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THE 80s. Everyone has a decade and I am proud to be an 80s child with all the associations in conjurs up.
From the Corduroy trousers and big hair to overstocking on shellsuits in the belief they would never go out of fashion this was a decade to be lived!
There is another element of the 80s which I still fondly remember and no conversation about football with anyone from Newtown about that era would be complete without paying proper homage.
Of course I am talking about the crazy world of Newtown Sunday League football which in its pomp during the 1980s attracted gates which would make many modern day Welsh Premier clubs blush.
A quick scan of the Safe & Secure Newtown Football League website proudly states the record attendance was the 700 which watched Llanbrynmair take on Newtown’s Buck Inn in the 1980s.
For those who do not know Newtown’s pubs I should point out the Buck Inn is a tiny one room establishment more renowned for its jukebox than anything else. However 20 years ago this little High Street pub attracted 700 people to watch them.
Inevitably the good days could not last forever and changes to administration saw a record 23 clubs in the mid-90s slump to just a handful of loyal sides a few years ago before another revival saw membership climb back to a more respectable 13 clubs for the current campaign.
I predict the good days could soon be back for this league which is now the only league of its sort in Wales.
You would have to be blind not to have noticed a massive reduction in pub trade over the last few years in Montgomeryshire. The advent of the smoking ban appeared to be the final nail in many establishments coffin.
However the Chinese proverb of crisis and opportunity spring to mind and surely these pubs must start fighting back.
Here’s a few suggestions. First of all these pubs struggling for trade since the smoking ban should enter a Sunday League side. This would mean that for the sake of a couple of plates of cheese sandwiches on a Sunday afternoon they would be guranteed at least 30 people through the door when they would be otherwise deserted.
Nowadays many people do not have what you would call a “local” to call upon but forming a pub side would provide both the publican and the punter with what they both desperately need.
The punter gets a familiar place to watch Sunday’s Premiership match on TV while the publican gets a packed pub.
In the 36 years of its existence Newtown’s Sunday League has experienced some dizzying highs and scary lows but one thing you can be sure of this league still has a pivotal role in the local sports landscape.
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