we have always been brilliantly supported from there by Cathy and Mervyn Lunn.”
London Road start
Mike started out his long association with football for Pembroke Borough at London Road, playing at wing half (that’s midfield to you youngsters who don’t know football’s proper positions!) until a nasty ligament injury put him out of action for a while. Then Angle started up a team and since his wife June hails from the village he needed no second bidding to join them, initially as a player and fairly soon afterwards as Hon Secretary. He actually continued playing there until he was 42 and in that time played in almost every position, including a long spell late on where he played in goal and defied his nickname of ‘Shorty’ to make up for a lack of height under the bar with his ability to judge angles well. He played in a few divisional cup finals and still says that the first one, when they beat Merlins Bridge 3-0 in the 1976/77 Third Division Final at Marble Hall, Milford Haven, was the most memorable. He can still recall Colin Williams of Narberth (now the county chairman), looking resplendent in a suit, turning up in the changing rooms afterwards, to say well done.
Taking part more important than silverware
“We’ve had quite a few medals since but they aren’t as important as being part of the club,” says Mike, ” and doing our best in such a small village where quite a few of the lads are on the nearby farms and have to get time off just to play. We’ve made it to the first division a couple of times but come back down again, and no-one can come here thinking they are more important than the club - and that’s why most stay so long. Derek Richards and Andrew Thomas were the last two to reach 500 games for us and they join the likes of Haydn Phillips, Kevin Jenkins, Terry Richards and Kenny Chadwick, a great goal scorer, in receiving a silver tankard to mark the achievement.”
When Angle set out they played on three pitches loaned to them by local farmers before finally settling at their Windmill Lane ground in 1980 and, with Mike’s huge contribution, developed a pitch that is the envy of many other clubs because of its superb playing surface.
He is equally proud of the spacious changing rooms and meeting room they have built at Windmill Lane.
“All the lads pulled together and we had marvellous support from people in the village. Seeing it being officially opened was a real treat and one of the proudest moments of my sporting life.”
Canny cricketer and captain
Outside of his football, Mike has also been a very keen cricket player who earned a name for himself at Pembroke as a strong middle-order batsman and canny medium pace bowler. He had previously played for Angle when they had a team but it disbanded and so he moved back to Pembroke and joined the likes of Derek Hayward, George and Keith Hulbert, Ronnie and Kevin Watkins, Ray Kane and Derek Skone in a useful side. In his two years of captaincy, Pembroke reached the Harrison-Allen Bowl Final on one occasion but lost to Cresselly in very damp conditions.
He had a top score of 87 in the league against St Ishmaels at Treleet and when he was out he received a gentle rocket from skipper Hayward about not managing to reach three figures after going so close. Mike played three times for Pembrokeshire against Gwent (twice) and Carmarthenshire, and he carried on playing for the seconds until his mid 40s and still has fond memories of great times amongst some outstanding characters like the Hulbert brothers.
Huge recognition by the FAW
But it is football that remains Mike’s first love and he is delighted to see talented young players like Gavin Wickland and Jason Davies breaking through to the first team because he wants to see the team from strength to strength.
It seems that the dedication shown by Mike and his old pal Peter Thomas at Angle AFC is also recognised much further afield because this season has seen them honoured with a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ from the Football Association of Wales. Both were invited to attend the AGM of the Manderwood Pembrokeshire Football League in Milford Haven where FAW secretary Bob Waygood presented Mike and Peter with a suitably engraved silver medal in a presentation box.
“It was a great honour,” says Mike, “and was totally unexpected because we both enjoy what we do at Angle.”
And finally…
Kevin Jenkins, himself a real stalwart at the club, told PembrokeshireSport.co.uk when we bumped into him,
“Mike Hughes is a great credit to football and along with Peter (Thomas) we owe them a great debt of gratitude for all they’ve done at Angle. It would not be the same there without our two ‘Old Codgers.”
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