SWINDON Town FC season ticket holders Pat and Robert Williams are celebrating 50 years of happy marriage.

Pat, 73, said: "We still watch the football together. It is our favourite pastime."

The football-loving Park South couple first met at a dance in the Hammersmith Palais when they both lived in London.

Initially Pat did not consider Robert very handsome but his persistence paid off.

She said: "He just kept coming back after every foxtrot and quickstep. So he soon grew on me."

After courting for two years, they decided to get married. Pat, a factory worker, and Robert, a butcher, saved so they could have a proper white wedding. It was such a success, they did not mind missing out on a honeymoon.

The moved to Swindon with the London overspill in 1955 and started a family. Their children, Lyn, 46, from Old Town, and John, 42, from Wroughton, helped them celebrate five decades of wedlock.

Enjoying a family meal at The Crown Inn in Broad Hinton, they were thrilled to still be together.

Pat said: "We have had 50 good years and I feel very lucky. Hopefully there will be many more to come."