The Greatest Sporting Family In History: The Blue And Black Brothers

Do you want to know why for almost a century Cardiff was considered 'the greatest' rugby club in the world? Or that during this period, from the years 1934-35 to 1973-74, in every season, at least one of eight brothers from Taff's Well played for Cardiff? And that the most famous, Bleddyn Williams, captained Cardiff and Wales, to the only two losses by the All Blacks in their 1953 British tour? Or that brother Lloyd and cousin Bill Tamplin also captained Cardiff and Wales? And that their uncle from the same village, Roy Roberts MM, played for Cardiff before and after the war with the eldest Williams brothers? This is the story both of their first rugby club, Taff's Well, and of Cardiff RFC, and of an astonishing achievement, not replicable in any team sport, of eight great rugby players whose careers were blighted by war and National Service. Despite this, they played 1,480 times for Cardiff - in all of sporting history, no other family has EVER COME CLOSE to the careers of the Williams brothers.

About the author:
Terry Breverton was fortunate to see the youngest four brothers play for Cardiff many times, sometimes all together. A practitioner of 'the Art of Coarse Rugby', until aged 40, he still misses what passed for playing. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, of the Institute of Consulting and of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, he has written over 60 books, been translated into many languages, and has been awarded Book of the Month five times by the Books Council of Wales. He remarks that 'this is a social history as much as a rugby book - born in 1946, I can identify with the era of the eight brothers and their four sisters, when rugby was amateur and a much better game to play and watch. I enjoyed writing this book more than any other - which is why it covers the birth of both clubs and their paths from the nineteenth century until the mid-70s. There are some truly superb characters, players and games to discover along the way. And one can only hope that someone in authority will read it and realise that the present game has become overly brutal, generally boring and unattractive for its declining number of spectators.