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Multi-millionaire Sir Stan Thomas has revealed ambitious plans to transform the sleeping giant of Merthyr RFC into a major force in Welsh club rugby.

Thomas - the brother of Cardiff Blues chairman Peter - is ready to help finance a £1.25m ground redevelopment plan that would see the construction of a new stand, floodlights, changing room and the installation of an artificial pitch.

He has also undertaken a player recruitment drive, which has seen him target a number of Welsh internationals, as he sets his sights on securing Premiership status for the Championship side.

Club patron Thomas wants to put something back into his home town and provide a facility for the whole community, turning it into the fittest town in Wales.

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He also wants to see Merthyr become a third Premiership feeder club for Cardiff Blues and a valleys alternative to Pontypridd RFC, who he feels have been unfairly critical of the Blues.

His plan is for the Ironmen to win the Championship next season and then have the ground redevelopment in place for the 2016-17 campaign, enabling them to take up a place in the semi-pro Premiership.

And he would like to see the Blues play matches at the new state-of-the-art ground in future, amid a strong relationship between the two set-ups.

(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)

“Merthyr RFC is a sleeping giant which we are waking up,” said Thomas.

“This is the biggest town in the whole of Wales. We have over 60,000 people living in the borough. It’s a big catchment area and there is huge potential here.

“Merthyr is a very ambitious club. They have come up five divisions in five years and came third in their first season in the Championship this year. They were the only club to beat the champions Bargoed and on their own turf.

“We are ambitious for the future and our ambitions coincide with those of Merthyr Borough Council.

“You have recently seen that terrible programme on Merthyr called Skint. We were all disheartened when we saw that. Of course we are saddened to see those people living in those conditions.

“There’s many of those youngsters I am sure are sports-minded and if they had the facility that we are proposing I am sure we could encourage them to come and enjoy themselves.

“We want to make Merthyr one of the fittest towns in Wales. To do so we need the facilities.

“We have put in the planning application and I have asked Merthyr Council if they would consider a £500,000 grant which I will match fund.

“I am passionate about Merthyr and I just got so upset about that programme and I want to help my home town. I just want to put something back into it.

“The discussions we have had so far with the council have been very positive. Like myself, they want to enhance the health of people in Merthyr through sport.”

The scheme would cost £1.25m in total, with the aim being to make up the rest of the funding via grants from the WRU and the Welsh Assembly.

“We are looking at a 700–seater stand that will incorporate changing facilities not only for men but for ladies, because we want to introduce ladies rugby in Merthyr,” said Thomas.

“We will have a medical room, doctors facilities, massage room. Above the stand we will have a facility for weight training, which will be on the same level as what they have got at the Vale, and office accommodation.

“At the top end of the stand, we will have a patrons room where we will be able to put 150 people in there and provide them with food and drink.

“I want to incorporate a G4 artificial pitch as part of the project as well. We are already in discussion with two companies that can start next April and we would be ready for September 2016. That would be our main pitch. I want that pitch to be used not only for rugby, but for other sports as well.

“We are going to bring the whole of Merthyr into this scheme. It’s not just for Merthyr RFC. We are going to make the whole of Merthyr fit and healthy again.

“We would turn our second pitch around which would enable us to incorporate 280 cap parking spaces and I also want an indoor facility which will allow us to train in bad weather conditions.”

Ambitious plans...

The ambitious redevelopment would enable Merthyr to meet WRU requirements for entry into the semi-pro Premiership.

“Bargoed, as you know, won the Championship this year but couldn’t go up,” said Thomas.

“I don’t want to be in that position next year. I want to win the Championship next season and I want to go up.

“The work we are planning would meet the WRU standards to get us an A licence so we would be capable of going up to the Premiership and I am more hopeful of being champions next season.”

With that in mind, Merthyr - whose head coach is Lee Jarvis - are in the process of strengthening their squad with some eye-catching signings.

“I have been speaking to a number of former internationals, regional players and Premiership players,” said Thomas.

“We have already signed up five of the nine players I want to supplement the existing squad.

“There are some very interesting players coming to Merthyr.

“It is my intention in the coming years to utilise former international and regional players to play for Merthyr and bring up the youngsters and then move them on to the region.

“Robert Sidoli, Tom James and Ben Morgan are all former Merthyr players. We have brought players through in the past and we are very capable of bringing through more in the future.

“I see some of our youngsters coming through to regional rugby which is very much about us helping the region. We want to become the third Premiership club within our region.

“The Blues have already assured me if we have got the facilities there and we are one of their feeder clubs they will give us all the support they can. It would be fantastic to see us hosting some Blues matches.”

An alternative to Ponty...

Thomas believes Merthyr can provide an alternative to Pontypridd as a valleys feeder club for Cardiff Blues. He feels the Blues were unfairly criticised by Ponty over proposals to enter regional A teams in the British & Irish Cup next season.

“We need a valleys outlet,” said the hugely successful businessman who began his playing career with Merthyr before joining Cardiff.

“I am hoping if we get competitive and are able to play against Ponty, their attitude to regional rugby may change.

“Cardiff Blues give them a number of players and then you get all this disrespect in the papers.

“Peter Thomas and Cardiff Blues do not tell the WRU how to use players in competitions. That’s not my brother and the Blues saying it, it’s what the WRU want, so why should people in Pontypridd criticise the Blues? Why are they so against Cardiff?

“We can’t do anything to change that, but what we can do is offer a valleys alternative to Ponty in the Premiership.”

WHO IS SIR STAN THOMAS?

Sir Stanley Thomas and his younger brother Peter were born above a bakery run by their father, Stanley senior, in Merthyr Tydfil. They joined the family business, but after it was sold, they decided to start their own venture. In 1970, Stan launched Peter’s Savoury Products - with his brother as co-director - working out of a factory unit on the Bryn Glas Industrial Estate, in Bedwas,

The pies, with their recognisable green packets, became a household name, as the business developed into a £70m turnover operation employing about 1,000 people. In 1976, the business moved to a new factory at Bedwas House Industrial Estate and then, in 1987, it was sold to Grand Metropolitan for £75m.

In 1991, Stan spent part of his fortune on a £15m project to build a golf course in Cefn Mably, between Cardiff and Newport. The following year, he joined forces with property developer Paul Bailey to launch Thomas Bailey Investment PLC.

The company became TBI, with Stan as chairman, and took over an ailing London development firm to capture their slot on the Stock Exchange.

It bought Cardiff International Airport in 1995, followed by Belfast International the following year, and owned or ran eight airports, as well as the Hilton Hotel in the centre of Cardiff.

In 2004, TBI was sold to Spanish firm Abertis in a £550m deal, with Thomas’ share of the sale reported to be £100m.

A former pupil at Cyfarthfa Castle Grammar School, Stan, now 73, has the freedom of his home town of Merthyr Tydfil. He has supported charities in South Wales throughout his career and is a former president of the Welsh Federation of Boys and Girls Clubs.

His rugby career began with his home town club, ahead of him moving to Cardiff RFC in 1966. He is now patron of Merthyr and bought the club its current clubhouse.

Sir Stanley and Peter Thomas were reported this year to have a joint fortune of £235m, putting them tenth on the list of the richest people in Wales.