The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: The Rise and Fall of Pontypool RFC

What made Pontypool such a great seam of talent for the Welsh national team? Why were they hated and feared in equal measure by other clubs in Wales and across the Severn? What made Ray Prosser a coach ahead of his time?

In this engrossing book, Alun Carter and Nick Bishop recount the dramatic story of the rise and fall of one of the great enigmas of Welsh club Pontypool RFC. They chart the glories and violence of the amateur era in the 1970s and ’80s before the club entered a period of steady decline in the age of professionalism, reaching the point of bankruptcy after a crippling legal battle with the Welsh RU. It is a symbolic tale of the disintegration of the social fabric that held a once-great club together, both on and off the playing field – often irresistibly funny, eventually tragic, but always larger than life.

NICK BISHOP has worked as a rugby analyst and scout for Graham Henry and for the Wales national squad. He is the author of four other books, including Henry's Pride with Graham Henry. ALUN CARTER is a former Wales international who also played for Pontypool, Newport, SO Millau and UWIC. He later worked for the WRU for 12 years, fulfilling the role of head analyst from 1998 to 2007. Together, they were the authors of Seeing Red: Twelve Tumultuous Years in Welsh Rugby.