Glamorgan County Cricket Club is saddened to hear of the passing last week in hospital of Albert Francis, the former head groundsman of the cricket facilities at both Cardiff Arms Park and Sophia Gardens.
Born and bred in Dafen, Albert Francis MBE died aged 89 on June 19th at Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli after a short period of ill health. Albert had initially served in the RAF before training as a groundsman and spending the majority of his working life with Cardiff Athletic Club. He was Head Groundsman of the cricket facilities at the Arms Park between 1960 and 1964, besides assisting his great friend Bill Hardiman, the Welsh Rugby Union’s groundsman with work on the famous rugby ground, and on many occasions, Albert and his team from the cricket ground helped out “next door” in getting the Arms Park ready for a major rugby international.
Together with Les Sperry and Richard Stevens, Albert and Bill also oversaw work on the enhancements to the cricketing facilities at Sophia Gardens following the decision to create a National Stadium at the Arms Park and the transfer of the cricket section of the Athletic Club to Sophia Gardens at the end of the 1966 season. There were however, some concerns during the late 1960s and early 1970s about the quality of the wickets used by Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens, but in his role as grounds manager, Albert oversaw a phase of remedial work which helped to rectify the issues.
For many years, Albert and his wife Sybil lived in the flat above the player’s dining room in the Athletic Club’s pavilion at the Sophia Gardens ground, and after retiring from his groundsmanship duties, Albert worked closely with Sir Stanley Thomas in creating the first set of hospitality boxes at Cardiff RFC’s ground at the Arms Park. In more recent years, Albert lived in Parc Tyisha in Burry Port and in 2013 he was deservedly appointed MBE for his services to charity, having assisted the Welsh Rugby Charitable Trust besides acting as one of the patrons of the Ray Gravell and Friends Charitable Trust which supports many good causes across West Wales.
On hearing of Albert’s passing, Hugh Morris Glamorgan Cricket’s CEO said,
"Albert was a skilled and dedicated groundsman and it is thanks to his painstaking efforts that the Sophia Gardens wicket became firmly established as a county venue. It is therefore especially poignant for us here at Glamorgan Cricket that Albert’s sad death should come in the year when we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of county cricket at Sophia Gardens.”
“In later life, he did so much excellent work for so many good causes and charities. Albert may have been small in stature but he was a giant of a man and universally popular in the world of sport. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family and many friends across South Wales and far beyond”