Keith Walker came to Pembrokeshire well over a decade ago and since then has been associated with Tenby United RFC after a rich and varied involvement as a player, coach and administrator since 1962, when he started playing the game at Caerffili Grammar School, in Glamorgan.
 
He played for Penarth against the Barbarians as an undoubted highlight and was also a more than useful young athlete who captained Glamorgan Youth and also competed as a sprinter at the Welsh Games in 1959 and 1960, coached by Ron Pickering, as well as winning a Welsh Youth title and being successful at the high jump in the 1961 Welsh Games.
 

Warm welcome from The Seasiders

 
Keith came to Penally in 2002 and was initially asked to coach the Tenby United youth team, quickly progressing, via the second XV, to eventually coaching the first team and taking on the role of team manager.
 
From 2004-8 he held the Hon Secretary, Hon Treasurer and Fixture Secretary roles, returning after a short break to repeat his responsibilities until 2011. Not content with that little lot, Keith also played (as a 65 year old!) for Tenby Vets against their counterparts from Cambridge, who included a number of players he had coached during his stint there, including his son Mial.
 
"Feeling sore doesn't really describe how I felt for four days afterwards," admitted Keith with a chuckle, "and did I get fearful stick from my wife Joyce!"
 
Since then Keith has continued to support the Seasiders and watches them as often as he can, including away games where possible.
 

Early sporting success for Keith

 
He was born at Llanbradach, in the Rhymney Valley, and first set out in rugby as long ago as 1952 at Caerphilly and was in the first team during his fifth year and for two years afterwards, captaining the school in 1961 as they only lost one of 14 matches in a fixture list that included West Mon, Bassaleg, Pontypridd, Aber Valley, Halifax (on tour) and Haverfordwest (whom they beat 11-0 in Haverfordwest.)
 
He also competed in athletics during the summer as a hurdler who also dabbled in the high and long jumps for Birchgrove Harriers, who shared the Maindy Stadium in Cardiff with Roath Harriers until they merged to become Cardiff Athletic Club. But then work commitments and rugby meant it was hard to take part in both sports so Keith plumped for the oval ball game.
 

Bedwas bound – and then on to Penarth to take on the Baa-Baas!

 
"Then I played rugby for Bedwas Youth but after six weeks I found myself in the first team, where there were no National Leagues in those day but we played lots of tough local derbies - but luckily I was well looked after by some of the experienced players involved at the club.
 
"From there it was on to Penarth, who in those days played every top-class club, other than Llanelli, and were traditionally included on the Barbarians' Easter Tour and used the town as their base. I played in the back row in 1965 and we were leading with ten minutes to go but lost 26-13 - and I couldn't believe how fast it was!
 
 "I also played against Cardiff at the Arms Park and our regular Boxing Day trip was to Northampton, who had England stars like Budge Rogers and David Perry. One year we doubled up as we also played against Bedford with an overnight stop in between, and I also played in the Snelling Sevens at the Arms Park and St Helens, Swansea - and we won the annual Gloucester Sevens in Lydney.
 

Meeting some top players in England

 
Work then took Keith to Banbury and later on to Solihill - and he joined the former club and played in the County Championship for Oxfordshire, where Nigel Starmer-Smith was scrum half.
They played mostly friendlies, including against regular fixtures against Old Coventrians, where a young David Duckham played alongside his brother Philip.
 
Whilst working in Solihull he was invited to train with Moseley and soon made the first team that included English internationals Sam Doble, Keith Fielding, Colin McFadyean, Terry Arthur, John Finlan, Jan Webster and Nigel Horton.
 
"We played all over England, Ireland and Wales, including a regular fixture against Llanelli, and our skipper John White made a lineout call which let the Scarlets' players know I was Welsh - and I was given a warm welcome by them on my rugby return to Wales!
 
"We also played Teranure College in Ireland and they had international players Mick Hipwell and Brendan Sherry involved – and we really enjoyed the after-match hospitality as much as the actual game!.
 

Work movements meant a range of clubs

 
"Work then took me to Thundersley in Essex and then Pulborough (West Sussex), which meant I had to curtail my rugby but I did turn out for Rochford 100 in Essex and captained them in 1972/73 (and my son Mial led them in 2000/1). I also played later for Basildon, who had several Welsh ex-pats, including Dai Griffiths (Pembroke Dock Quins), Johnny Power and Ollie Knott (Pembroke).
 
"In 1980/81 I played for Pulborough, where it was very much grass roots rugby, and in my short time there was invited to be captain, despite my age, and I still attend their annual VPs dinner near the end of each season."
 
"When I moved to Cambridge I became coach to the club, having already attained my senior award on a course run by Alan Davies, who went on to coach the Welsh national team.
 

Old hand in sevens’ rugby

 
I played the odd game off the bench and in 1985/86 (at the age of 43) played in an international sevens tournament organised by Cambridge University.
 
"The Welsh team included Mark Ring, Paul Moriarty, Billy James, Kevin Bowring, John Devereux and Mark Titley whilst England had the likes of Andy Ripley, Rory Underwood, Ian Peck, Nick Preston and Nick Mansell. The university team included Gavin Hastings, Fran Clough, Rob Wainwright and Kevin Wyles, with Scott Hastings in the Scottish team.
 
“As County Cup winners we entered the Pilkington Cup, where there were really tough fixtures against Doncaster, Penzance, Winchester and Havant.
 

And finally . . .

 
"As the years progressed I moved into the administration side and was Hon Sec of the county set-up and sat on the RFU Constituent Body Committee called Eastern Counties (comprising Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire) for eight years.
 
But now Keith enjoys watching the game at local and national level without the total commitment that he had shown over 50 years involvement in the game at a range of levels - and when Keith Walker speaks to us about rugby we tend to listen closely because with his experience he certainly knows his rugby onions!