In 1969 whilst Bryan Adams stood on his mamas porch, “with his first real six string” the sporting summer that took place in these Islands, was certainly a memorable one.

I’m not sure that at eleven years of age, “they were the best days of my life”, but they certainly provided evocative memories that I can still recall vividly to this day.

The sun shone all day, and you could leave your doors unlocked, terrorism had only just been invented and you could still play football in the streets.

I’m sure in reality it was totally different, but nostalgia is not what it used to be.

However, a pint of Guinness cost 8p, and pint of bitter around 7.5p, which sounds incredible, but when you take into account the average yearly wage amounted to £1,074, then it does put it into perspective .

The average house price came in at £4,375 in 1969, a year saw Concorde’s maiden flight and the investiture of Charles, as Prince of Wales, in Caernarfon.

In the FA Cup Final, Manchester City beat Leicester City 1-0,at Wembley , in front of a 100,000 crowd, thanks to a Neil Young goal in the twenty-fourth minute, and whilst Neil was “over the moon” another Neil was actually on it, when on July 21 Neil Armstrong took “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.

The world of cricket saw England win their three match home series against the West Indies,winning two tests and drawing one , against a side that included the great Gary Sobers.

The summer of 1969 witnessed one of those great sporting rarities, a British winner at Wimbledon.

With the modern-day successes of Tim Henman and Andy Murray ,it is worth recalling that a Brit reaching the second week of Wimbledon was a major cause for celebration in those days.

Ann Jones won the women’s singles title,beating Billie Jean King in the final 3-6 6-3 6-2 and the country went mad.

The men’s competition saw Rod Laver defeat fellow Australian John Newcombe on centre court, 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-4, it was Laver’s fourth and final Wimbledon singles title, and his tenth grand slam title overall.

On 12 July, Tony Jacklin won the British open golf championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes ,the first Briton to do so since 1951.

“Jacko” won by two shots from Bob Charles of New Zealand, which gave him the famous claret jug and a cheque for a staggering £4,250.

I remember well my first golfing efforts, the only time I hit two balls in succession was when I trod on a rake in a bunker.

Another British success came in the British Grand Prix  at Silverstone, on 19 July.

The weather that summer could be best described as changeable, but three days earlier Greenwich had recorded a temperature of 32.8 degrees

However Jackie Stewart, created his own heat wave by lapping the entire field to win the race at a canter, the Scot went on to win the formula one drivers title that year.

In rugby the Wales team that won the 1969 Five Nations Championship headed  off to New Zealand in a confident mood , that would evaporate all too soon.

Wales lost both tests to the All Blacks 19-0 and 33-12, but to their credit they beat Australia 19-16 and Fiji 31-11 visiting both countries on their way home, as part of the summer tour.

Swansea was granted city status on 3 July 1969, “and oh when I look back now, that summer seemed to last forever, maybe those were the best days of my life”.

(With apologies to Bryan Adams)

To be fair I was over the moon when the gaffer asked me to do a moth to man marking job on Ronaldo, I normally play a more floating role, I’m a bit of a flier so I often switch wings.

We couldn’t believe it, me and the lads we came for a warm up the night before the game and they had left all the lights on at the Stade de France it was a dream come true.

To be honest we haven’t forgiven Collina for an incident at a champions league match years ago,  the whole team, pictured here were determined to put things right and his bald head shining  made him an easy target.

Here I am, pictured right, a victim of a late one handed swat early doors from Pepe, Clattenberg didn’t even show him a yellow. 

Ever since I was a caterpillar I’ve dreamt of appearing in a major final, here I am about to reduce the great Cristiano Ronaldo to tears got him in a right flap I did ! I’m much better at diving than he is.

It’s seems rather crass to attempt to put a price on Wales Euro success, how can you evaluate the magical days and nights in Lille, Toulouse and in financial terms ?

Years of heartache finally put to the sword by this wonderfully humble group of men, have not only resulted in our emotional and spiritual fulfilment, but due to the financial rewards this competition provides, Wales have also been victorious in providing a considerable financial legacy for one of the poorest football associations, who last year made a profit of £20,000

Wales have already bagged over £12 million force their heroics in France

£6.4 million for taking part in the tournament 

£812,000 for each victory in the pool stages

£2 million for reaching the quarter finals

£3.2 million for reaching the semi finals

The knock on effect of packed houses in Cardiff , for World Cup qualifying matches,  will boost the coffers even further, starting with the visit of Moldova on September 5th ,which should be a huge welcome home party .

