30 YEARS ON FROM MERTHYR’S CUP WIN
The year 1987 will forever be remembered as one of the best in Merthyr Tydfil FC’s history. The club won the 100th Welsh Cup, beating then-Football League Newport County 1-0 in the replay after a 2-2 draw, which paved the way for the legendary European Cu
ONCE Gary Wager realised the date for the final replay, he knew the omens were good.
The Merthyr goalkeeper said: “May 21 was my 25th birthday, so I was determined it was going to be a double celebration!
“I just remember being swept away by the noise the fans were making.
“Everyone was up for it – we couldn’t go wrong.
“Most of the Merthyr team had been together for three or four years, and I’d been there a year or two.
“Looking back, the way the team was playing and the side we had, we knew we had a great chance.”
Midfielder Steve Williams still looks back at the Martyrs’ Welsh Cup triumph with fond memories.
“I’ve never known a side with such a good team spirit,” he said.
“We would all get stuck in for each other.
“It was a pleasure to turn up for training twice a week, let alone play every Saturday – we’d all want to be the first ones at the ground.
“Lyn Jones had assembled a great blend of skilful and hard-working players and we weren’t fazed by playing a league side like Newport.”
Williams, a combative midfielder, said the two games were very different.
“The first game was really exciting,” he said.
“As the professional side, Newport allowed us to go at them in the belief that they’d be able to pick us off when they wanted.
“But after holding them to a draw and scoring twice, their approach was different in the replay.
“They refused to let us play, which made for a game of few chances.
“Chris Baird scored the early penalty, and we expected an onslaught, but it never really came and we held out with few problems.
“We were definitely the better side over the two games, and it was a hell of an achievement for Merthyr to defeat a league club.”
And what does the goalscoring hero remember of the day he wrote himself into Penydarren Park folklore?
“I don’t actually remember a great deal,” said defender Baird.
“The replay itself wasn’t a great game, but the penalty after six minutes gave us the chance to get our noses in front.
“There were no doubts in my mind when I stepped up to take it – there wasn’t any real pressure as it was so early in the game.
“All I wanted to do was put us 1-0 up.
“Mind you, I may have felt differently at 0-0 with six minutes to go!”
Baird blasted the spotkick to Andy Dillon’s right and the rest, as they say, is history.
“We may not have been a league side, but we knew we were all good enough to have played at that level,” he said.
“I think Newport had a shock in the first leg, but it wasn’t a case of us playing above ourselves in the first game.
“There was no weak link in our team and we had the belief to see it through.”
For Baird, that night at Ninian Park was the highlight of a career which petered out only 12 months later at the age of 26.
He said: “After another year at Merthyr, I went pre-season training at Gloucester City.
“It wasn’t for me, though, and with my job meaning I had to work most weekends, I stopped playing altogether.”
Legendary Merthyr striker Dave Webley has one abiding memory of the two games in Cardiff.
“Our fans were awesome,” said Webley, who netted the Martyrs’ second goal in the final.
“For the first game, they were all out to enjoy the day, especially as it was the 100th Welsh Cup final.
“But the way we played in that game gave them the belief that we could actually pull it off in the replay.
“That night in Cardiff, they made so much noise it was like having a 12th man on the pitch.
“When the crowd was singing your name, you felt two foot taller and that you could run two yards quicker – it was unbelievable!”