It really doesn't seem that long ago and I didn't realise he was still just a kid and only 23 at the time but today marks the 30th Anniversary of Johnny Owen getting knocked out and sent into a coma against Pintor in L.A. and subsequently losing his life a few weeks later.
An amazing man, quietly spoken and puny looking, yet he was a boxing great and a warrior in the ring.
My one abiding memory of Johnny was outside the ring as he used to holiday every summer with his family at Fontygary caravan site in Rhoose. My parents had a caravan there too as I used to stay there every weekend and through the summer.
Johnny, even though on holidays, would go on punishing runs and training regimes daily, sometimes morning and evening, and a few of us used to watch him and try to keep up with him. We had no chance.
His training at Fonty often ended at the "99 steps", a winding and different height set of steps from the cliff to the beach near Aberthaw power station. At my fittest - and I was once upon a time - my mates and myself used to times how quickly we could get up them. It was lung bursting stuff and we'd be knackered and lying on the grass at the top after 1 attempt ... Johnny Owen would run up and down them 10 times barely breaking sweat!
While not overly shocked to see the circulation of both newspapers has dropped 10% in the past year, I was really surprised to see how low their circulations are.
The Echo shifts 37,000 copies while the Western Mail, a national, sells just 29,000.
I popped into my local newsagent yesterday morning who doesn't even stock it. "No demand", he said. And maybe he has a point when other morning papers seem to have double the contant at half the price.
Of the 84 local papers in UK, 83 have declining sales although the online activity is thriving.
Are local newspapers dying a slow but, perhaps, inevitable death?
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Bluebirds worldwide were saddened today as news broke that club legend Brian Clark passed away at the age of 67. Clark’s health had taken a significant turn for the worse in the past year but it was still a shock.
“Clarkie” was my original and boyhood Cardiff City hero whom I always revered and still felt hero worship for even in latter years as he was a frequent matchday visitor either commentating on Cardiff City World or club social events. He was a regular sight walking to and from games with Cardiff fans.
As a player, he was a work-horse and I well remember how he not only helped set up many of John Toshack’s goals at that time, which earned his move to Liverpool, but he usually matched him goal for goal as well and they were often jointly the league’s leading scorers!
He will forever be feted in Bluebirds history as the scorer of one of the club’s most famous goals, a trademark header that saw the club beat Real Madrid in a European Cup Winner Cup quarter-final game at Ninian Park in front of 47,500 official attendance that many swear was several thousand more than that.
That came in 1971, three years after he joined the club from Huddersfield in my first season watching City. His price was £8,000 and although a Bristolian who never lost that lilt to his accent, he was a Welsh adopted son living and working amongst Cardiff fans until his passing.
He was club top scorer for three consecutive seasons, outscoring Tosh, and moved in his later career to AFC Bournemouth and Millwall yet he still wasn’t finished with City and returned to see out his career in 1975 helping Jimmy Andrews’ exciting side win promotion back to the then Division Two.
I had the privilege of meeting him many times in later life and he fully lived up to my expectations unlike many footballers, he always had time for City fans and he was always a gentleman.
I am genuinely saddened at his passing. My sincere condolences to his family and closest friends.
Thanks for the memories Brian, you will never be forgotten.
Billed as the most authentic tribute show around, the billing had us in stitches. Singing over the original songs, she couldn't sing like her, dance like her or act like her.
As for the "stunning costume changes worth thousands of pounds", well she started with one outfit and stripped down as the show went on ... which was the only thing about it I liked! :>)
Cardiff’s Big Weekend has been a major event for several years but while I have nil interest in the vast over-priced fairground that appears around Cardiff City Hall, the free mini music festival is always worth a look.
Friday night is local group night but I was already committed to a work social night so missed Los Camesinos and The Blackout (not that I had real desire to see them), Saturday was World Day and headlined by the reggae cheese of Chaka Demus and Pliers but yesterday’s bill came to a crescendo with ATHLETE and FEEDER, two groups I like musically and love live.
The Council may ban alcohol being permitted on site (you can buy plenty inside at £3.50 a pint) but they still permit hoardes of local chavs, p*ssheads and kids who can only text speak and abuse. However found a good spot and enjoyed.
Athlete were outstanding running through what was essentially a Greatest Hits style set. How they’ve never been as big as the likes of Snow Patrol, Coldplay and co, I’ll just never know as I find them far better. Musically they were tight and superb and highly appreciated by the crowd.
