The book: Willie Llewellyn: The Road to victory over the 1905 All Blacks. Printed and bound in Wales by Gomer Press, Llandysul.
The long awaited biography of Willie Llewellyn will be available from the end of August or at the latest early September 2018. This new book completes the trilogy of books written by Phil Grant on the first golden era of Welsh rugby.
The book is B5 in size, hardback printed cover and runs to about 450 pages. It is case bound and sewn, full colour and contains over 150 photographs and other images. The book, which is printed and bound by Gomer Press, Llandysul, is a limited edition of just 500 copies and each copy is individually numbered and signed by the author.
The book is a detailed account of Willie’s life from his birth in 1878 until his death in 1973. It contains detailed information on his time at Christ College, Brecon and also a record of more than 350 games of rugby he played, including all his twenty internationals for Wales and the fifteen games he played for the British team in Australia and New Zealand 1904. In addition the final chapter is a detailed account of his life after rugby.
Willie was the last surviving player from the 1905 game between Wales and New Zealand and although the book is predominantly the biography of Willie Llewellyn, it does track the progress of the other fourteen Welsh players who played alongside Willie in that famous match. Consisting of eleven chapters, it is the complete history of Willie Llewellyn’s rugby career at school, club and international level.
Initially the book is only available directly from Phil Grant who can be contacted by phone: 07870827953 or by e-mail on philip.grant2@ntlworld.com The book is priced at 25GBP and with over one hundred copies already having been reserved it will be a case of the early bird catching the worm. Postage will be extra and dependant on the destination, please contact Phil for details.
Peter Douglas-Davies
15/08/2018