South Wales RLFC (1995)
Encyclopedia
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| Founded | 1995 |
| Discontinued | 1997 |
| Colours | Red, green and white |
| Stadiums | Talbot Athletic Ground Talbot Athletic Ground The Talbot Athletic Ground is a sports stadium located in central Port Talbot, Wales. The ground is home to Welsh rugby team Aberavon RFC and has a seating capacity of 3,000.-History:... (Capacity 3000) |
| Morfa Stadium Morfa Stadium Morfa Stadium was an athletics stadium in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. It has now been demolished and the land is occupied by the Morfa Retail Park and the Liberty Stadium, home of the city's football and rugby teams, which opened in 2005.... (Capacity 1200) |
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| Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park , also known as The Arms Park, is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green, and is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World... (Capacity 12,500) |
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South Wales RLFC was a rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
club formed in 1995. South Wales during their existence played at Morfa Stadium
Morfa Stadium
Morfa Stadium was an athletics stadium in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. It has now been demolished and the land is occupied by the Morfa Retail Park and the Liberty Stadium, home of the city's football and rugby teams, which opened in 2005....
, Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
, the Talbot Athletic Ground
Talbot Athletic Ground
The Talbot Athletic Ground is a sports stadium located in central Port Talbot, Wales. The ground is home to Welsh rugby team Aberavon RFC and has a seating capacity of 3,000.-History:...
, Aberavon
Aberavon
Aberavon is a settlement in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a district of Port Talbot, covering the central and south western part of the town...
and Cardiff Arms Park
Cardiff Arms Park
Cardiff Arms Park , also known as The Arms Park, is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green, and is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World...
.
History of rugby league in South Wales
The South Wales region had always been an attractive area to the rugby leagueRugby Football League
The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...
because of its similarities to Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
and Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
in having a mass industrial population which followed rugby enthusiastically. In 1907 a team representing Aberdare
Aberdare RLFC
Aberdare Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Aberdare, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union...
was formed, and by 1908-09 there were six Welsh rugby league teams with clubs based in Ebbw Vale
Ebbw Vale RLFC
Ebbw Vale Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Ebbw Vale, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at Bridge End Field, Ebbw Vale were one of the first professional Welsh teams, and the last to disband in 1912 after the failure of the Welsh...
, Merthyr Tydfill
Merthyr Tydfil RLFC
Merthyr Tydfil Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at College Field, Merthyr Tydfil were one of the first professional Welsh teams, and folded in 1911 after the failure of the Welsh League...
, Mid Rhonnda
Mid-Rhondda RLFC
Mid-Rhondda Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Tonypandy, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at the Athletic Ground in Tonypandy, Mid-Rhondda were one of the first professional Welsh teams, formed in 1908 but folding after just a single...
, Treherbert
Treherbert RLFC
Treherbert Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Treherbert, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at the Athletic Ground, Treherbert were one of the first professional Welsh teams, formed in 1908 but folding after just two seasons...
and Barry
Barry RLFC
Barry Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union...
. All of these clubs were defunct by 1912. Ebbw Vale survived the longest, five seasons.
Encouraged by the 22,000 strong crowd which attended the Wales vs England match in 1926, local promoters established a club in Pontypridd
Pontypridd
Pontypridd is both a community and a principal town of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales and is situated 12 miles/19 km north of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff...
. The club initially experienced good sized crowds however poor results soon saw attendances drop, and the club only lasted eight games into its second season before folding.
A team was formed in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
for the 1951/52 season, however they disbanded after only one season.
Rugby league would not revisit South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
until 1981 to 1985 when the Cardiff City Blue Dragons
Cardiff City Blue Dragons
The Cardiff City Blue Dragons were a rugby league team formed in 1981. Their home ground was Ninian Park which was also used by Cardiff City FC. The club spent three seasons in Cardiff before relocating to Bridgend in 1984 as the Bridgend Blue Dragons, who were finally wound up in 1986. The team...
existed as a club. Much like its predecessors initial interest waned when the club suffered from poor results, low attendances and a relocation to Bridgend
Bridgend
Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of the capital, Cardiff. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town...
before they finally disbanded at the end of the 1985 season.
South Wales RLFC
South Wales Dragons RLFC during their first season (1996) in the Rugby Football LeagueRugby Football League
The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...
were reasonably successful and came fifth in the second division; winning twelve games and losing ten. Games were played at Talbot Athletic Ground
Talbot Athletic Ground
The Talbot Athletic Ground is a sports stadium located in central Port Talbot, Wales. The ground is home to Welsh rugby team Aberavon RFC and has a seating capacity of 3,000.-History:...
Aberavon, one game was played at Morfa Stadium
Morfa Stadium
Morfa Stadium was an athletics stadium in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. It has now been demolished and the land is occupied by the Morfa Retail Park and the Liberty Stadium, home of the city's football and rugby teams, which opened in 2005....
Swansea against Bramley RLFC
Bramley Buffaloes
Bramley Buffaloes is a rugby league club from the Bramley area of West Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Previously known simply as Bramley RLFC, the club is a famous name in rugby league, having existed prior to the formation of the Northern Union in 1895...
and all the games for the second half of the season were at Cardiff Arms Park
Cardiff Arms Park
Cardiff Arms Park , also known as The Arms Park, is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green, and is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World...
. They were coached by Clive Griffiths
Clive Griffiths (rugby)
Clive Ronald Griffiths is a former Wales international rugby league and rugby union player. Born in Loughor, Swansea, he was affectionately known as "Clive the Ship" after the family pub in nearby Penclawdd...
and assisted by Danny Sheehy.
Initially the club had no playing kit of their own so they borrowed the Welsh international team's
Wales national rugby league team
The Wales national rugby league team represent Wales in international rugby league football matches. Currently the team is seventh in the RLIF World Rankings. The team were run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, but an independent body, Wales Rugby League, now runs the team from...
kit for the first three games. After that they wore a specially designed plain red strip with the traditional three feathers
Prince of Wales's feathers
The Prince of Wales's feathers is the heraldic badge of the Heir Apparent to the British and Commonwealth Realms thrones. It consists of three white feathers emerging from a gold coronet. A ribbon below the coronet bears the motto Ich dien...
logo to distinguish them from the national side.
The first home game played at Aberavon on 31st March 1996 saw an attendance of 1,876, when the club played Hull Kingston Rovers
Hull Kingston Rovers
Hull Kingston Rovers or Hull KR is an English professional rugby league football club based in Hull, England. The club formed in 1882 and currently competes in Super League, having won promotion from National League One in 2006...
. Unfortunately for South Wales they lost 70-8. Crowds fluctuated depending upon where the club played, and the last home game of the season saw a crowd of only 400 witness the club defeating York RLFC
York City Knights
York City Knights Rugby League Club is a British professional rugby league club hailing from York. They play at the Huntington Stadium, situated to the north of York city centre...
20-16 at Cardiff Arms Park
Cardiff Arms Park
Cardiff Arms Park , also known as The Arms Park, is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green, and is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World...
.
Due to the relative success of the club and their geographical location the club had high hopes that it would be awarded a Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...
franchise. A case was put forward by Mike Nicholas and Clive Griffiths, however the then Super League members awarded the franchise for the 1997 season to Gateshead Thunder
Gateshead Thunder
Gateshead Thunder is a professional rugby league club based in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear in England. They currently play in the Championship 1 competition, the third tier of rugby league in the United Kingdom...
. Because of small crowds and not being fast tracked into Super League the decision was made to disband the club before the start of the 1997 season.