That It Should Come to This

There are many cases of situations where the actions of a few cause heartache and pain for the many. What is happening at Pontypool Park of late is a glaring example of this. The antisocial behaviour of a few that takes place in around the rugby ground is threatening to force Pontypool RFC to leave their spiritual home. The mindless people who perpetrate this behaviour seem to gain some kind of satisfaction from wrecking Pontypool RFC’s ambitions to take a leading position in the community by wanton acts of vandalism.

Why has this not been stopped you might ask? Surely the police and the local authorities could intervene. So far everything that has been done has proved ineffective. Pontypool RFC would like to be able to fence off the ground to improve security but this according to the Council seems to contravene the covenant of Pontypool Park (although it was OK to build a large sports centre where you have to pay to use the facilities). You somehow doubt whether a fence would keep the vandals out if they really wanted to continue their campaign of destruction.

On the face of it, the pragmatic answer is for Pooler to up sticks and find a new home where they can be in charge of their own destiny – Pexit! This of course would be a terrible wrench for all those who are associated with the club and have had the benefits of playing and watching rugby in surely one of the most picturesque settings in the world. Let us hope it doesn’t come to this as I for one would miss those afternoons on the Bank which have been an important part of my life for the last fifty years or so. Rest assured I will still support Pooler wherever they play but it could never be quite the same.

Surely the best answer is to round up the perpetrators of the problem as soon as possible. They are hardly master criminals. I would then send them to a boot camp run along the lines of a Ray Prosser training session. You never know they might get a taste for playing rugby and realise that scattering sharp objects on the pitch is dangerous.

I have confidence that this great club with the guidance of Peter and Ben Jeffreys and the backing of the loyal supporters will find a sensible way to solve the problem. We must for everyone’s sake.