Cardiff City Forum

Switch to full style


A forum for all things Cardiff City
Post a reply

' Everest Ayatollah '

Fri May 19, 2017 9:39 pm

Fair play :ayatollah:




A lifelong Cardiff City fan just climbed Mount Everest and did the Ayatollah at the top -


Friday 19th May 2017


Neil Warnock endeared himself to the Cardiff City faithful by guiding the club to a magnificent top half finish when all seemed lost prior to his arrival in the Welsh capital.

And as if his side's achievements on the pitch during his tenure weren't enough, the Cardiff faithful were left in no doubt as to where the Yorkshireman's heart lies as he performed the famous Ayatollah gesture on numerous occasions during the course of the season.

But Warnock will have to step aside, because a lifelong Cardiff City fan has just performed the greatest Ayatollah we'll probably ever see.

Allan Meek, 56, and seven other climbers set about tackling Mount Everest - the world's highest mountain - last month.



After a colossal six-week effort, Allan and the group reached the summit - which is almost 9,000 metres high - at 9:45am on May 16.

But it got even better...

Not content with scaling the world's highest mountain, Allan and the group then performed the famous Ayatollah gesture at the summit to celebrate their remarkable achievements.

"I'm from Cardiff and am a season ticket holder," said Allan.

"My first game was Real Madrid in 1971 and I still have the ticket.

"I took a Bluebirds flag up the mountain and thought I'd see if I could get an Ayatollah going and it came off pretty well."

It is thought that Allan - who is managing director of SCS Group in Cardiff - is now the oldest Welshman to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain.


Allan Meek, Managing Director of SCS Group, in-front of Mount Everest


"I'm 56-years-old which I think makes me the oldest Welshman to climb Everest," added Allan.

"I left Kathmandu on April 7 and have been acclimatising since then. I'm with an international expedition with Ascent Himalayas. We have three Norwegians, a Mexican, a Brazilian, an Irish man and an Australian.

"We started our summit push on the 12th and all summitted on the 16th."

On a post on its Facebook page, Ascent Himalayas wrote: "Allan Meek (UK/Welsh) summitted Mount Everest (8,848m) on his first attempt with his climbing guide Nawang Jangbu Sherpa (Nepal).

"Ascent Himalayas family would like to congratulate all our members and climbing guides for the successful Everest Expedition 2017.

"Also we thank Pasang Tenzing Sherpa, Everest Team Leader, for his great guidance throughout the journey and Mingma Tsiri Sherpa for his great management during the expedition and keeping us updated with all the details."




What is the Ayatollah and why do Cardiff City fans do it?

The Ayatollah has been used by Cardiff City fans since the 1990s and involves a player raising his hands above his head and repeatedly moving them up and down. It is regularly performed by Cardiff players in response to fans chanting ‘do the Ayatollah’.

Unlike the Icelandic ‘Huh’ seen at Euro 2016, there seems no disputing where it was first performed and its origin.

It was originally performed by the singer and fans of a Welsh-language punk group called U Thant.




It was first performed by Cardiff City fans at Sincil Bank, home of Lincoln City, on September 15, 1990, the day after U Thant had played a gig at Cardiff’s Chapter Arts Centre.

U Thant’s singer had been inspired by footage of attendants at the funeral of Ayatollah Khomeini, which was broadcast live on British TV, doing the movement to express their grief at his death.





Does it have a following in other sports?

Ex-Wales and Lions rugby star Gareth Thomas often performed the Ayatollah after scoring a try and Barry swimmer David Davies performed the Ayatollah on the podium while receiving his medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and at the 2008 Olympics.

Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan and former Wales rugby captain Gareth Thomas do the Ayatollah
Ex-Glamorgan and England cricketer Simon Jones also used the celebration after taking the wicket of Simon Katich during the 2005 Ashes series while Mark Webster, winner of the 2008 BDO World Darts Championship, also performed the Ayatollah after winning the title.
Attachments
SCSGroup_AllanMeekEverest.jpg
SCSGroup_AllanMeekEverest.jpg (100.8 KiB) Viewed 2005 times

Re: Everest Ayatollah

Fri May 19, 2017 10:07 pm

Hat off to the man, what an achievement.
Attachments
4221396001_5440962016001_5440947074001-vs.jpg
4221396001_5440962016001_5440947074001-vs.jpg (63.25 KiB) Viewed 2005 times

Re: Everest Ayatollah

Sat May 20, 2017 6:53 am

Brilliant what a achievement mods make this a sticky bloobirds

Re: Everest Ayatollah

Sat May 20, 2017 7:19 am

I used to have an office next door to SCS in Tredomen. Great organisation and a super guy.
Fantastic achievement.

Re: Everest Ayatollah

Sat May 20, 2017 8:12 am

Absolutely brilliant! Well done mate. :)

Re: ' Everest Ayatollah '

Sat May 20, 2017 8:51 am

:ayatollah: great achievement fella. I know from personal experience how hard things like this can be, I once cycled over Caerphilly mountain.

Re: ' Everest Ayatollah '

Sat May 20, 2017 10:13 am

Dahboy wrote::ayatollah: great achievement fella. I know from personal experience how hard things like this can be, I once cycled over Caerphilly mountain.

But did you stop to do the Ayatollah at the top.

Re: ' Everest Ayatollah '

Sat May 20, 2017 1:20 pm

That's nothing I done it at the top of the garth on a mushroom picking expedition in 2013

Re: ' Everest Ayatollah '

Sat May 20, 2017 2:05 pm

Jock wrote:
Dahboy wrote::ayatollah: great achievement fella. I know from personal experience how hard things like this can be, I once cycled over Caerphilly mountain.

But did you stop to do the Ayatollah at the top.

:clap:
Post a reply