THE future of Pontypool RFC at their historic home of Pontypool Park was thrown into doubt yesterday after the club announced its intention to leave the venue.

Marking its 150th year, the club is looking at alternative sites after being plagued by vandalism and anti-social behaviour at the Torfaen council-owned grounds.

Talks with the council have come to a standstill and the club will hold a special meeting with supporters on Tuesday at 6.30pm at the Parkway Hotel in Cwmbran to discuss its future.

“It’s devastating. We know how much the ground means to the club’s supporters,” Ben Jeffreys Tweeted last week after posting a picture of damage.

The antisocial behaviour problems have been ongoing for years at Pooler.

Back in February 2014 Pontypool RFC and Torfaen council announced they were working together on “a strategy” to safeguard the future of the historic club at Pontypool Park.

Meetings were held between the two parties to find a solution to halt persistent issues of anti-social behaviour at the rugby ground part of the park, and even arson attacks.

The club was also targeted by vandals on January 13, 2014. A bin fire was set near the stands, causing “significant damage”.

It came just days after plea from the club for help dealing with yobs at the site.The park had been plagued by incidents such as seats ripped out of the stand, and needles found on the pitch.

Club officials and volunteers were left disgusted in November 2012 when screwdrivers, nails and knife blades were found sticking out of the try line. Broken bottles were also discovered driven into the field with sharp shards pointing upwards.

In March 2014 lifelong Pontypool RFC fans pleaded with vandals to stop targeting the historic club at Pontypool Park, saying the attacks are “breaking the heart of the club”.

Club stalwart Terry ‘Tiger’ Simons , who has dedicated his life to the club since watching his first match at the ground at the age of 10, and long-serving member John Long both had to watch on helpless as the club has been subjected to a shocking campaign of abuse.

This included the cherished scoreboard. The original scoreboard has been used for some historic matches, including the visit of the All Blacks in the 80s.

He said at the time: “This is the fabric of the club, years of history, being destroyed because of mindless vandalism."

Pontypool RFC's roots are deep in Wales rugby history. The club produced some of the most famous Wales and British Lions international players, including the Pontypool Front Row of Charlie Faulkner, Graham Price and Bobby Windsor in the 1970s.

This tough and feared one-club front row for Wales became immortalised by Max Boyce as the Viet Gwent.

However, the club hit a difficult period with the WRU’s decision to kick the side out of the Premiership. But Pooler certainly weren't going down without a fight and were locked in a legal battle with the union.

A fighting fund was set up with fans asked to buy season tickets for the 2012/13 campaign and for sponsors to make early financial commitments to fight the decision.

Pontypool took the WRU to the High Court for what it felt was a breach of contract after the club were relegated from the Premiership based on criteria such as stadium facilities, and playing standards, which were originally set to reduce the Premiership to ten teams.

But the High Court said Pontypool failed to show the WRU had acted in breach of duty or contract and that Pontypool’s position was unchanged by the addition of the two extra clubs because they had a better playing record on the WRU meritocracy criteria.

The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) later gave Pontypool RFC the opportunity to avoid incurring the huge legal costs.

In October 2013 Target 1,000 was launched ensuring 1,050 attended the Pontypool RFC v Ebbw Vale RFC fixture at Pontypool Park.

The Target 1,000 campaign was launched by The Free Press earlier that summer with the aim of raising the attendance of Pontypool RFC home fixtures to 1,000 fans and beyond.

Pontypool RFC corporate director, Ben Jeffreys said at the time: "Everybody at Pontypool RFC is delighted that an attendance of over 1,000 has been achieved so early into the season. It was a day many have been dreaming of for so long; it was an incredibly special and emotional moment to see so many people huddled together enjoying a fantastic game of rugby."

Ben Jeffreys was appointed chief executive officer of Pontypool RFC in 2014, taking over from his father, Newport-based businessman Peter, who is taking up the role of non-executive chairman of the club. He had already made quite an impact at the club in his role as corporate director but he was tasked with salvaging the club. After initially stabilising the club he moved to improve its structure both on and off the pitch.

This hard work paid off as the club enjoyed an outstanding 2017-18 campaign after successfully defending its National Championship crown in some style this season, by winning all twenty-two matches to become the first club in National Championship history to be dubbed ‘The Invincibles’. The Pooler Army saw the National Championship trophy come home to Torfaen.

http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/16352740.pontypool-rfc-announce-plans-to-leave-famous-pontypool-park-home-due-to-anti-social-behaviour/

http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/16352740.pontypool-rfc-announce-plans-to-leave-famous-pontypool-park-home-due-to-anti-social-behaviour/