Stradey Park in Llanelli has played host to over 2,500 rugby matches since 1879 but last weekend’s Anglo-Welsh match between the Llanelli Scarlets and Bristol was the club’s final game there before relocating to the new Parc y Scarlets.
For everyone at the club, indeed anyone with a knowledge of the game in Wales, it is a sad farewell.
“I think it was a huge shock and still is,” Scarlets Chairman Huw Evans said of the realisation that a new stadium was now required in order to move with the times.
“However black and white the economic argument is, people will have massive regret. There will be a huge outpouring of emotion. [But] I think most of the genuine rugby fans, particularly those who have visited other stadia around Europe, understand that we can’t continue here.”
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Over the years Stradey Park has welcomed thousands of visiting rugby fans but it is of course the locals who have come to take for granted its status as a community heart beat.
The day the All Blacks came to town
Reverend Eldan Phillips has been attending matches at the club since the late 1950s and remembers perhaps more than any other the day the All Blacks came to town in 1972.
“There was a certain apocalyptic feel about that afternoon. It was a very dark and dismal day, the crowd cover was very low. It was an afternoon kick-off, I remember it, it was a 2:30 kick off but it as really dark and there was a descending atmosphere. I suppose nobody really thought that we could beat the All Blacks that day,” Phillips told Total Rugby.
One man who did believe, though, was the coach Carwyn James. Successful with the Lions against the All Blacks the previous year, his sense of optimism proved contagious.
“There was a sense of anticipation because Carwyn James had coached the Lions in 1971,” recalled fly half Phil Bennett. “All pre-season he said, ‘boys, there's only one match that counts this season in our centenary year and that's the All Blacks - and we can beat them’.”
Centre Roy Bergiers recalls the morning of the match: “Having a lift up with Delme Thomas, our captain, on the way up I saw a blackbird being chased by a magpie and being superstitious I thought, ‘A bit of bad luck for the All Blacks today'.. I had that feeling.”
Llanelli won the match, Bergiers scoring a try in the 9-3 victory that sparked celebrations still vivid in the memory.
“As soon as the final whistle went there were thousands of people on the field,” said the captain that day Delme Thomas. “They just carried us off the field, they were so proud of us, I think, that we'd beaten the All Blacks. Not just us players, but all the community, Llanelli and district, all the supporters that have supported Llanelli over the years. I think it was the proudest day of their lives.”
Farewell reunion
To celebrate the ground’s final game, the visit of Bristol, more than 20 former club captains were reunited with the fans and the community in mutual reminiscence.
“We do melancholy quite well here in Wales, we enjoy it!” said former Llanelli and Wales captain Ieuan Evans. “Tonight is about looking at the past, tonight is about celebrating the past. It's the last game to be played here at Stradey to celebrate the achievements of bygone eras."
Thankfully, the result matched the occasion, a 27-0 victory for the Scarlets the perfect send-off.
“I was very nervous before tonight's game because you're fully aware of the tradition of the club and the history of the club and you just wanted to do the place justice,” said international fly-half Stephen Jones. “I'm delighted we won. It's good to give the place a good send off.”
Abridged from Total Rugby. Watch this feature on this week’s TV show on broadcasters worldwide from Wednesday 29 October, or listen on Total Rugby Radio on broadcasters worldwide, i-Tunes or on this website from Thursday 30 October.