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Wales Online
Sport
Thomas Deacon

The 99-year-old who is still buying a Cardiff City season ticket even though he can't go to games

For 99-year-old Reg Walton there's only one football team.

The diehard Cardiff City supporter has watched his favourite team for longer than most of us have been alive.

And even though it's been months since fans have been able to watch any games in Wales, the Canton born dad is still hoping he might be able to catch a few matches next year.

Reg with daughters Gillian (bottom left) and Maxine (right), Gillian's husband Tony (left) and their daughter Samantha (Family handout)

Lifelong Bluebirds fan Reg decided to renew his ticket to make sure nobody else would nab his favourite seat in the stadium.

And even though it's still a long way off until fans can return to the stadium on Leckwith Road, Reg is ready to go when they can.

Daughter Gillian James, 59, said: "His last game was in January, the Swansea game. He went in a home the previous September so he was doing well until the January when he got a bit of a chest infection pre-lockdown and he was in hospital.

"Then obviously the football stopped. He kept saying 'I know I won't be able to go to many games this season but I still want my seat'.

"He's got a bit of a rapport with people around him, he's quite an outgoing bloke, so he made us renew it.

"He said 'I've got to renew it because at some point I hope to get down there.'

"But as it turned out, I don't think anyone will be down there this season. But that's how much it means to him. It's kept him going the last few years."

Reg with former Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock at the stadium (Family handout)

He's now unable to see his family due to the coronavirus lockdown, even through the window at his care home, but his family sorted a Sky Sports subscription that's keeping him entertained, Gillian said.

"He's still following it and always talking about it, and he's not happy with the way they're playing at the moment."

Reg, from Daisy Street in Canton, went to his first match aged just 10 years old and has followed Cardiff ever since.

Despite two falls in recent years Gillian said her dad is still in good spirits and keeps up with all the Cardiff City news.

Reg with Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan (Family handout)

Gillian, the youngest of four siblings, said: "This whole thing has taken a toll on him because we're quite a big, close family and we were there every day.

"So mentally it has taken its toll on him. But still, all the talk is football.

"It's all about the football with dad."

The former landlord of the Canton Cross and the Masons Arms in Whitchurch, Reg was also in the Home Guard during the Second World War and was tasked with firing the anti-aircraft guns at Lavernock.

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