Brendon Lloyd of Caersws is one of the most prolific quoiters of the modern era despite Caersws Quoits Club being one of the smallest in existence in Wales at the present time.
Lloyd has been an active member of Caersws Quoits Club since the ancient game of quoits was re-established in Montgomeryshire in the early 1970's when he was a young teenager following in his father Frank's footsteps.
Brendon played for Caersws when they won the last ever Montgomeryshire League title, and went on to win the Welsh Inter-League title in 1991-92. He firmly established himself as an International player with his debut for Wales against Scotland in Llanybydder in 1989 when he beat his opposite number John Sim of Glenburn Club 21 - 13.
He won his first nine games in a row in a Welsh jersey, before losing his only two games 1998 and 1999 by only two points and three points respectively, to one of Scotland's most experienced and long-standing players Hugh Cunningham.
He has won all of his International games since that time, including paying back the honour to Cunningham, beating him 21-8 when they played each other as captains of their respective sides at Felinfach in 2003.
Since his debut in 1989, Brendon has played in every International match between Wales and Scotland, winning 19 of his 21 games. He has captained the Welsh side on two occasions; the first in Kirkconnel, Dumfriesshire in 2002 and again the following year in Felinfach, Ceredigion, winning both those games.
Scotland have not beaten Wales since 1986 and much of the credit for that should go to Brendon Lloyd who has scored 394 points for Wales, almost double the points conceded.
2008 saw him play his 20th game in succession for Wales. In addition to his commitment as a player, Brendon has also been a valued member of the Welsh Quoiting Board and has served as Vice-Chairman and Chairman since for over ten years.
In 2006, it was decided to organise a British Open quoits competition and in addition to playing an active role in organising the event, Brendon lost only to the eventual winner and inaugural British Champion, Emyr Edwards.
Following the 2006 Quoits International in Prestwick, it was decided that Caersws would apply to host the 2007 competition to mark the 20th anniversary of the last International quoits in the village.
Along with other club members, Brendon made himself available for the long slog of renovating the quoits pitches at The Recreation Ground Caersws to make a venue worthy of such a prestigious event. All the existing beds were dug up and replaced with fresh concrete and clay, and in addition a new pair of beds were constructed.
New fencing had to be erected and the period between March and July was one of Caersws Quoits Club's busiest.
It was all worthwhile however as 2007 was one of Caersws Quoits Club's most successful seasons with just two players, Russell Owen and Brendon Lloyd almost sweeping the board with trophies.
Brendon himself won the William Dice Grand Prix Cup, Caersws Open Challenge Cup and Felinfach Open. To add to this, he won the Welsh Championship and the British Individual Open Championship where there were 32 competitors.
In the 2007 International between Wales and Scotland, Brendon played at number two in the winning Welsh team, beating his opponent William Reid by 21-4 and in the process earning himself his third Wales Man of the Match award, adding to the Man of the Match award won in Stonehaven in 2000 where he beat Alex McEwen 21-3 and the Man-of-the Match award won at Linwood in 2004 where he beat Kenny Hay 21-4 scoring a maximum 63 points over the three games with only 11 in reply - an outstanding achievement even by the highest standard.
The 2007 British Open Quoits Championship, only the second year of the competition, was held in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire. There were 32 entrants, some coming from as far afield as Suffolk, but it was Brendon Lloyd who won through to become British Champion 2007, beating fellow Welsh team member Dorian Thomas in the final.
Following this title and his other successes throughout the 2006/2007 season, he was awarded the title Sportsman of the Year at the Montgomeryshire Sports Council/County Times Sports Awards in March 2008.
2007 British Quoits Champion
