By Chris Thau
The visit of 90-year-old George Parsons to the Recreation Ground was as successful as it was enjoyed by all, players, club officials and the 20-odd family members who arrived at the Recreation Ground at the beginning of the month. What a shame that the outcome of the Pontyclun match, with Penarth heavily defeated by the Badgers, did not quite match the off-the field merry atmosphere generated by the Parsons family visit. It was quite clear from the moment George arrived, blue-eyes shining and with an infectious smile spread on his face, holding hands with his wife Nora and with grandson George in tow, that this was quite a special gentleman, surrounded by a special family. The reason for the visit was quite simple, he said later: “I thought it would be just lovely to see the field again, enjoy the atmosphere and of course see a match of my old club, which meant so much for me when I was young.”
“Dad has been talking about his days at Penarth club and we thought of making him a special present on his 90th birthday which was last November, but the then fixture list did not did not quite allow it. So we spoke to Mike Clare and agreed for a date in February, which turned out to be a tremendous occasion for all of us, for which we want to thank the club and all involved in organizing it,” said his older son Gareth. Gareth Parsons and his younger brother Bill were the prime-movers behind the party attended by over 20 family members, including their cousins Paul and John McCarthy, who played on and off for Penarth during the mid-1980s.
Until that Saturday afternoon, for those of us interested in the club’s history, George Parsons was just a name in a team line-up, one of the 15 Penarth players who took on the Barbarians in the first post war fixture in April 1946. What we found out from press cuttings supplied by Gareth Parsons and his father’s own story, delivered with the same gentle smile and remarkable attention to detail, was that then 21-year-old scrum-half George had a cracking game against his opposite number Angus William Black, the then Edinburg University half-back and a future Scottish internationalist and British Lion. Parsons scored all Penarth points, a try and a penalty goal, in their 27-6 defeat at the hands of a young and ambitious Baa-Baas team, who also included two of the 1946 Kiwi tourists WA Meates and EG Boggs, who got picked by the All Black soon afterwards and wing-forward and current Barbarians President Micky Steele-Bodger, also of Edinburgh University, at the time only a few months away from his first England cap.
What we also found out that the Penarth Committee in their desperate attempt to strengthen the side against such powerful opposition, had invited a few well-known players, randomly picked from the 6000-strong crowd, to play for the Seasiders. With Penarth’s outstanding fly-half Kevin Slamin gone North, George’s outside-half partner on the day was Eddie R Knapp, who had played for Wales in one of the non-cap war Internationals and captained Northampton, while Wales’ DC Williams, had also turned up for Penarth playing at centre. London Welsh star Vic Harrison got also invited, but the attempt to replace veteran wing forward Bill Tunsich with a younger man, was resisted by the Penarth forwards, explained Mr Parsons. “The Penarth forwards, a group of very strong and well-respected customers in Welsh rugby, said No! Bill, must play in what was supposed to be the final game of his career. Otherwise, we don’t play!, they said.” recalled George Parsons.
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Tunsich did play in the back-row, alongside skipper and No8 Lyndsay Morgan and the other wing forward Herbert Norman. Herbert, the son of Israel Norman, who had played for the club in 1907, passed away a few weeks ago and was at the time of his death the oldest living Penarth player. He told how several Penarth players enraged by the way they had been treated by the Committee the weekend before decided to boycott the Llanelli fixture, which ended with Penarth losing 44-3. “Yes, it was absolutely true. There were only 12 of us at Stradey Park that day and lost heavily that day. After that they dropped Penarth from their fixture list, I remember,” confirmed Mr Parsons.
George Parsons started playing rugby at the Cardiff school, “Howard Gardens High School”, which no longer exists, followed by Cardiff Youth, during the war years. A design engineer he worked in an ammunition factory during the war, and the joined the Royal Navy to complete his National Service in 1944. He returned to civilian life in 1945 when he joined Penarth RFC. Similar to all Welsh youngsters before and after him, he dreamt of playing for Wales, but injury cut short his promising career. “After the Good Friday match, on Easter Monday I got selected for a WRU Youth selection called “Young Welshmen” and we played against Davenport Services, who were very strong at the time. Though we lost they thought I played well, especially that my opponent was Moore, the England scrum half”.
“For me the greatest pleasure was to be involved in the game, to be with and around the ball, that’s why playing scrum-half suited me fine. That gave me the greatest thrill, and of course, I guess, like all young men of my age I dreamt of playing for Wales. After all, it has always been a young man’s dream, to play for Cardiff and Wales. But I had to be realistic. I was playing for Cardiff U21s and with Haydn Tanner, the then Wales scrum-half playing for Cardiff; there was not much hope there. So in 1945 when Kevin Bush of Penarth, whom I knew through a family connection, asked me to join them, I said ‘yes’ without hesitation.”
“Before one of my first games, I think it was in Neath, I was sitting in the dressing room and overheard two forwards talking about a new scrum-half, who had seemingly joined the club and was supposed to be quite a good player. I did not quite understand what they were talking about, and only later I realized they were talking about me.
“At the time, Penarth had a terrific pack, with Jimmy Gibson, Johnny Kelleher, Jack Corsi, Lyndsay Morgan, Terry Lloyd, Stan Barrett and Bill Tunsich some of the best forwards in Wales and playing behind them was not too difficult for a young scrum-half. I was accepted very quickly by the Penarth boys and we had a pretty good season, with wins at Pontypridd, Bridgend, Maesteg and some other high profile clubs. My best match was a defeat by Newport at Rodney Parade, when I was voted the “Man of the Match” though I was injured.
“After a while my outside half Kevin Slamin went North, which was a shame, as he was such a good player and we started playing well together. The League scouts were all over the place chasing Union players and in fact a few months afterwards I was approached by one of them, who tried to sign me up to go North. To be honest, I might have gone, but for a bad knee injury, which put an end to my Rugby League plans and in fact Rugby Union career as well.”
Before George’s departure for the Merchant Navy, Penarth Times wrote. “Many supporters asked what had become of G. Parsons, the scrum-half. George has been called up for The Merchant Navy. He was easily top scorer for Penarth, and his goal kicking will be greatly missed. No player could have rendered better service to the club than Parsons. He leaves Penarth with the very best wishes of the committee, players and members.”
The first Barbarians game after the 2nd world war
April 19, 1946
Penarth 6 Barbarians 27
Penarth RFC: J.O’Donovan, M.Hunt, VE Harrison, CD Williams AC Jones, E.R Knapp, G. Parsons, J Gibsons, J Kelleher, T.Lloyd, S Barrett, J.Corsi, W Tunsich, H.Norman, L Morgan (Captain) –
Scorer: try Parsons; pg Parsons
Barbarians F.C: C.J. Murphy, E.G Boggs, W.A Meates, J.R.S.Innes, P. H. Davies, I.Preece, A.W Black, G.A Kelly, R.J.Longland, R. Aitken, H.R Peel, E. Keefe, M.R.Steele-Bodger, J.B Docherty, R.J.L Hammond (Captain)
Scorers: tries: Innes three, Preece two, Meates two, cons: Murphy three.
Referee: G.Goldsworthy (Newport)
6000 spectators
