Last Saturday’s crunch match at the Avondale Motor Park Arena saw a Welsh league football legend play his final match.
Goalkeeper Jack Lansdown, who has appeared more than 400 times for Llantwit Major, called the final whistle on his career.
Cwmbran Celtic won 1-0 but Lansdown saved a penalty to stop Celtic taking a 2-0 lead in the first half. During the tense match, I chatted to Jack’s dad who like me was stood behind the Llantwit goal for both halves.
BroRadio (see link in comments) reported that during his career he’s played in Europe in the in the Fenix Trophy and for the league in the UEFA Regions Cup.
And another career highlight was in 2021/22 when Llantwit won the JD Cymru South title.
Jack told Cwmbran Life: “It’s been very long [his footballing career]. It feels twice as long as it actually was to be fair. I’ve been there, kind of done it, won it all, so now is a good time to retire. You know, my body is feeling it slowly. It’s been very enjoyable.”
I asked him if he’ll miss training?
“Absolutely not. Not training. Maybe a little bit of Saturdays, the wins and stuff but not so much like days like today.”
A spokesperson for Llantwit Major FC said: “Jack has represented the Major over 400 times and won every division we played in. He has always worn the shirt with pride, dedication and passion – even when it had a fish, dinosaur or Mr Blobby on it!
“The impact Jack has had on our club cannot be expressed in words alone, and we will be eternally grateful for everything he has given us over the past two decades, from lifting the Cymru South title, a certain penalty save, heroic saves in our European triumph over BK Skjold and countless more moments over the years.
“The Windmill will be a very different (and quieter!) place without him on the field, but we are sure he will take his place amongst the Windmill Army.”
After the final whistle, as Cwmbran Celtic FC players celebrated league survival, he was presented with a photo showing Mr Blobby in the background as he took a goal kick wearing one of his legendary shirts