Howard Evans remembers the time the late sports writer Tom Lyons covered a boxing occasion which saw one of the Kray brothers fighting on the undercard, the very same Kray brothers whose underworld activities in the 1950s and 1960s didn’t come with too many cuddles.
Disappointingly for the brother in question that evening, a points decision went against him.
“Mrs Kray, the boys’ mother, recognised Tom at ringside and shouted over to him: ‘I don’t agree with the verdict, Mr Lyons. I’m not accepting that. We’ll have to see about it'," recalls Evans.
“‘Fair enough’, thought Tom as he hurried away, not planning to waste too many words explaining where it had all gone wrong for the defeated Kray, anyway. But I couldn't resist asking Tom: 'Where did they bury the referee?'"
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Howard has seen pretty much all in sport and in Welsh sport in particular during a lifetime of spectating, playing, writing and recording every notable twist and turn, particularly in Welsh rugby.
He was there watching as a boy when Clem Thomas conjured a 50-metre cross kick for Ken Jones to score the decisive try when Wales last beat New Zealand, in 1953. He was at Ninian Park in 1971 when Brian Clark nodded in the winner for Cardiff City in an unforgettable European Cup Winners’ Cup first-leg tie against Real Madrid. He was also in the North Stand at Cardiff Arms Park when Andy Haden and Frank Oliver jumped out of the gathering gloom at a lineout late on to secure New Zealand the penalty that Brian McKechnie kicked to beat Wales 13-12 in a desperately controversial game in 1978. You can read more about how the 1953 Welsh win over the All Blacks defined a huge slice of rugby history between the countries.
There have been a number of history books on Wales’ international matches from the Evans pen and much dedicated coverage of Welsh club rugby. The past 18 years have been spent following and writing on the fortunes of Aberavon RFC, in recent times on a voluntary basis. Few have such a deep knowledge of the game in Wales and its history and traditions. Few have the records he has at home as well. He is the statisticians' statistician. Had he covered the Charge of the Light Brigade he would have logged the details of all the runners and riders and possibly conducted interviews before they mounted up that ill-fated day.
But, finally, at the age of 81 the former No. 8 is setting aside his quill. It is the prospect of another winter of 80-mile round trips from his home in Cardiff to south-west Wales every other Saturday which has convinced him to call time on his days in Welsh rugby writing.
“I have loved every minute of it,” he tells WalesOnline. “And there have been a lot of minutes.
“I first started writing for Hill’s Welsh Press, a Cardiff-based agency, in the late 1960s after I’d done some work as a broadcaster on Cardiff City games for hospital radio. I just knew it was for me because I was doing something I enjoyed. Richard Shepherd was broadcasting on the Cardiff City matches at the time and he was excellent, as good as it gets with his knowledge, awareness of history and ability to put his words across.
“The rugby has been hugely enjoyable over the years. Obviously, the game has changed hugely in terms of player access at the top level, but in the club game in Wales you can still get to chat to pretty much whomever you want after matches and everyone is still very helpful.
“I started covering Aberavon after a stint at Bonymaen and also at Dunvant. David Evans, the old South Wales Evening Post sports editor, asked me to write a few words for their Saturday evening paper The Sporting and it just went from there. All the clubs I’ve worked at have been excellent as far as reporting goes.
“I just feel that perhaps now is the time step back a bit. Aberavon were great about it and put out a lovely tribute online.”
Plenty in Welsh sports journalism will feel any such tribute to be merited in Howard’s case. Any time a fact has needed checking over the years or a titbit of information needed to be confirmed, he has been the man to ring. At times, it has felt like he knows more about Welsh rugby’s history than the entire internet.
In their appreciation of him, the Wizards saluted his “encyclopaedic knowledge of Welsh rugby” and said they considered him “a familiar face and a friend to many” at the club.
On social media he was called an “absolute gentleman” and a Wizards legend; Mark Ring hailed him as a “really knowledgeable scribe”. Plenty wished him a happy retirement.
“I’ll still try to get across to Aberavon to watch the odd game in early season but I think the travelling during the dark nights of winter might have been a bit much so I made a call to just drop down a gear,” he says. “I do look back fondly on it all.
“Working for different press agencies, I was given different bylines to write under. I was Bryn Hughes and David Julians in the News of the World for many years. At one quiz I attended someone actually called me Bryn Hughes, thinking it was my real name.
“The best players I have seen? For me, the greatest Welsh forwards were Bryn Meredith, the Newport, Wales and Lions hooker, and Neath’s Roy John, who played for Wales and the Lions as well.
“The best Welsh back was Phil Bennett — certainly the most entertaining. He played almost every game as if he enjoyed it and he brought joy to so many people with the way he played.
“I collected Willie John McBride from an airport once and he told me he’d give Phil 100 out of 100 and Barry John 99.99 out of 100. Both were marvellous players.
“Maybe Colin Meads was the top forward I saw overall and Mike Gibson was a brilliant back. My favourite player was Ian Moore, a second row at Aberavon who went on to skipper them and also play for the Barbarians. What a player he was for the Wizards.”
When Howard wrote something, his words carried weight because he had seen so much and so was able to properly put things into context. For the Welsh Premiership, and Aberavon in particular, he has been a huge friend.
That said, everyone deserves a decent retirement, and nothing lasts forever. Now it’s time for this veteran Welsh rugby chronicler to let others carry the torch. The scene won’t be quite the same without him, though.
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