FROM FA CUP TO A TICKLING STICK...
AMINER’S son who became a globe-trotting sales director has revealed how he became friends with comedy king Sir Ken Dodd who gave him two of his famous tickling sticks.
During his long career Geoff Williams, raised in Llay near Wrexham and now living in Southport, also rubbed shoulders with stellar names like singing superstar Sir Tom Jones, Hollywood actors Richard Burton and Jack Nicholson and Kop hero Bill Shankly.
Another claim to fame was that the 88-year old persuaded Leeds United to allow the FA Cup to go on show at the British Legion in Llay.
Now Geoff has put pen to paper about his extraordinary life in his newly-published autobiography Made in Wales: From Nowhere to Everywhere.
Running through the heart of the book is Geoff’s love of football and especially his lifelong support for Wrexham AFC.
One thing that Geoff could not have anticipated when he began to write his story early last year was the dramatic turn of events at his beloved club, which in recent months has been the e subject of a high-profile e takeover by Hollywood duo o
Ryan Reynolds and Rob b McElhenney.
“It is funny really that I have spent a lot of time in n America through work and I talk about those experiences in my book. Now the club has as been taken over by two Hollyywood stars who are over er there,” said Geoff.
“I am waiting to see how it all pans out and I will be delighted if it does work out.
“Nothing would please me more while I am still around than to see Wrexham back in the Football League.”
Geoff is proud of being a Welsh miner’s son and has fond memories of growing up in Llay, which at the
time was a strong mining ning community. His gift of the gab led to a hugely successful career as a cable salesman with Pyrotenax and BICC.
His work would lead to encounters with a number of star names, including Ken Dodd, with the pair developing a close friendship after meeting through Geoff’s colleague Jim Markey.
The ensuing bond was such that the comic visited Geoff’s Southport home and presented him with a couple of his famed tickling sticks.
“I really treasure those two tickling sticks. They mean a lot t to me,” said Geoff.
“They had been used when he appeared on stage and he gave one to me and o one to my late wife Becky. It w was a nice and thoughtful g gesture, but that was typical o of Ken.
“He was the most generous and kind man I ever met and I miss him a lot.
“As time went on, I got to kn know him so well. I loved the gu guy and I loved watching him pe perform,” he said.
Geoff was based in Yorkshire du during the Leeds United glory yea years and he became friends wi with managerial great Don Rev Revie and played a prominent rol role in bringing undersoil heating to Elland Road in the late 1960s.
The visionary Revie anticipated the benefits of installing the new system and Geoff persuaded the Leeds boss to let his company, Pyrotenax, oversee the project. “Don Revie had concerns about the Elland Road pitch and he felt postponements were becoming a problem,” said Geoff.
“It meant towards the end of the season they were having to play three games a week and key players were getting injured.
“This is why Don wanted the undersoil heating in and he wanted it done quickly.
“We faced competition from our rivals, BICC, but we were given the contract.
“We were there almost every day while the work took place during the close season, but we got it completed.
“I became friendly with a lot of the players, especially Jack Charlton, who was such a nice guy.”
1972 was a good footballing year for Geoff, with Wrexham winning the Welsh Cup and Leeds lifting the FA Cup.
His friend Greville Williams, who for many years was the Llay village correspondent for the Leader newspaper, suggested they could try and bring the two trophies together at Llay Royal British Legion.
Applying his powers of persuasion, Geoff approached Leeds chairman Manny Cussins about whether it was possible to take the FA Cup to Llay after Revie told him the decision was not up to him.
“He said he’d never heard of the place,” Geoff recalled.
“I told him I was a big Wrexham fan as well as Leeds and it would be a good idea to have the two trophies on show together.
“To my surprise he agreed and saw it as a good idea, although he insisted people came with me from Leeds to keep an eye on the FA Cup.
“We took it to the British Legion and the place was absolutely packed. Everyone there wanted their pictures taken with the two cups.
“I believe it is the only time that the English and Welsh cups have been together like that.”