Feeder are regarded as a Welsh band led by Newport’s Grant Nicholas so the crowd built up for their set and was seriously packed as they arrived on-stage. I’ve never seen it so busy there. They came on late with problems and the sound was never right for them all night, not that too many cared. Their set was a mix of hits, tracks from their rock roots return Renegades and a couple of fan faves.
Both were superb but Athlete shone brightest as far as I was concerned.
I always found it, in keeping with that crooked spire, one of the weirdest away towns to visit as the pubs were quaint, the townsfolk contained some of the ugliest folk I’ve ever seen (many resembled a scientific chemical test gone wrong), a fair portion of the home fans were the nastiest around hanging about on street corners looking out for Cardiff fans to pick off (a classic small town mentality amongst them) and one bizarre experience where my brother completely lost the plot in a way I’ve never seen before or since (thankfully). He went AWOL after the game, somehow ran the 7 miles from the town to the M1 and was picked up on the M1 hard shoulder. Only in Chesterfield!
However there were highlights as the ground, including;
A big open away end
Chesterfield fans running a full length terrace towards us at half-time until City ran over and banged on a corrugated iron fence separating them and us (the deafening thudding from City fans was enough to send them scarpering 100 yards quicker than they ran towards us and into another terrace behind the opposite goal).
Danny Gabbidon scoring a back-heeled flick at a corner as we headed to promotion
Gareth Ainsworth doing cart-wheels, back flicks and bowing as he was felled for free-kicks
A game where it peed down non-stop and monsoon like on us and every City fan was soaked through from head to toe. I’ve only ever been wetter at a football match once in my life (Chelsea in the early 80’s) made worse as we were 2 up early on (Kevin Evans scoring a 30 yard cracker in front of us) but we ended up drawing.
As someone who spent almost 20 years of my life caravanning with the family at Fontygary Bay caravan site and who still has lifelong friends and endless experiences from it, I had to smile reading this in today's Echo.
SHE’S a global singing sensation who jets around the world staying in some of the most exclusive hotels on the planet.
But some of Leona Lewis’ favourite holiday memories are of summers spent at Barry Island and Fontygary, the megastar has revealed.
Leona’s mum Maria is from Penarth and brought the fledgling singing star to visit relatives in Wales during summer holidays.
The former X Factor winner, who has sold more than six million albums worldwide, says she loved Barry Island and the funfair in particular. I’ve been on the log flume and the pirate ship but my favourite was Quasar,” she told the Echo.
“All my mum’s relatives are from Wales and we’d go to Barry Island every weekend when we visited.”
Leona, 24, who was born in London to father Joe from Guyana and her Welsh mother, and brought up in Hackney, also explained her fondness for another unlikely destination for a global superstar – Fontygary Park in Barry.
“We’d stay at Fontygary and I used to love to go horse riding down there in the countryside,” she said. "I always lived in London but never saw myself as a city girl. I used to love that because it was somewhere free, not small confined spaces.”
While those wonder years have left her with a golden glow about Wales, speaking the language has not had such a profound effect.
“Well I can say ‘bore da’ and sing happy birthday in Welsh,” she said.
Ah but has she been banned from the Fontygary Inn, sneaked free golf and tennis games, smashed a shop window playing football ... I doubt it!
The Knack always struck me as DEVO wannabees and their sole hit and known song in the UK, My Sahrona, was almost more DEVO than DEVO themselves.
Sad then to hear that lead singer and songwriter Doug Fiegerhas died age 57 after battling cancer and brain tumours for 6 years. The Knack's drummer Bruce Gary died in 2006 at the age of 55 of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma cancer.
"My Sharona" immortalised Fieger's then-girlfriend Sharona Alperin.
R.I.P. Doug - another one from my punk/new wave youth has passed on but the song will always remain.
To my surprise and grateful thanks, DEVO are currently streaming a gig recorded at Bristol Colston Hall in 1978 - exactly 31 years ago today - via their MySpace page (link below).
It sounds simply awesome and reminds me why I got into them immediately and have been hooked since. However this is when they were at their most powerful and guitar led, it still sounds fresh and original.
It is scary to relaise it is 31 years ago already since this, their first national UK Tour.
HOWEVER WHAT SCARES ME MOST OF ALL IS THAT I WAS AT THIS GIG - GULP!!
If Cardiff City were a rollercoaster, Health and Safety would condemn it for being too dangerous and if they were a soap opera, the scripts would be rejected for being too outrageous and the writers would be taking drug tests. Nothing, however, is ever normal or straightforward at this club and they always leave us open-mouthed.
