Keith Pontin (14 June 1956 – 2 August 2020) was a Welsh professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. Pontin began his career with

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

, making nearly 200 league appearances and earning two caps for the

Welsh national team ) , Association = Football Association of Wales (FAW) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , Coach = Rob Page , Captain = Gareth Bale , Most caps = Gareth Bale (111) , Top scorer = Gareth ...

. He later played for

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

and Barry Town. With the latter, he won several

Welsh Football League The Welsh Football League (also known as the Nathaniel Car Sales Welsh Football League for sponsorship reasons) was a club football league in Wales. For its final season in 2019–20 season it operated at levels 3 and 4 of the Welsh football leagu ...

titles and was appointed club captain, winning several player awards during his spell there.

Club career

Born in

Pontyclun Pontyclun (or Pont-y-clun) is a village and community located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Like the surrounding towns, it has seen a sharp increase in its population in the last ten years as people migrate south from the So ...

, Pontin began his career at

, working his way through the youth system before making his debut in a 2–0 victory over

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

on the opening day of the 1976–77 season. He returned to the reserves shortly afterwards due to the arrival of Paul Went from

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

but was eventually recalled in September 1977 when Went was moved into a more attacking role. His impressive form over the next few seasons meant he missed very few matches for the Bluebirds and was called up for the Wales squad. During the 1981–82 season he played in more matches than any other player in the squad but couldn't stop the club from being relegated. It was at the start of the following year that things turned sour for him at

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan and hosted fixture ...

when he fell out with manager

Len Ashurst Leonard Ashurst (10 March 1939 – 25 September 2021) was an English football player, manager and administrator. He spent most of his playing career with Sunderland, making 458 appearances, the second most in the club's history. He retired a ...

after an argument and was allowed to leave the club to join

. He signed for Barry Town in 1985. Club historian Jeff McInery described the signing as "quite a coup for Barry at the time" given Pontin's playing history. He made his debut for the club against

Minehead Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National P ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. Pontin's performances for Barry led him to be voted the club's Player's Player of the Season three times, in 1988, 1989 and 1991, and the Club's Player of the Season in 1987. During this time, he also helped the club to win Division One of the

in three consecutive seasons between 1986 and 1989. In his later years with Barry, he was appointed club captain and also briefly acted as assistant manager under Mel Donovan before leaving in 1991 having made more than 200 appearances in all competitions.

International career

Pontin earned one cap for Wales at under-21 level, and two for the senior team. He made his senior international debut in a 4–1 win over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on 17 May 1980. His second, and final, cap came four days later on 21 May in a 1–0 defeat to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Later life

Pontin was married with two daughters. At the age of 59, Pontin was diagnosed with dementia, which his family attribute to his football career. He died on 2 August 2020 at the age of 64. In 2022, a coroner’s court in

Pontypridd () (colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng (Trallwn) and Treforest (). The ...

heard that a post-mortem examination found Pontin's cause of death was

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse o ...

caused by repeated trauma to the head.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pontin, Keith 1956 births 2020 deaths Welsh men's footballers Wales men's international footballers Cardiff City F.C. players Merthyr Tydfil F.C. players Barry Town United F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football defenders Association football players with chronic traumatic encephalopathy