Town united by unique footie tie

DREAM TEAMS Match to bring community closer THERE were huge divisions in the once mighty iron town of Merthyr Tydfil where many voted UKIP.

But a unique football match overseen by Wales manager Chris Coleman has narrowed that divide.

The Wales team’s motto Together. Stronger summed up the occasion when a local Merthyr team took on a side comprised of immigrants from nations such as Bulgaria, Portugal, Brazil, Poland and Syria.

The match was so successful that the players formed All Together Merthyr FC that plays regularly with Welsh players.

Coleman said: “People from all walks of life play football. You can’t distinguish from one person to another. Football is a global sport. It’s there to be enjoyed. And that’s the way it should be.” Jorge, captain of the overseas players, said: “We’ve never played together before. The Polish players always played in one team, the Portuguese in another. If you see us in the next event, we might be doing better!” His team lost 5-0.

Harriet Protheroe-Davis, Merthyr community organiser for Hope not Hate, said after many voted for Brexit: “We wanted to make sure the community was brought back together and stayed the same friendly, welcoming place.”

Mark Evans from the Welsh Football Association said: “We had a very large UKIP vote here, trying to create division in the town. But we’ve moved past that, after all, this town was built on migration.”

Lesley Hodgson, Focal Point director and Secretary of All Together Merthyr FC said sport brings people together and the response from the community had been very positive.