News

125th ANNIVERSARY REUNION - FRIDAY 15 APRIL 2016

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the founding of the London Welsh AFC in 1891.

As part of its celebrations a reunion will take place at the London Welsh Centre on Friday 15 April.

A very warm welcome to attend is extended to former members and friends of the club.

For further details please contact the secretary:

Gareth Jones

gareth.sian@btopenworld.com

07947 308249

NEW LWAFC PRESIDENT INAUGURATED - 4 MARCH, 2016

Club members new and old gathered at the London Welsh Centre just before Christmas to inaugurate David Morgan as the club's new president. The honorary post had been left vacant since the passing of Roy Jones in the spring of last year and the first obligation of the evening was for everyone present to raise their glass in Roy's memory.

David follows very much in the same tradition as Roy having played for London Welsh from a young age and gone on to serve the club in other roles as well. David played his first game in 1960 and was treasurer for over 30 years, so his credentials are rock solid.

A commemorative scroll was presented to David by chairman Reg Gibbs and, following a few more jars, the assembled crowd moved on to the local curry house down the road.

A TRIBUTE TO ROY JONES - 28 JUNE, 2015

A shadow was cast over preparations for the AGM with the news that club president Roy Jones had died on 19th May. He had been ill with Alzheimer’s disease for over 2 years and is survived by his two children Sarah and Keith.

Roy was a true London Welshman as he frequently reminded us having been born in London to Welsh parents. After spending the war years as an evacuee in Carmarthen he returned to Finchley where he lived for the rest of his life.

His father before him had also played for the club and gone on to become its president. So with Roy’s passing his unique insight and knowledge of the history of the club dating back to the early part of the last century goes with him.

Roy’s first love was tennis. He was a very accomplished player who competed at Junior Wimbledon and continued to play competitive tennis as well as coaching up until a few years ago.

As a footballer he was a commanding centre half who took no prisoners but he was also a good all round player. His physical strength and calmness under pressure enabled him more often than not to turn defence into attack. There is no doubt that Roy is the best player ever produced by the club. He was a regular selection for the league representative side in games against other leagues. During his period of National Service he would often be the exception in Army representative teams as being the only player not attached to a professional club. Following his discharge he was approached by West Ham to play for them but in that era the lure of a career in professional football may not have been such an attractive one as it is these days. In any case his roots with London Welsh ran deep and he remained a loyal one club man throughout his life.

In addition to his playing contribution Roy also served on both the League and the County FA committees as well as fulfilling a number of club roles culminating in being its president. His dedication and presence will be sorely missed.

BACK TO THE FUTURE - 1 February, 2015

It has come to light that Brentford, Enfield and London Welsh football clubs once shared something in common. There is no obvious connection especially considering that Brentford are currently riding high in the Football League Championship with London Welsh at the other end of the spectrum in grass roots football.

However these clubs were all founded around the same period - Brentford (1889) London Welsh (1891) and Enfield (1893). They were also all affiliated to the Middlesex County Football Association at the time of their respective centenaries. For each club the Association provided illuminated scrolls to mark the occasion but for reasons unknown they were not collected by any of the three recipients. It was during a recent clear out at their offices in Harrow that this discovery was made.

Twenty four years on we are delighted to have finally been presented with our award by the Middlesex FA Chief Executive Peter Clayton. Our connection with the Association lapsed a few years ago but we intend to renew our affiliation from next season onwards.

This occurrence also serves as a timely reminder that next year will mark our 125th anniversary and which will provide us with an opportunity to celebrate another chapter in our long history.

Sadly, Enfield, past winners of the Amateur Cup and FA Trophy went out of existence in the aftermath of the sale of its Southbury Road ground for commercial development in 1999.

TRANSFER NEWS - 1 January, 2015

Possibly for the first time ever we were recently consulted regarding an international clearance certificate for one of our former players. Mutandawa Gatsi who played for us in the days when we had 4 Saturday teams and a Sunday vets has joined Berowra SC and a request for clearance had been received by the FA at Wembley from the Australian Football Federation. Of course we graciously confirmed that we had no objection and sent our best wishes to Mutandawa with his new club.

Coming the other way but over a much smaller distance has been James Thomas who has moved from Senior 2 club London Lawyers. Transfer negotiations were very amicable and included a tongue in cheek observation from Anil Matharu their engaging secretary to the effect that it was their club’s policy not to try to hang on to players of a certain age. Ouch!

Despite this we are delighted to have James on board and to be able to draw on his experience from the higher divisions as we embark on our own ascent up the league. Prior to his transfer he was already very well known to us and has contributed enormously to the club over the past few months in his development of our new website and setting up a twitter account.