This time last week, after internet rumours with good reasoning, Peter Ridsdale denied that the club were on the verge of a major crisis although it had the usual cashflow problems, he was hopeful that Sam Hammam would agree and sign off a legal deal by the end of the week and then investement was just around the corner, we found out most of the answers today.
Out of the blue came an announcement that the club had fought off a HMRC tax office winding up order in the courts with a 70 day stay of execution to clear its debt of an undisclosed amount ... is it coincidence that ties in with the end of the January transfer window when City can sell its assets? I truly hope so.
Sam Hammam has been stalling, as usual, on the agreement but remains in consultation with the club.
Then, barely 1 hour after this, the club announced that Malaysian businessman Dato' Chan Tien Ghee (TG), after weeks (months even) of discussion as joined the Board of Directors of both Cardiff City Football Club (Holdings) Limited and also Cardiff City Football Club Limited as a Director. At this stage, it is unclear whether he has invested any funds at all but it would appear that he will attract further investment (oh we hope!) from the Far East.
(In fact, I have heard whispers of the name of a potential further Malaysian backer who has access to major resources - time will tell).
Is it only Cardiff City where one minute we hear they're close to collapse and then are being led to believe that the golden future is finally arriving? Incredible.
On the HRMC order, the club issued a statement: It has been inaccurately reported that Cardiff City Football Club face a winding-up order from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, following a court hearing today, Wednesday, November 25.
Today's court action had the affect of withdrawing the threat of a winding-up order rather than imposing it.
For the avoidance of doubt, Cardiff City Football Club have a payment schedule in place with HMRC, and there is no prospect of the club being wound up. This payment schedule was agreed with HMRC some time ahead of today's court hearing.
Cardiff City Football Club have every confidence in their future financial stability and fully expect to be in a position to make further investment in its playing squad in the January transfer window.
On the appointment of TG, the club announced:
Dato' Chan Tien Ghee is Managing Director of Central Malaysian Properties Sdn Bhd, a major Malaysian Property Company currently managing the renowned Lido Boulevard Waterfront Development in Johor, Southern Malaysia.
Dato' Chan's appointment reflects the continuing confidence that we have in the opportunity that exists for Cardiff City Football Club within Asia which will see us extend youth development, attract further sponsorship, broaden our supporter base and through Dato' Chan, his contacts and his partners, provide investment directly within the Group.
Commenting on Dato' Chan Tien Ghee's (TG's) appointment, Cardiff City Football Club Chairman and Chief Executive Peter Ridsdale said: 'The fact that TG has accepted this appointment demonstrates the confidence that exists that Cardiff City Football Club can, with the right level of additional investment, whether directly or through the broader global commercial opportunities, become an established top-flight football club."
Commenting on his appointment, Dato' Chan Tien Ghee said: "I am very proud and privileged to be joining the Board of Cardiff City at this time. Now that the infrastructure is in place, I believe that together with the existing Board I can help to provide Cardiff City with the additional resources it requires to achieve the ambition of attaining Premier League Football and of making Cardiff City a recognised household name across the Asian continent."
Talking on the Cardiff City phone-in tonight, Peter showed why he is regarded as a master politician by being bullish about the future whilst dismissing the day in court.
As much as he would wish to disguise it, today was a highly embarrassing episode which showed a complete lack of financial and corporate management. I can only hope, as Ridsdale claims, that the club have made a payment and agreed a solution with HRMC but when I questionned him why the courts issued a 70 day extension if, as he claims, it all all resolved, he answered, "I don't know".
Do I think it's as simple as Ridsdale has tried to make out? Not for a single minute.
However let's end on a positive note, the arrival of T.G. may be a positive sign. Some City fans are already getting intoxicated believing it is the making of our club and all our problems will be over. Personally, I'll believe it when I see it. After all, if I had a pound every time I heard the likes of Hammam and Ridsdale make a comment that didn't stand up to scutiny or subsequent events and actions, I could have cleared all the club's debts myself!
It is my annual appearence on the Cardiff City Phone-In tonight where I'll be passing my judgement on the club, the season to date and what next.
On air during 7 to 8pm and hosted by former Premiership ref Keith Cooper, it's on GTFM 107.9 FM (Pontypridd/valleys), Radio Cardiff 98.7FM or BroFM 98.1FM (Barry & The Vale).
You can also listen live online anywhere in the world via the station websites (Google them to find them).
Swansea City fans have the bragging rights after deservedly beating Cardiff on the weekend and I know they're making the most of it!
I've had calls, text and e-mails all weekend and as several Swans fans work with me, I expected more back at work today. As you'll see below, they duly obliged ... my desk was worse than this earlier in the day.
