The wife shopping on a Saturday players would be shot for that...’
for that. Rugby just seems to be shoved down the pecking order these days.”
But it isn’t all bleak for Llanybydder.
Financially, the club are in decent shape and the squad is a happy one.
Matches are decently attended for a small club.
But the participation issue simply won’t go away. There is no second team and no junior structure, storing up potential challenges for tomorrow. Ideally, we’d have a junior side at the lowest level,” says club secretary Aled Jones. “But could we sustain it? I don’t know. Llanybydder is a small place, so it would be a push to keep such a team going.
“That said, something has to be done, because local boys simply go off to play for other sides.
“I just think these problems are each weekend operating at a lower grade and those they displace also performing a step below, with the idea being that pretty much everyone then plays and there are not so many shortages.
“I am not saying we should end up having any British and Irish Lions playing for us, much though we’d like to,” laughs Wilson.
“But if talent filters down then it would end this nonsense of players sitting around doing nothing on a weekend while certain clubs are struggling to fill sides. “It has to be worth a try.” He continues: “People are giving up the game too soon.
“You can see on Facebook pushy parents screaming at little Jonny to sidestep through a defence like Shane Williams, when in reality the poor kid is barely strong enough to carry the ball.
“At 17 or 18 youngsters should be bristling with enthusiasm and eager to get on the pitch, but often they find other things to do.”
Eight players attended training recently, not even enough for a game of five-a-side football should the mood have taken them. Players have been known to travel from Cefneithin to train and play for Llanybydder, a 57-mile round trip.
Is Wilson concerned about the future of a club who have been running since 1973?
“A lot of clubs are in the same position as we are,” he says.
“But there are fantastic people in this club and we do what we can to look after the players without paying them.
“And I think there is a lot of goodwill towards us.
“My mother is in her 80s and she said the other day: ‘It will be awfully sad if we can’t raise a team and the club are unable to go on’. “No-one wants that to happen. “That is why we work so hard for the cause. We all love rugby and it’ll die if it doesn’t thrive at this level.”
Clubs like Llanybydder are Welsh rugby’s lifeblood and often act as the focus for social life in their areas.
Despite Llan’s false start to the season, 15 players turned up for training on Thursday evening, with another six unable to make it but willing to play on the weekend.
The challenges the club and others of similar size face are immense, but however strong the wind blowing in the faces of those who run them, they keep trying to push forward.
They really do deserve huge admiration.