In Memoriam – Graham Gittins
Pontypridd RFC are devastated to learn of the passing of one of our all-time great players Graham Gittins, aged 89.
A player, captain and then later a Club Official, it was on Thursday evening the 9th of September 1954 the Pontypridd team set off up the valley to play against Merthyr Tydfil. On the bus was a very young prop forward called Graham Gittins, who was due to play the first of his 444 games for our club.
This was the start of a long and illustrious career with Pontypridd, both as a player and as a member of the committee. His playing career did not come to an end until 4th April 1969 when he turned out for a farewell appearance against a Mid District XV at Ynysangharad Park. For a long time Graham was in second place after Bob Penberthy in the list of total appearances until overtaken by Dale McIntosh, although Graham always used to pull the Chief’s leg, saying that ‘in his day you had to be in the starting XV to get an appearance and not come on as a substitute for five minutes at the end of a game!’
Back in Graham’s heyday the team changed in the swimming baths, now the lido, and it was a long walk to the playing field at the other end of the park. Club Historian Alun Granfield remembers Graham telling him that, “yes it was a long walk, but it was a lot longer walking back in the rain after a defeat!”
During his playing career Graham was regarded as one of the very best uncapped props in the Welsh game, but like many players for the so-called “unfashionable” clubs, he failed to attract the attention of the selectors. He might have done so had he moved to another club, but he remained loyal to Pontypridd RFC all of his long life.
As he came to the end of his playing career Graham took over the role of Fixture Secretary, a role that has disappeared with the advent of the leagues. It was the task of the Fixture Secretary to arrange the fixture list for the following season, a task that involved negotiation and persuasion in equal measure to try to improve the list. Graham’s reputation as a player helped him greatly in this respect, and during his time many excellent fixtures, particularly with English clubs, were added to our list and likewise added to our growing reputation as a major Welsh club.
As a Club, Pontypridd remembers Graham Gittins the rugby man, but we must also remember Graham as a friend and companion in the clubhouse and on many rugby trips in the following years. Alun reminisces further by saying: “He had a wicked sense of humour, and those of us who travelled with him on Cenydd Thomas’ bus to away games remember being woken from a snooze on the way home with a tap on the head a or a tweaked ear, with the cry “no sleeping on tour”, a rule he brought with him from his playing days.”
His knowledge of the game and love of Pontypridd RFC made him a stern critic when things were not going well on or off the field, but he never wavered in his support for the club he had served so well for so many years. Last year the Club renamed the Gibby Bar at Sardis Road the ‘Graham Gittins Lounge’ to honour the contribution that Graham has made to Pontypridd RFC over seven decades.
Everyone at Pontypridd RFC would like to pass on its sincerest condolences to Graham’s wife Gill, son Ian and the rest of his family and friends at this extremely difficult time – you’re all in our thoughts.
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