In the meantime we all have a semi final against Portugal to look forward to….Priceless ! 

The Football Association of Wales was founded in 1876, five years before the Welsh Rugby Union, it has always been taken as read that rugby union is the national game of Wales, but is the wind of change sweeping through the sporting landscape of this country ?

Success is obviously a vital factor, and many fans are fickle, so in view of recent international football success it is not surprising that there are questions as to which code currently holds the nations heart.

There is no doubt that the fans in Bordeaux, Lens and Toulouse have displayed a passion that one would have once thought was exclusively reserved for the oval ball team,  and not just passion, but also the wonderful choral support that has been sadly missing from Welsh rugby for many years.

To hear the great Welsh hymn, Calon Lan,  sung in Bordeaux when Wales beat Slovakia in their opening Euro 2016 match , brought a tear to my eye, it took me back to the 1970s, the days when singing in harmony was the norm at Welsh rugby internationals .

There is wonderful innocence about the Welsh football followers , they are savouring every moment, living every kick and pass,  and during the match the football is the priority ,and not the nationalistic social drinking fest that rugby internationals have now become for many .

The real truth of course is, that most football fans will watch rugby, and most rugby fans will watch football, but if you look beyond the international arena, the attendances for the bluebirds and The Swans are at a level that the Pro 12 rugby regions could only dream of achieving.

Two days ago the back page of Wales on Sunday reflected on the huge gulf in emotions between the codes , as the abject gloom of the manner of defeat in New Zealand contrasted starkly with the glorious and unabated joy that was palpable,  as Wales defeated Northen Ireland in Paris to reach the quarter finals…. Yes…. That’s right ! The Quarter finals of Euro 2016.

I for one am probably looking forward to Wales FIFA World Cup qualifiers in September more than the Autumn Rugby Internationals, and I never imagined that would ever happen.

Perhaps the years of childhood, and adult, deprivation of Welsh football panini stickers, Esso coins and newspaper pull outs have finally caught up with me , or have I just been caught up in the huge tide of joy, bewilderment and euphoria rolling in  between Barry and Bordeaux, Treorchy and Toulouse, Lampeter and Lille, and Pontypridd and Paris ?

Whatever it is ,I am sure there is enough love and enough room in our affections for both codes, but this French summer romance is something very special , and my heart will never be the same again.

All hail this great summer of sport, well to be accurate it’s actually hail, wind and rain at the moment.

June is not even half way through, and already there has been an awful lot of memorable sporting action to digest

I seem to have entered a twilight world of non stop sport this month,  I’m not sure quite what’s happening to me, Ive leapt up from my sofa as Iceland equalised against Portugal, I’ve sighed dejectedly, and hung my head in my hands, as Albania failed to hang on for just one more minute, to claim a draw against host nation France in Marseille, strange days indeed.

For me Euro 2016 is “Its a Knock Out” with the unwelcome added ingredient of crowd violence, the beautiful cities of France providing a glorious backdrop to the sporting action, (we will gloss over Marseille).

Flaming June is over the half way mark, and the bright warm orange colours of summer have yet to show their beauty, as Spring is reluctant to give up its meteorological hold on us.

But we have seen in contrast plenty of blue, the colour of the spectators hands and feet at Roland Garros, throughout the freezing cold and wet tournament in Paris, where the only warmth was provided by the sunny smile of Garbine Muguruzza, after she defeated Serena Williams to win the French open women’s title.

This last week, the colour red has been the dominant hue

We had Red faces in Hamilton, after Wales were humiliated by the Chiefs, an Irish Red card in Cape Town, yet even that did not stop the men in green from gaining an historic win over the Springboks, and the Red Dragons awoke from a fifty-eight year hibernation, to roar majestically in Bordeaux.

Incidentally, the colour red also reflects the state of my bank account, due to the purchases of Panini stickers, rugby programmes, newspapers and magazines this month.

If you are Welsh, then all colour would have drained from your cheeks during this last sporting week.

Whatever the sport, we in Wales do last-minute defeats better than any other country in the world.

What we would give to be able to enjoy the last ten minutes of a sporting encounter, without having to check our systolic and diastolic rates repeatedly, and defeats in Manchester and Lens this last week have only added to the back catalogue of defeats suffered in this heart breaking manner.

