Legends of Welsh Sport

An emotive portrait of Welsh rugby icon John Dawes. The man who revolutionised the game as both player and coach led Wales to multiple Grand Slams, inspired the Lions to their only tour victory on New Zealand soil, and was also at the centre of the ‘greatest try of all time’ with the Barbarians. For the first time, John Dawes’s son and grandsons, along with a star-studded host of rugby players, including Gareth Edwards, John Taylor and Gerald Davies, look back at the life of a legend and learn how his legacy lives on to this day.

In 1990, Carmarthenshire-based dairy farmer Sirrell Griffiths, who kept horses for a hobby, entered a horse into one of racing's most prestigious competitions, the Cheltenham Gold Cup... by mistake. Sirrell had his eye set on another race at the festival but missed the deadline, and the only race left to enter was the Gold Cup. Trained in the mountains and beaches of west Wales through unorthodox methods, Sirrell's horse, Norton’s Coin, was gearing up to shock the racing world. Sirrell was a permit holder, which meant he could only train his own horses, so whilst professionals were training with 60 horses at a time, Sirrell had just three horses in his stable. We retell this true underdog story of the 100 to 1 shot that won the 1990 Cheltenham Gold Cup. With interviews from Sirrell and the Griffiths family, the winning jockey, Graham McCourt and renowned rider Richard Dunwoody.

Alan Evans was the hell-raising darter from South Wales, who blazed a trail for modern-era arrows. The Arrow started life throwing tungsten for a few quid at exhibition matches in the smoked-filled pubs of the 1970s. He would go on to become the original oche entertainer. A British Open and World Masters champion, it was his short fuse and flamboyant style that made him a star. Dressed in the white flares of a Welsh Elvis, Evans dragged darts from working men’s clubs to TV audiences and international arenas the world over.

In 1993, a boxer and part-time warehouse worker from a Cardiff Debenhams store was given the chance of a lifetime – to fight for the world featherweight title with just 48 hours’ notice after the reigning champ pulled out. He had no preparation and no hope of success. Yet when the bell rang at the end of the final round, Wales had a world champion.

A trailblazer from humble beginnings in the south Wales valleys, Jayne Ludlow would overcome adversity to become the first British woman to captain a side to Champions League glory. This is the story of how she transformed Welsh women's football.