Big John jibs at a second wager

 
One of the hardest footballers I have ever come across was John Codd, the larger than life character who served Johnston AFC for so many years – and he appeared in my English classes at Milford Central School, where we built up a good relationship because of our mutual love of football, rather than my attempts to interest him in poetry or Shakespeare. On one occasion in football I won a fiver off John and offered him a chance to get his money back – and this little story described what happened 32 years ago!
 
Last year I boosted my coffers with a £5 bet won off big John Codd when he was so convinced that The Tigers would beat rivals Fishguard Sports at St Mary’s field that he even gave me the draw.

But Fishguard played well to win the match and so when the teams were drawn together again in the second round of the senior cup at Glebelands I decided to give him a chance to recoup his cash – and sportingly offered him the draw this time, despite having home advantage.

I didn’t hear a peep from him, which was a pity because The Sports edged home 3-2 in a tough tussle – but he at least he had the consolation of having £5 more in his pocket for a few pints as he seems to have grown more sensible in such a short time.

I finished up by saying,
“It seems big john is getting wiser in his old age but I bet he’ll bounce back with another bet next season!”
But I daren’t tell you what his reply was on a family web-site like this!
 
 

Jamer asked the big question – and showed his softer side too!

 
I have missed Brian James badly since the late secretary of Llangwm Cricket Club passed away, even though he was prone to teasing me about a wide range of things, including my religion and the fact that I was tee-total only because I was too mean to buy a round of drinks at Pill Parks.
 
He was also brilliant at searching through the accounts provided by John Isaacs, the outstanding Hon Secretary of the Pembroke County Cricket Club at the AGM.

At the recent annual general meeting of the Pembroke County Cricket Club the accounts were  provided, as usual, by John Isaacs and when he asked for any questions afterwards up stepped Jamer, who had noticed that in the previous season the stock of youth sweaters was listed at £31 but now the stock stood at £30.75p!

Such questions had been ‘planted’ by Mr Isaacs as a tradition over the years for Jamer to ask and after the usual chuckles at his detailed answer there was the usual round of applause for both of them.

Now Jamer was known as a tough cookie, but one day I received a phone call from a mutual friend to tell me how he’d visited Jamer on a particularly nice evening to go for a pint and Brian was more than willing but showed his soft side because he would only venture out to the sports club in Llangwm after he’d finished watching a wedding on the American TV programme ‘Dallas’!

I still miss Brian James whenever I go to Llangwm and I chuckle about the stories he used to regale me with about his being a member of a pop group and his national service time abroad!

 

Shinner falls for an old initiation trick

 
Phil ‘Shinner’ Cook is now happily living in England now but when he started out as a referee in Pembrokeshire my old pal fell for an initiation trick instigated by old timers Danny Thomas, Graham Sheppard and Pedr McMullen. Let me explain what happened as far back as 1988:
 
Phil Cook has recently qualified as a football referee and made an immediate impact because in his very first game he disallowed three goals – and was then looking forward to his first meeting of the Pembrokeshire Referees’ Society the next evening at the RAFA Club in Goat Street, Haverfordwest.

He was taken there in the car by three very experienced old whistlers who, like him, lived in the Pembroke area who deposited him in the street, pointing out the club’s entrance around the corner and telling him to go in and buy the first round of drinks whilst they had a quick natter about the minutes of the meeting.

Of course, they had actually sent him to a private house and slipped in through the proper entrance and sat smilingly waiting for a red-faced ‘Shinner’ to appear, accusing him of going the wrong way to try and avoid paying for the beer.

After a very short while it dawned on Mr Cook that he had been duped and explained that the house owner was very nice to him as she patiently redirected him to the club’s entrance!

 

Gwyn’s doing well and being well looked after

 
When I bumped into Gwyn French a while ago I was delighted that he looked so well because it must be a decade ago that my old Milford chum was unwell and waiting to go into hospital for a serious operation.

His transplant was a great success and he now looks ten years younger than he did ten years ago! We met on sports fields and I always admired his approach to rugby, football, golf and even cricket!
 
“When someone reaches 40 years of age they sometimes go off the rails in sporting terms but not so Gwyn French, better known at Milford RFC as ‘Ginny’. He was still playing rugby as a durable prop and if The Mariners didn’t have a game then he would nip around to local football clubs and offer his services as a goalkeeper they nicknamed ‘The Cat’.

He also loved a bit of cricket in the summer months with the old Quarterdeck Club, although he would readily admit that he was mainly a keen midfielder and not only played some golf but also became club captain at the picturesque Milford Haven Golf Club, as dis did his wife Lucy.

I’m glad to report that he is now back at The Mariners and is club vice-chairman so it’s nice to see how active he still is after being so well looked after by Lucy in those dark times before his transplant in Birmingham.

I look forward to touching base with the old blighter as soon as this pandemic is over – but it is nice to give him a mention today!

 

Dai loves his meat and two veg – but definitely no rabbit!

 
Another great character from local rugby has been Dai Miller, of Haverfordwest and the Pembrokeshire Junior Union fame, from which he rose through the ranks to playing an important role as a selector for the Welsh Junior Union team.

He told me this little tale in a local supermarket 32 years ago – and it is worth repeating now!
 
Dai Miller is currently the Pembrokeshire and District Junior Rugby Union chairman and also its representative at Welsh Districts’ level.

Dai is known for loving his roast beef dinners and a nice pudding but when he travelled with the Welsh team to play their counterparts in Belgium he was disappointed at the post-match dinner, to say the least.

He was really looking forward to what looked like a cracking meal until the Belgian gent on his left told him that he hoped Dai would enjoy the rabbit. Now it is fair to say that whilst Dai loves to see them running wild in fields he is definitely not a rabbit-eating man!

To be fair to Mr Miller he showed great tact and diplomacy in not eating much of the meal, explaining that he wasn’t really hungry – but after the official part of the evening was over he was first out of the room in search of the Belgian equivalent of a chip shop to fill his stomach on a nice beef pie and chips!

 
HAVE A GOOD NON-SPORTING WEEK!