Wales Under 20s were leading New Zealand into the final minute, and there were ninety seconds left in the Euro 2016 match between England and Wales, when our faces turned from red to white, as the opposition achieved a vital score to snatch themselves a favourable result.

In the Southern Hemisphere winter has arrived, and the beaches of Australia and New Zealand have seen plenty of pasty British bodies, due to the unseasonal warmth, but nothing compares to the heat the Wallabies have had to endure, as an uncontrollable white tide washed away their hopes.

The tide in New Zealand had been flat calm, but there were a few waves, and a fair bit of swell for sixty minutes in Auckland before the storm passed.

In windy Wellington the All Blacks blew away Wales, in a second half period of ten minutes, before a red sky lit up the damp dewy night, during the last fifteen minutes of a hard-hitting  pacey test match.

But, as the New Zealand press reported “Dai Hard 28” was a victory to New Zealand.

So as we enter the final throes of June there is still an awful lot of rugby, and plenty of other sporting action to be played.

The forecast for next week ranges from a deep depression sweeping in from the south  to a massive high centering over parts of the British Isles, it all depends on your team , your sport and your results

I think I’d better take a brolly !

I find myself in the curious position of leaping to the defence of an England player ,who has been part of a winning team that recently defeated Wales.

Have I become a proper journalist as  a result of this damascan type conversion ? Well we can but hope.

The Ford family have not had the greatest few weeks, coach and  Dad Mike being dumped by Bath, and son George getting the boos from his own countrymen for his kicking display against Wales last Sunday, I guess neither of them will be buying lottery tickets this week.

Firstly Mike is a great coach, and in my opinion Bath have made a big mistake in dispensing with his services, he will be snapped up very quickly.

As for George, well he won’t be dwelling on the moronic booing.

As a hugely dedicated and talented rugby player, he will be churning up inside , and having sleepless nights reliving  the missed kicks, whilst attempting to discover the probably inexplicable reasons for such a poor display.

Well I would rather my player miss six kicks in a warm up international, than one in a grand slam decider, and  if there is ever a good time to have a shocker with the boot, then this was the match in which to do it.

But this type of behaviour is not exclusive to those who inhabit the lofty towers of Twickenham.

Plenty of  so called Wales fans  booed Neil Jenkins at the start of his career , because he had the temerity not to be born in the same mould as Barry John or Phil Bennett.

The same people were In floods of tears when he played his last game for Wales , against the Barbarians many years later at the Millenium stadium.

In another comparison to last weeks match ,  I once witnessed “Jenks” have an awful day against Ireland in Cardiff, where he missed six kicks at goal, he left the field utterly dejected, and after that game I don’t think he missed another kick for seven years.

Rhys Priestland has also suffered a torrid time from the Welsh boo boys

When you see how much effort these boys are putting in, it might just be worth sparing a thought for how bad they are feeling , without having to cope with the boos and jeers on top of everything else.
FROM BOOS TO BOOZE

Many people I have spoken to, are fed up of having to leap up from their seat every few minutes, as people head back and forth to the bars,during play at international matches.

To many match goers the rugby is now a secondary cabaret,  a mere back drop to a night out on the ale.

At Wales v France in Cardiff, during this years RBS 6 Nations, I was sat behind a lady with an £ 80 ticket, who spent the entire match either fetching Beer ,or constantly looking down at the floor to count the number of empty bottles she had collected

I knew this to be the case because I saw her fingers move individually, as each bottle was noted during the complex mathematical calculation that was taking place.

The trouble is that alcohol sales are a huge income for host unions, so they are not going to give a stuff about suffering spectators, no more than they care about Friday night 6 nations games in Cardiff, and Aviva trains, the most lethal combination of disruptive factors known to mankind.

I would suggest bars close 10 minutes before kick off, and open again at half time ,before closing for  the second half.

Finally,

As my colleagues and friends head to Australia New Zealand and South Africa, or prepare for Rio, the Sportsdragon will be here,adjusting the central heating thermostat on a daily basis ,whilst bringing you all the rugby news, and updates from Euro 2016 and Wimbledon.

Please join me for my Friday podcasts and the Monday roar

@MPsportsdragon

http://www.thesportsdragon.com

Keep warm till next week !

As Wales prepare to celebrate a very special sporting day, on Saturday, my mind turns back to a dark November afternoon when I turned on the radio to hear the shattering and unbelievable news that Gary Speed had died.

The shock and dismay  felt by so many people on 27 November 2011, was only worsened by the fact that he had taken his own life.

