The time Welshpool stunned football with Kamara and Merson

When Welshpool lost 10-1 to Waterloo Rovers on Boxing Day 2011, it was the sort of result that could make even the most loyal supporter wince.

For a small club in mid Wales already battling to keep itself going, the defeat was painful enough. Then the scoreline became the subject of a joke on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday, with presenter Jeff Stelling poking fun at Welshpool during the programme. For the people at the club, it was another reminder of just how difficult things had become.

But what followed was something nobody at Welshpool could have predicted.

The email that changed everything for Welshpool

Rather than simply accept the publicity, the club’s manager decided to write to Sky. The message was not an angry complaint. It was an explanation of the club’s predicament and an appeal for some positive exposure.

Welshpool were struggling, and all they were trying to do was keep the club alive. A little support from one of the country’s biggest football programmes could make a difference.

“I fully expected this to be filed in the bin,” was how the manager later recalled it.

Instead, the following day, the phone rang. It was Johnny Phillips from Sky Sports.

They had seen the email and wanted to come to Welshpool to make a feature about the club.

“I thought it was a wind-up at first,” came the recollection. “I hadn’t told a soul about my email, so it had to be true.”

Suddenly, a club which had been the butt of a joke on Soccer Saturday was being given the kind of attention it could never have afforded to buy. Sky wanted to tell the story of Welshpool, a struggling football club in mid Wales trying to survive, and the possibilities began to become increasingly extraordinary.

Chris Kamara arrives in mid Wales

A number of former professionals were mentioned as potential guests. Dean Windass and Ian Rush were among the names discussed. But eventually one particular Soccer Saturday favourite was confirmed.

Chris Kamara was coming to play for Welshpool.

On Saturday, January 28, 2012, Kamara arrived in mid Wales and pulled on the Lilywhites shirt against Rhayader Town. It was a bizarre sight. Kamara had enjoyed a long career in professional football and had gone on to become one of the most recognisable personalities on British football television. Now, instead of reporting from the touchline, he was preparing to play for a struggling Welsh club in front of a huge crowd.

There was no miracle ending. Rhayader were one of the leading sides, and Welshpool were beaten 6-1.

Yet the scoreline almost seemed irrelevant by the time the final whistle went. The crowd had turned out in numbers, the club had been given a national platform, and Soccer Saturday had a story that was considerably more interesting than simply laughing at a 10-1 defeat.

For Welshpool, the visit was a massive boost.

The manager would later say he had no doubt the Sky feature helped the club get through the season. The attention brought supporters through the turnstiles and gave the town and the league exposure they would otherwise never have received.

And Sky clearly believed there was more to the story. What happened next was even more surreal.

Then Paul Merson secretly signed for Welshpool

A few weeks later, the broadcaster returned to Welshpool. This time Kamara was not coming alone. Another Soccer Saturday regular and former England international, Paul Merson, had agreed to play.

Keeping Merson’s involvement secret became an operation in itself. Sky did not want other broadcasters finding out about the surprise appearance, and the paperwork had to be completed at the last possible moment. A signing-on form was transported from London to Telford by motorbike, collected from the manager’s workplace and then taken all the way back to London so Merson could sign it. The paperwork was then returned.

All of that effort was required so that Paul Merson could officially play for Welshpool. It was difficult to imagine a more unlikely sentence in Welsh football.

Paul Merson scores for Welshpool

The opposition this time were Newbridge-on-Wye, another of the leading sides, and the occasion attracted another sizeable crowd. Merson was no longer simply a television personality turning up for a bit of fun. For 90 minutes, he was a Welshpool player.

And then, incredibly, he scored.

Mike Cockram’s cross came in from the left, and Merson met it with a header, sending the ball into the bottom corner. For a brief moment, Welshpool were level, and one of the most famous players ever to pull on an England shirt was celebrating a goal for a small club in mid Wales.

Merson later admitted that headers were not exactly his speciality.

“I don’t get too many headers but it’s always nice to score,” he said to the County Times Sport.

The afternoon eventually followed a more familiar pattern for Welshpool. Newbridge were too strong and went on to win 4-1, with tired legs beginning to tell in the second half. But once again, Welshpool had achieved something far more important than the final score suggested.

They had put on a performance. They had attracted another huge crowd and they had another story for Soccer Saturday.

‘The lads gave it their all’

Merson was honest about the result afterwards, praising Newbridge while insisting the Welshpool players could hold their heads high. He had enjoyed the experience, too. Playing at Maes y Dre was a world away from the biggest moments of his career, but that was precisely what made it so memorable.

“It was a disappointing result, but they’re a good team,” Merson said. “Our boys should walk off with their heads held high though, they didn’t let themselves down.”

Kamara was equally pleased with the improvement from his first appearance. He had seen a group of players give everything they had against another strong side, even if they ultimately lacked the quality to get the result.

“The lads gave it their all,” he said. “There’s nothing more the manager can ask.”

For Welshpool manager Dave Jones, though, the entire episode remained difficult to put into words.

“I was stunned when they said that Paul Merson fancied a game,” he said. “When I told the lads they were buzzing. It was fantastic that both players took time out to play for Welshpool.”

How Sky Sports changed Welshpool’s story

What began with a 10-1 defeat and a joke on Soccer Saturday had somehow developed into Chris Kamara and Paul Merson playing competitive football for Welshpool.

And the impact went beyond those two afternoons.

Sky’s coverage helped make the club known nationally. The story appeared on television and in print, while the unusual friendship between the broadcaster and the club continued after the matches. Sky staff, including Johnny Phillips, even joined those involved for a drink at the Angel after the Newbridge game.

The story would later feature in Phillips’ book Saturday Afternoon Fever, ensuring that the strange little chapter in Welshpool’s history was preserved beyond the television reports.

More than a decade later, the memory has not disappeared.

People who hear that someone is from Welshpool still sometimes make the connection with Sky Sports. Kamara. Merson. Soccer Saturday. That extraordinary period when a struggling club in mid Wales somehow found itself at the centre of a national football story.

The defeats are still there in the record. Rhayader won 6-1. Newbridge won 4-1. But that is not really what people remember.

They remember Kamara arriving at Maes y Dre. They remember Merson being kept secret until the paperwork was completed. They remember the former Arsenal and England star rising to meet Cockram’s cross and heading the ball into the corner of the net.

Most of all, they remember what happened when a small football club decided not to simply accept being the punchline.

Welshpool wrote to Sky, hoping for some positive exposure. Instead, they got Chris Kamara. Then they got Paul Merson.

And, for a brief and unforgettable period in 2012, Welshpool became one of the most talked-about little football clubs in Britain.