46,000 Sunderland fans baying their side onto promotion and a few hundred dispirited Cardiff fans praying we'd get a result and stay up ... and, miracle of miracles, we won and stayed up, they lost and missed out. They weren't happy afterwards, I can tell you.
Against all odds, we won 2-1 - such a shock that even Ronnie Moore scored! However we went for it going out with 4 strikers - Tony Evans, Ray Bishop. Gary "Basil" Stevens and Moore looking at this footage.
Use the link below to download or listen to tonight's shopw reviewing last night's rousing home win over Coventry City. You'll also get to hear me but it's alright apart from that!
Just reminding that the show is on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday from 7pm to 8pm with host and former Premiership referee Keith Cooper if you wish to listen live and participate.
The phone number remains the same as before, 01443 654654 while e-mails should be sent to a new address bluebirds@mail.com
Had an outstanding time today watching STEREOPHONICS blitz Cardiff Castle with a 21 song salvo. I've been lucky enough to see them several times and they can be available but today, I thought, was their best yet but maybe a combo of factors helped.
A one-off gig to promote their forthcoming new album, Kelly Jones and the boys retruned to the venue of their first ever main gig. That was back in 1998 and ticket prices of £12.50 for this show were the same as then and they promptly sold out 10,000 in all of 40 minutes.
The weather was suitably October with gusty winds and a couple of heavy showers - sod's law after a month of dryness - but that only added to the fun. For me, being there with friends and meeting others plus news of City winning 4-0 made it all the more magical.
However most of all, it was the set list with a few new songs - they sounded good too - some early classics, all the hits and all interspersed throughout with Kelly having good banter with the crowd as well. Wonderful stuff.
They promised something big and unique for Wales next year - look forward to finding out what that will be.
With the recession and credit crunch, working in Financial Services was hardly the best place to be.
So after 25 years progressing in the industry, I found myself out of work for the first time in my life, a bewildering prospect. At the time, I thought it would be no more than a temporary 'holiday' but little did I know I'd be out for 7 months and when I got back into work, I'd be self-employed taking contract work only.
Foprtunately, I've managed to make a success of it and after bringing in results, I've accepted a permanent role starting today. There's a lot to be said for security, such a relief.
Back in 1978 as a teenager who discovered a new attitude and meaning in life thanks in no small part to the explosion of punk and new wave music, there were tv programmes that were unmissable.
Old Grey Whistle Test, for so long the bastion of prog rock, were showcasing these new groups. BBC had other shows on tv and radio that were outlets and Fitzalan - my old school - would have daily conversations on who John Peel had played the night before.
Another show that let this new music burst into our living rooms was Revolver. Shown late on a Friday or Saturday night, I can remember religiously watching it with mates. There was comedy, the awesome Peter Cook presenting while cooking a barbeque for guests(!) and punk groups playing live.
I can remember the performances below as though they were yesterday - it's quite horrifying to realise it was in fact 31 years ago! The audience/dancing looks very dated, the music, to me, still seems fresh.
BUZZCOCKS - Love You More and Noise Annoys (Perfect 2 minute power pop songs - looking forward to see The Buzzcocks in Cardiff on December 3)
SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES The song that put Siouxsie on the map
THE JAM -DAVID WATTS
ELVIS COSTELLO - THIS YEAR'S GIRL & RADIO RADIO (what a man!)
Incredible to just watch DERREN BROWN on live tv reveal he predicted 6 out of 6 Lottery Numbers correct. His predictions on balls on view all the time couldn't be turned and revealed until the draw was complete but nobody and nothing was near them. There must be a trick but it was incredible to view.
So how come he got everything wrong with me?
I met him at a conference a few years ago and he tried some of his tricks on me and some colleagues - not long after his first Channel 4 series.
He tried to guess my mother's surname - wrong!
He wanted to work out an object I was drawing - I'm cack-handed writing so he was facked!
He attempted to work out my last holiday and then a number and letter I was thinking of - wrong!
He moved onto the rest of the table and got them correct. He never came back to me!
A 33 foot long minky whale got washed ashore onto rocks at The Knap today - some say it died yesterday, some a couple of weeks ago. It was the biggest thing to happen in Barry since Wetherspoons opened ... a landmark day then! :>)
I got there early evening just as they got it off the rocks at high tide and brought it to shore ... I'd avoid tun...a sarnies locally for a few days if I were you!
The last time such a large whale got washed ashore in South Wales was in Aberthaw when I was a kid ... I was there too. There is no link, honest.
