Nantyglo RFC calendar branded 'pornographic' nearly sold out (From South Wales Argus)

Nantyglo RFC calendar branded 'pornographic' nearly sold out

7:00am Wednesday 16th January 2013 in News

A NAUGHTY charity calendar which sparked off a Border Agency alert is now proving so popular the rugby club behind it is considering having more copies printed.

Nantyglo RFC ordered 300 copies of the calendar to be printed in Germany, but they were intercepted by the UK Border Agency for three weeks before Christmas and deemed "pornographic".

Steward Sharon Smith said there was nothing pornographic about the 2013 charity calendar. She added: "There are bare naked bottoms but there is nothing pornographic about it. We don't really know what went wrong or why they were stopped. Fortunately they released them and we managed to get the courier to deliver them on the Friday before Christmas."

Since this mishap, however, the club has enjoyed boosted sales from the publicity surrounding the seizure.

Ms Smith said: "The sales have picked up. With it being post Christmas, we didn't expect to sell any more, but 80 calendars sold over the weekend.

"Publicity has had a good knock on effect for us. We only have 30 left, so we are even discussing whether to have more printed, as we have requests from as far as London."

The club hopes to raise around £2,000 for 42-year-old Steve Coles, who captained the team from 2007 to 2009 and suffered severe spinal injuries playing for Abergavenny in a match last January.

"The money is partly for a specialised wheelchair and also to make adjustments to Steve's house so he can come home from hospital with the wheelchair," explained Mrs Smith.

"We have had a few fundraising events including a gentleman's afternoon and a bucket collection at Rodney Parade. "The boys were a bit apprehensive about doing this calendar but once they decided they were all doing it they were great," she said.

A spokeswoman for the UK Border Agency said: "On the limited information provided and given the thousands of seizures we make at the border every year we are unable to confirm whether our officers detained these calendars.

"As well as seizing drugs and offensive weapons, our officers are the front line of enforcing laws preventing to the importation of indecent and obscene material - including child pornography - into the UK."

The 2013 calendar, designed by Blaenau Gwent-based Inflow Media and Treasured Photography, is on sale now. Contact Nantyglo RFC on 01495 311003.