THE number registered to attend the reunion of Denbigh High School’s Ivor Tuck Cup successes in 1968-69 and 1969-70 continues to increase.

Half-a-century since the greatest sports team achievement in the history of the school, players and fellow pupils of that era are celebrating the event with a reunion at Clwb Rygbi Dinbych on Friday, June 28.

Of the 24 players who played in one, or both, of the finals, 20 will be in attendance.

George Jones and Nigel O’Loughlin will be on holiday, whilst two of the team have sadly passed away, in Richard Davies (Lulu) and Keith Roberts (Horace).

At present, nearly 60 are scheduled to attend what will, undoubtedly, be a memorable occasion with many an anecdote shared, and many an exaggerated story told.

The team of 1968-69 was all-conquering, winning every one of their 18 matches during the momentous season, which culminated in a two-leg final against the champions of South Wales, the much larger Barry Comprehensive School for Boys.

The boys from Denbigh had won their semi-final back in the spring but delays in the South Wales section of the competition meant that the first leg of the final was delayed until June 21, when all the players would have completed their ‘A’ and ‘O’ level examinations.

The result of the final was, to a large extent, decided upon in the first leg which was played on a Saturday afternoon at Central Park.

The outcome was 5-1 to the local school, with captain John Phillips scoring a hat-trick and others being netted by John’s brother Siencyn and also Fred Roberts, who was the son of the then chairman of Denbigh Town FC Ken Roberts.

John’s three goals in that game took his total for the season up to 44 - no wonder that Manchester City invited him down to Maine Road for trials!

The second leg was played in Barry on July 1, 1969, the same day as the investiture of Prince Charles in Caernarfon.

Having fallen behind to an early goal, the Denbigh High team ensured a 100 per cent record for the season by winning 4-3, making it a 9-4 aggregate score.

Many of the members of the team were highly talented players.

Richard Davies was on Liverpool’s books, whilst Nigel O’Loughlin, of the 1969-70 team, went on to play professional football for Shrewsbury and Rochdale.

Meanwhile, Clwyd Williams went on to become a Denbigh Town footballing legend.

In addition, some of the team made their mark in other sports.

John Phillips represented Great Britain in athletics and competed at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton in 1978.

John also won eight Welsh titles in the triple jump and captained the Welsh Colleges athletics team, as did his brother Siencyn, himself a Welsh Championship medallist.

He may have been a centre half in football, but it was as a number eight in rugby that George Jones had his greatest achievements.

At a time when anyone gaining a schools cap from North Wales was almost unheard of, George Jones became a record breaker by winning more caps than anyone else in the history of the Welsh Schools; it was a record which would stand for a very long time.

Also making their mark on the rugby field were Chris Smith and Fred Roberts, both of whom, alongside George, went on to be regular members of the North Wales men’s team.

On the cricket front, goalkeeper Gwyn Evans has been the backbone of the town’s cricket club for over 50 years, initially as a player and latterly as on the administration side; it is fitting that Gwyn should be chairperson of the cricket club in this their 175th anniversary season.

On the morning of the reunion, a golf event will be held at Denbigh Golf Club.

Anyone interested in playing in the golf or in attending the reunion event at Clwb Rygbi Dinbych on June 28 should contact John Phillips on 07834 559578 or jedphillips@btinternet.com for further details.