Stradey Park

Llanelli is worth a visit for any rugby fan. The 130 year old ground more than makes up for the lacklustre town centre at least. The stadium provides the most Westerly first class rugby in the UK in the shape of Llanelli Scarlets and also Llanelli RFC (born out of regionalisation) who ply their trade in the Welsh Premiership.

Both club and stadium are steeped in history. Llanelli have taken the scalps of many a touring side including the famous 9-3 win over New Zealand in 1972. The game is still talked about regularly along with the somewhat proud fact that every pub in the town was drunk dry. Man of the match that day Gareth Jenkins is now coach and it was he that masterminded another famous win of then World Champions Australia twenty years later.

The ground itself is around 15-20 minutes walk from the Railway Station which has regular services from both the East and West, or a 10 minute car ride from junction 48 on the M4. Parking is not normally a problem, with the surrounding streets providing plenty of safe places to leave your wagon.

Recommended watering holes pre-match include the Kilkenny Cat and the Princess Head Inn, both in the West End area of the town (around 15 minutes walk from the ground). If it’s a bit of a sing song and a nice pint you’re after, you can’t go wrong in either of these two. Other choices include the Thomas Arms (town centre), the Colliers Arms or Stradey Arms, which are all approximately 5 minutes walk from the ground with the latter doing excellent food. For an easy sit down meal The Sandpiper is a fairly large Brewster’s restaurant that’s also 5 minutes walk from the ground.

As far as the match day ambiance is concerned, the atmosphere at Stradey is second to none bearing in mind the size of the town. Opposition teams are more or less guaranteed a hostile reception, but the opposing fans will receive a welcome as warm as the singing is loud. In the 1800’s (bear with me) Llanelli was a big trading port and Turkish sailors would come and trade for the steel, coal, copper and tin etc. Locals and rugby fans alike have been known as “Turks” ever since and its not uncommon to see a few Turkish flags and Fezzes hanging around the stadium. The North Enclosure has a “scrum bar” that serves a pretty ordinary pint it must be said. On the bigger match days a marquee is normally erected in the “Scarlets Zone” near the car park, housing traditional Welsh entertainment and fodder. This is the best bet for a nice pint, and also has the best fast food around the ground, however, you can do worse than purchase a tray of “dinky donuts” from the stall near the North Enclosure.

Post match drinks are always a fun affair at these two and for a later drink, clubs Venue, Kavannagh’s, Tom Peppers and Storm are cracking locations to play “Pull a Pig”. The latter allegedly had a night nicknamed “Sticky Carpet Thursday” by the locals, for various reasons I wont go into here.

In 2007, The Scarlets Regional rugby team moves to a purpose built stadium near the old Tin Plate works. Although the county council will share the £20 million cost, the expense of the 15,000 capacity project may be the reason why the grounds’ upkeep has deteriorated slightly in the last year or so. As a result, it’s not uncommon to see the odd chocolate bar floating in one of the lavatories in the North Enclosure. But all in all, the characters, beer, and most importantly passion for rugby will ensure that even the most fatuous of fans will enjoy his or her day out at Stradey Park.