'Stolen' rugby shirt returned to Malta... 48 years late

A Welshman who decided to snatch a rugby shirt from the Marines as a victory trophy has finally returned it to Maltese soil after 48 years.

At the end of January 1960, the Welch Regiment visited Malta on a rugby tour from Libya to beat the teams of the army, the navy, the 20th Destroyer Squadron and the 45 Commando Royal Marines stationed in Malta.

The first match at the Marsa grounds was against the Marines, who were strong favourites, but the Welch Regiment excelled on the day and won 6-5 by dominating the forwards. At the final whistle, the Marines' fly-half was so upset that he threw down his shirt in disgust. Welsh prop Dick Gollidge quickly snatched it, stuffed it up his own shirt and walked away with the trophy.

Minutes later, a Marine Major roared into the dressing room shouting that someone had 'stolen' one of the Marines' shirts, but was met with a sea of blank innocent stares, and left seething with wounded pride.

Forty-eight years later, Mr Gollidge, who has kept this shirt in pristine condition as a sporting trophy of his team's epic win, has decided to bring the shirt from Wales to donate it to the Malta Rugby Football Union as rugby memorabilia, to be kept with the trophies and other items at Marsa.

After leaving the army, Mr Gollidge worked for many years as a printer in Wales but eventually became a nationwide official for the printers' union in the UK. Since his retirement, he wanted to find a suitable place for the trophy shirt to be displayed.