WRU call time on Les’ 50 years of fan loyalty
As a boy growing up in post-war Llanelli, Les Williams always wanted to have his very own seat whenever Wales played at Cardiff Arms Park. Making the dream come true remained beyond his reach even after the Welsh Rugby Union issued their first debentures during the late Sixties. A £50 loan repayable after 50 years, minus interest, entitled the holder to buy a ticket at face value and watch every match in the same seat for the next half century.
No matter how hard he scrimped and how much he saved from his modest salary as a junior civil servant in the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance, Les couldn’t make the sums add up. Fifty quid may not sound much today but it was a small fortune back then, almost enough to buy an old Mini in roadworthy condition. According to the Office for National Statistics, £50 in 1969 would be worth £778 today.
Far from going like hot cakes, the original debentures turned out to be a hard sell, so much so that it took an enterprising insurance company to come to the Union’s rescue. Their intervention enabled fans to buy their seat on the never-never, a hire purchase deal which enabled Les Williams to realise his dream.
“I was a junior clerical assistant and I didn’t have fifty quid,’’ he says. “Neither did a lot of people because the Union couldn’t sell them. Then the Pearl Assurance company offered them to the public for three bob (three shillings or 15p in new money) a week over ten years. I could afford that although in the long run it meant paying more.’’
At last Les had a place in the North Stand at the Arms Park to call his own for the next 50 years: Block G, Row 10, Seat 24, until the demolition squads moved in to create the larger Millennium Stadium. When it opened, in June 1999, he resumed normal service at M35, Row 10, Seat 13.
To compensate for the period when Wales played their home matches at Wembley, the WRU extended the expiry of the 50-year debenture by two years until March 2, 2021. A few days ago, the Union refunded Mr Williams the £50 he lent them in 1969, as per the interest-free agreement.
Retired at 74 but still adding to a lifetime of voluntary service to the game, not least as Llanelli RFC’s programme editor (voted ‘best in Britain’ two years running’), Les feels he has been short-changed. The conviction has nothing to do with the £50 the WRU repaid him being a skeletal fraction of the £50 he lent them in 1969 but everything to do with Wales’ last seven home matches.
The pandemic obliterated the original four-match series scheduled for last autumn as well as forcing the rearranged Six Nations match against Scotland last October to be played behind closed doors along with those against Ireland last month and England a fortnight ago.
“Before Christmas I received a letter from the WRU pointing out that my debenture would expire in March and asking whether I wished to renew it,’’ says Les. “They told me I could do so by taking out a new debenture until 2035 for an outlay of £4,000.
“I contacted them and pointed out that I would be 88 in 2035 and that travelling all the way to Cardiff and finding my way through the crowds to the stadium in my mid-Eighties didn’t make much sense.’’
The letter, dated November 12, also stated: “Please note that we are unable to offer an extension to the 50-year debenture series which expires on 1 March, 2021. The WRU will be in contact with all holders of the series after the seats have been redeemed.”
No explanation. Not unreasonably, Llanelli RFC’s official club historian asked for one but none has been forthcoming. It wasn’t as if he wanted something for nothing, merely the right to buy a ticket for his seat as he had done since the year Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon.
“I asked why they could not extend my debenture by one year as compensation for the seven home matches missed due to Covid restrictions. They said they would not do that but they have seen fit to extend other debentures issued after I bought mine in 1969 by a minimum of one year. So why not in my case?
“Adding insult to injury makes it all the more irritating. After 50 years, that’s the thanks you get.
“Except for World Cup matches, I saw every Wales home fixture and I only ever sat in two seats, one at the Arms Park, the other at the Millennium. Both were excellent, especially the last one because being close to an exit meant I could catch an early train home.
“I remember walking to the station after the 1978 Grand Slam win over France and saying to someone how good it was to have a debenture instead of having to beg for a field ticket. A chap overheard the conversation and offered me £1,500 to sell it to him. I thought: ‘No chance.’”
A WRU spokesman said: “All 1969 debenture holders who have not extended their debentures have been notified they will be given priority access to tickets in the season ahead.
“It was not possible to extend debenture rights for 12 months for this group as we have done with other debenture holders equally affected by the pandemic, as these 1969 debentures were offered back to market after holders were given first refusal. We have made our best efforts to look after all our debenture holders.’’
Les Williams says he has received no notification about ‘priority access’.
“Except for World Cup matches, I saw every Wales home fixture”