The story of how one of Welsh rugby’s oldest clubs is rising again after fire carnage and tragedy
AFTER the darkest period in its history, one of Welsh rugby’s oldest clubs is now rising from the ashes.
It was just under three years ago that Maesteg RFC’s clubhouse at Llynfi Road was hit by a devastating fire.
The damage was extensive with the building being left blackened and charred, while the bulk of the club’s history and memorabilia was destroyed.
There were also fears at the time that a stand may need to be pulled down with the steelwork having been damaged, with the blaze having started when a fire was set by arsonists against the exterior door of the sponsors’ room in the stand.
The destruction was all the more gut-wrenching as a refurbishment of the clubhouse had only recently been completed.
Then a year later, the club was hit by tragedy when coach and former player Austen Howells died while on a stag weekend with friends in Manchester.
It’s been a desperately tough time for everyone associated with the Old Parish. But now, there is a brighter future ahead for the club, which was formed way back in 1877, and topped the old Merit Table in successive years in the late 1970s.
Extensive work to rebuild and refurbish the clubhouse has now been completed, with the charred shell having been transformed into modern function rooms, while the ground has also been spruced up.
To mark the re-birth, a special match between Maesteg and Neath will be staged at Llynfi Road on Saturday, August 13, coinciding with the third anniversary of the fire.
The club’s former in- ternationals and captains from the last 30-plus years have been invited along, with WRU president Dennis Gethin and chairman Gareth Davies also attending.
It’s a new beginning for the famous old club, which is also moving in the right direction on the field, having gained promotion to Division One last year.
Secretary Darren Farmer has vivid memories of the fire which wrecked the clubhouse.
“It was just after 5pm one Tuesday afternoon in August 2013,” he recalls.
“At just about the same time, one of our players and one of our members, who both lived near the ground, messaged me to say the club was on fire.
“I quickly jumped in the car and raced up to the club. The sight I was greeted with is quite fresh in the memory.
“It was just devastating. A real gut-wrencher.
“The whole of the first floor was fire damaged, along with some of the ground floor, which was also smoke damaged and water damaged from the firefighters’ hoses.
“What made it even worse was we had spent a lot of time upgrading the facilities and redecorating the club. We hadn’t long finished that work.
“It was a real kick in the teeth when the fire happened.”
From that heart-breaking low, it’s been a long road back for the club, but one which they have travelled with real character and a determination not to be defeated.
They kept on playing at home, as the dressing rooms were unaffected, and the club’s old president and local landlord Richard David offered members a temporary home in The Wellington pub in the town.
“It was really hard at the time, but looking back now it’s probably made us stronger as a result,” said Farmer.
“Everybody pulled together and we’ve got a cracking new facility, which is what a club and a town like this deserves.
“It has been a bit of a staged approach.
“The construction work took around two years from start to finish.
“Then for the last year, we have just been completing bits and bobs as we’ve gone along, taking on a lot of the redecorating work ourselves.
“We’ve also been trying to get some memorabilia together and to dress the club. Most of the memorabilia we had before was lost in the fire.”
Now, with all the work done, it’s time for the grand re-opening with the match against Premiership outfit Neath.
“We wanted to try and mark the occasion and use it as a bit of a catalyst to get a lot of people back to the club,” explained Farmer.
“It should be quite a fitting celebration.
“We have invited our ex-internationals, with the likes of Gwyn Evans and Peter Francis due to come along, and we’ve invited our former captains from the 1980s onwards.
“It has been a tough time for the club and we wanted to mark the start of this new chapter in our history.
“Things have been going well. It was our first year back in Division One last season and there’s a good atmosphere around the club.
“We just want to build on that and get the feel good factor back.”
Long-serving press officer Dennis Thomas has seen it all at the club over the years.
As he puts it, “We’ve had more resurrections than Lazarus.”
But now he is able to look to the future with optimism as he surveys the completed clubhouse.
“It’s a fantastic venue, there’s no doubt about it,” said Dennis.
“I suppose something like what happened to us does help to build togetherness because everybody had their little bit of input. It’s courage in adversity I suppose.”
So now the Old Parish has re-emerged as the New Parish and here’s to the future.