Thread. Decided today to have a nosy at some boxes of Dad’s old stuff in the garage. He passed away in 1979. Some absolute treasure troves of NZ and Welsh sports fandom. Firstly, Beegee, what a player

Turns out Dad went to a lot of rugby games. A lot of rugby games. Many. Some classics of the game here, including the famous Barbarians v NZ game from 1973 with ‘that’ try

And the NZ publishing scene and media business could absolutely support plenty of rugby publications including some of these pearlers

And before he and Mum emigrated to NZ with us as wee folk, he went to a lot of rugby games to see the golden era of the Welsh teams, JPR, Gareth Edwards, Barry John

Even earlier than that, in the late 40s and 50s, he went to see loads of local Welsh derbies in the valleys and internationals at the Arms Park

In between watching (and playing to a pretty high standard) rugby, he put his hand up for the local council in an effort to ‘kick the Tories out’

And later in life, he wrote a bunch of little books that (hopefully) helped some people pass their School C and UE exams

But rugby never really strayed too far, he was heavily involved with Avalon and Naenae clubs and took us to Athletic Park dozens of times, including to see the Pinetrees last game

Turns out he also kept old newspaper clippings

And for bonus train spotting for sports fans, he also helped host a visiting team from Northcote when he was living in Crosskeys up in the Valleys

So, thanks Dad - we really enjoyed learning a bit more about you xx