Bloke from Llanelli

Hope you all enjoyed. It was great seeing all the flags at the stadium. I'm sure Motherwell have made a good few friends and new supporters in Llanelli. The different class told in the end - all the best for Albania.

The stadium holds 14,800. There will be no problems buying tickets on the day.

It may perhaps save you 30-60 minutes. Possibly. It's a very scenic drive in parts, but a lot of slow, bendy country road and tractors delaying you etc. It drives you mad at times. I would personally take the M5, M50, A49, M4 route, but if you fancy a country drive, there's no harm in it.

No problen with Scottish notes. You might get a few blank stares, but if anyone gives you a problem ask to speak to the manager and they'll soon get the message. And no-one venture down through North, Mid Wales etc. Probably the most frustrating drive known to man.

Definitely tale the M50, A49 etc and you rejoin the M4 by the Celtic Manor - the Ryder Cup venue. This route also saves you the Severn Bridge toll.

Is this the Beach Cafe in Llanelli Beach or Cefn Sidan Sands? Apologies, I'm really not sure about whether you can get a beer by the beach here. The hotel reception or a taxi driver will be better informed - sorry!

No lap dancing or that kind of thing in Llanelli. Maybe Swansea - google it. Taxi to Swansea will set you back about £25.

Yeah, if you fancy that then go for it. Good shout actually.

1. I doubt it. Would imagine 5.30/6pm opening. 2. Sheesh Mahal or Bengal Lancer - town centre. They're all decent though. 3. The beach at Pembrey Country Park (Cefn Sidan Sands) is a 10 minute taxi from the Stradey Park Hotel. There is a beach in the town itself, but it's nowhere near the same class. 4. You can have a drink in pleasant lake-side surroundings at the Sandpiper Brewers Fayre pub in Sandy Water Park. Short taxi ride from anywhere in town. There's not really any beach-front drinking to be had though, unfortunately.

Hi folks, Great to hear so many of you will be making the trip down to Wales this week, so I thought I’d jot down some information to help you on your way. Hope it’s useful and interesting. Llanelli is arguably the most famous rugby town in the UK. The Scarlets were the last Welsh team, including the national team, to beat the All Blacks, and have been the most successful club in Wales over the last 30-40 years. Over the years, many famous players have worn the Scarlet shirt including Barry John, Phil Bennett, Ray Gravell, JJ Williams, Jonathan Davies, Ieuan Evans and the Quinnell family. The current star player is Wales and British Lions number 10 Stephen Jones. When you’re in Parc y Scarlets, it’s well worth having a look in the club shop which doubles up as a museum for a general gander and to pick up a souvenir from your visit. Llanelli is also known as the Gateway to West Wales where culturally it is a lot more traditionally Welsh than the anglicized areas of South Wales stretching from Swansea to Newport. For instance, you may hear the Welsh language being spoken. A lot of street names, place names, pubs etc will be in the Welsh language. Have a go at pronunciation yourself – the locals will be only too pleased to give you some tips. The closest you will get to pronouncing Llanelli is “Thanethli” (th in “thing” rather than th in “then”) because the “Ll” sound is very hard to annunciate by non-Welsh people. A Welsh word to greet/say hello would be “sh’mae”, which is pronounced shu-my. The Welsh word for thank-you is “diolch”, which is pronounced dee-olch, the ch as you would pronounce clachan, rather than chocolate. It’s worth bearing in mind that Llanelli AFC is only followed by a few hundred locals ordinarily – moreso as a pastime rather than passionate following like you will have in the top professional leagues in Scotland and England. The numbers are likely to be swelled by rugby supporters who will go along to their stadium as it’s the off-season and this match being high profile. The atmosphere will be very friendly and people will be looking forward to some shared Welsh/Scots ‘craic’, so let’s not get too hung up on the score. Obviously Llanelli isn’t used to having 1,500- 2,000 football supporters visit, and it is a ‘school-day’ so bear that in mind and exercise some patience and understanding if necessary. Llanelli is a medium sized town with plenty of small pubs that are likely to be pretty quiet on a weekday/weeknight so there’ll be no problems getting a drink. The town centre has a number of ‘bars’ that may be more suitable for the traveling support. There is a fairly large Wetherspoons pub that has now been converted to a Lloyds Bar and a Goscombe chain bar called The Bidding. These would be good choices pre match and post match. There is also a cheesey music bar called The Met Bar, one called Barnums, a bar/club called Le Caprice and a medium sized nightclub called Tom Peppers. All of these are within a maximum 5-10 minutes’ walk from each other. Given it’s a Thursday night, there won’t be many locals out for a party so you’ll have to make your own fun, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem. It’s worth knowing all this, because I can’t imagine the Fanzone at the football ground will have the capacity for each and every one of you. Llanelli is also home to a well-known brewery called Felinfoel, which was the first brewery to can bitter in the world. Felinfoel is the name of a local village and is pronounced ‘Velin-vole’. One ‘f’ in the Welsh language makes a ‘v’ sound, two consecutive ‘f’s make a ‘f’ sound. Felinfoel is an ale beer, and the brewery owns most of the community pubs in the town. You may also come across Brains beer. Brains is Wales’ most famous beer. It’s known for its range of ales, but also has a lager brand. The ales are excellent. As with the rest of England and Wales, unfortunately the lagers you will most commonly come across will be Carling, Fosters, Carlsberg and Stella Artois. Everywhere will have Guinness and Strongbow. If you want some beer garden action, then the Sandpiper in Sandy Water Park is a good choice in picturesque surroundings. It’s near the old rugby ground and probably better served by a small taxi ride than by foot. It’s Beefeater style and plenty of room outside by the lake. There is an excellent pub near Parc y Scarlets called The Halfway. Llanelli also has an unusually high number of Indian restaurants, one of which won the Welsh Curry House of the Year in 2008. All of them are of a good standard. For any golfers planning on staying down for a couple of days, Llanelli has a fantastic new Jack Nicklaus Golf and Country Club, which is well worth a look. Ten minutes out of town you have Pembrey Country Park, which has a range of attractions including one of the best beaches in the UK. Some local taxi numbers: 01554 777111, 01554 777888, 01554 777999. Hope you all enjoy yourself and have a sociable time down here. If anyone has any more questions, feel free to ask and I’ll reply when I can.