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An opening ceremony of the Mike Williams Stand was held on Saturday 21^st November at Y Parc to honour club stalwart Michael(Mike) Williams for his hard work, dedication and service to the club over the past 20 years.  There was a large crowd present in not so good weather conditions who turned out to show their appreciation and admiration towards his remarkable achievements for the club over the decades.

The Mike Williams Stand in recognition for his service

Mike become involved in the club just after rugby union turned from an amateur sport into a professional sport and many mediocre players were earning a nice little pay packet for turning out for their local side on a Saturday afternoon. Due to the dawn of the professional era, the club was struggling financially and Mike who was not an automatic choice, was elected for Club Secretary and can be credited(along with a few other long serving members) with restructuring and saving the club from financial collapse in the 1990s. Without his commitment and dedication, the Club may not have been able to survive those difficult years.

Mike, an absolute gentleman who would do anything for anyone is well known throughout the sporting community in Wales. Prior to becoming involved with rugby, he helped form the successful Abercynon minis and junior football teams where he would spend most of time transporting the young players throughout the valley to engage in football matches on most Saturdays and Sundays.  It is still a running joke of how many children Mike could squeeze into his car to ensure they all participated in their football match and enjoyed their weekend.

Mike with one of his junior football teams

Such is Mike’s popularity that wherever he went not just in Wales but also around the world for holidays or work commitments he always managed to bump into somebody that knew him.  Mike is also well known and highly thought of by all the staff at the WRU hierarchy, where over the years he has built up great relationships and forging great links for the club.  A tale that he chuckles about is that at a recent International game he mixed up his match day tickets whereby he had taken his tickets for the following week’s game and was not allowed into the ground.  Mike being Mike was not fazed by his error and went straight to the WRU ticket office where he was escorted to the front of a long que (much to the dismay of disgruntled fans) and new tickets were printed just in time for him to take his seat for his beloved Welsh rugby team and anthem.

A running family joke is that whenever the children went to visit their parents and Mike wasn’t home they would say dad is down his second home is he and Irene(Mike’s wife) would always come back with it’s not his second home it’s his bloody first home as he spends more time down there than here. 

Mike and Irene getting ready to watch his beloved Wales National RugbyTeam

Mike and family at the unveiling of the Mike Williams stand

Abercynon RFC has been fortunate to have someone like Mike over the past 20 years, who’s passion, love and desire for the club to succeed often at the expense of his own time has been of a massive benefit and the club has reaped the rewards.  Therefore, the unveiling of the Mike Williams Stand is a fitting tribute for him and his family to share this honourable moment in recognition for his invaluable services to our club.(more Images can be found on link)

Mike enjoying a seat in the stand named after him in recognition for his services and dedication to club