Football seemed an insignificant folly in the face of a young man’s death, a popular and charismatic person who on the face of it appeared to have it all, had been taken from us.

Football, and particularly Welsh football was stunned, and somehow through it all a new national manager had to be installed .

To take the job in those circumstances takes a special kind of person, one of Gary’s best friends, and a fellow international colleague proved to be such a man.

Chris Coleman grieving in his own right, took on the role which he has handled from day one with dignity and sensitivity, as the team grieved along with the fans, Chris Coleman stood strong and guided everyone through turbulent waters

When results didn’t go his way there were no excuses, despite the fact their were many, he retained his dignity as the team united and continued to grow with him and around him.

The squad have all been through such a lot together, experiences that put the game of football into perspective, but ultimately ones which have bonded this group of players  creating a spirit, a strength and unity within the squad that transcends sport.

Gary sowed the seeds of this wonderful success, his great friend Chris has continued the legacy and added an extra dimension to it.

Next Saturday in Bordeaux our tears will be ones of joy at reaching the finals of Euro 2016 ,but also one’s of  sadness for the tragic loss that set us all on this remarkable journey.

Wales motto “Together Stronger” could not be more apt.

As Euro 2016 gets ready to kick off , and Roland Garros takes spring into summer in the leafy boulevards of Paris, England and Wales end their exhausting seasons with three test series’ in Australia and New Zealand respectively.

So as Wales head to the land of the long white cloud, it’s worth bearing in mind that even though I am fifty eight years of age, Wales have never beaten the All Blacks since i came into the world.

In fact 1953 was the last time the men in red were victorious over the men in black.

The nearest thing I’ve experienced to a win was the when Wales won the Haka stand off in 2008, but that just made the All Blacks angry, and they beat us yet again.

It’s been a familiar tale throughout the years , even the great Welsh teams of the 70s could not defeat New Zealand, although a memorable day at Stradey Park, Llanelli, in October 1972 was a huge consolation for us Carmathenshire folk.

This tour sees Wales take a vastly experienced squad that have regularly won Northern hemisphere honours, and tasted World Cup knock out experience, but wins against Southern Hemisphere teams have been few and far between.

There is no doubt that there has never been a better time to face New Zealand, now that Dan Carter, Richie McCaw, Conrad Smith, Ma’a Nonu, Kevin Mealamu and Tony Woodcock have all retired, but the task is still daunting to say the least.

The All Blacks have not played since the Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham last October, so surely Wales best chance lies in that first test on June 11.

Wales will have to be at their very best just to be in with a chance of a victory in the the three match series, and that is the challenge for a team that have a reputation for being notoriously slow starters.

The first test sees the men in red return to a familiar RWC 2011 venue, Eden Park, in Auckland, before visiting Wellington a week later.

In between the first two tests Wales will be warmly welcomed in Warren Gatland’s home town , Hamilton, where they will face Super Rugby outfit the Chiefs, before ending their tour with a third test in Dunedin.

The  Weekend
As I write, the Welsh squad, and entourage are assembling at Heathrow, DVT socks at the ready, for the long flight to Auckland.

Their final run out took place in front of 81,128  sun drenched spectators at Twickenham, on Sunday, where they faced an England team devoid of any Saracens and Exeter players, who played in the Aviva premiership final the previous day.

Wales started brightly and with pace , racing to a 10-0 lead before everything started to slowly unravel, resulting in a 27-13 win for the home team.

Paying the price for not selecting a specialist “7” Wales conceeded twenty turnovers, the other damning statistic is the twenty one tackles they missed.

A team with so much talent at its disposal is having far too many off days, and this is something that Wales clearly have to address.

A Dan Cole knock on ,missed by the officials, and the TMO resulted in a try for England at a crucial point of the match ,with the score at 15-13 to the men in white.

From then on in, Wales played with greater inaccuracy and as their set piece started to creak,they never looked like closing the gap.

George Ford only landed one kick out of seven attempts, which puts the scoreline into perspective.

The weekend saw the Lyon Kings, Saracens defeat Exeter Chiefs in front of 77, 109 at Twickenham in a pulsating final, on a hot and sunny Saturday afternoon, whilst a more modest crowd of 34,450 ,witnessed the Connacht dream season end with the men in green crowned champions after defeating Leinster at Murrayfield.

It has been a long hard season, and whilst the curtain falls domestically , a whole new production is about to premier globally

Let the games begin !