The Rhondda Valleys and the people who live there are unique for many reasons – and when it comes to sporting excellence, the undoubtedly punch above their weight.
From boxing legend Tommy Farr to infamous football referee Clive Thomas, they have produced a wealth of talent and larger-than-life characters.
The talents of footballers such as Alan Curtis and Nathan Jones were nurtured there too, on school playing fields and in local leagues.
Every weekend, on football pitches across the Rhondda Fach and the Rhondda Fawr dedicated sportsmen and women still play real football – the grassroots game: where you have to pay to play, hope a referee turns up, change in a shed, play on a rain-sodden cabbage patch and take your own kit home to wash.
Here they find a special camaraderie that is difficult to match elsewehere. This is a story – a celebration – of those Sunday League footballers; a million miles away from the pampered prima donnas of the Premier League, but whose defeats are just as painful and whose successes are every bit as glorious.
