Tredegar Rugby Football Club is a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 team based in Tredegar

Tredegar

Tredegar is a town situated on the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in south-east Wales. Located within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the Industrial Revolution in South Wales...

. The club was founded in 1893 but at that time played under the name Tredegar Harriers. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union

Welsh Rugby Union

The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Wales, recognised by the International Rugby Board.The union's patron is Queen Elizabeth II, and her grandson Prince William of Wales became the Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union as of February 2007.-History:The roots of the...

 and is a feeder club for the Newport Gwent Dragons

Newport Gwent Dragons

Newport Gwent Dragons are one of the four professional Rugby Union regional teams in Wales. They are jointly owned by Newport RFC and the Welsh Rugby Union and play all their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport. They play in the RaboDirect Pro12, the Anglo-Welsh Cup and the Heineken Cup...

.

Tredegar Harriers

Tredegar RFC was founded by Jim Davies. When he was 16 years old, in 1893, he helped found Tredegar Harriers, the forerunner of Tredegar and in 1958 he raised the Tredegar R.F.C standard to the masthead over their headquarters. In the days of the depression, Jim Davies often had to pay for the players' coach himself; once he had to pay out on the spot before the coach driver would move. Jim Davies was almost 50 when he played his last game for the club; his eldest son, Jim, played in the same match.

When the Harriers stopped playing, Jim Davies joined Dowlais RFC

Dowlais RFC

Dowlais Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club based in Dowlais near Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. They club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Cardiff Blues.....

 who were so pleased at getting his services that they provided him with a coach to get him to and from their games. When Dowlais disbanded, the club sold their jerseys to Tredegar and the black, red and white strip has been Tredegar's colours ever since.

1899–1939

In 1899 the Recreation Ground was opened and Jim Davies and other members of the old Harriers side got together to form the official town team. It had taken volunteers two years to transform the ground into a suitable sports site; built over two disused and filled-in pit shafts. Tredegar helped form the Monmouthshire League and became members of Monmouthshire County R.F.C., of which Jim Davies was one of the founders. Early Tredegar players of note were Jim Hares, Will Evans, Ernie Bird, Enoch Hughes and Jim Davies, but probably their finest product was Percy Jones, who won eight caps for Wales

Wales national rugby union team

The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

 after he moved to Newport and was a member of Wales' "Terrible Eight" pack against Ireland

Ireland national rugby union team

The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...

 in 1914. Percy Jones was a forward of tremendous physical physique and he was reputed to have the thickest legs in Monmouthshire; so huge, that he had to have special rugby socks knitted for him as none of the standard sizes fitted.

In 1919 Tredegar lost 8–0 to the New Zealand Army team, as part of their post-war tour of Britain.

1939–present

Though Tredegar never won the Monmouthshire League before 1939, they claimed the runners-up spot. In those days, trainloads of supporters always traveled away with the Tredegar team. Once, in Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

, they booked the entire seating capacity of the Bristol pantomime: two full trainloads made the journey. After the war, Tredegar's outstanding players were Dai John Vaughan, the flying wing, Steve Barr, rated one of the best uncapped fullbacks in Wales and the Davies brothers Edgar, Ivor and Jack. It was not until after the Second World War that Tredegar won the Monmouthshire League in 1951. In the early 1950s they obtained permission to use the complete armorial bearings of Lord Tredegar as the club badge.

In 1950, the only leading Welsh clubs on Tredegar's fixture list were Ebbw Vale

Ebbw Vale RFC

Ebbw Vale Rugby Football Club is a Welsh Rugby Union Club based in the town of Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, South Wales. The club currently play in the WRU Division One East and the SWALEC Cup. It also acts as a feeder club for the Newport Gwent Dragons....

 and Glamorgan Wanderers. The list has expanded now to include Pontypool, Llanelli, Pontypridd, Newbridge and Maesteg, through their ambition of including Cardiff remains unfulfilled. Quality players of recent years include Wales B lock John Williams, who finished his career with Swansea, John Dixon, Sid Wharton, Ian Lewis, Peter Bolland, Paul Evans, Howard Dwyer, Steve Giles and Nicky Hunt.

Notable former players

Jake Blackmore

Jake Blackmore

Joseph Henry "Jake" Blackmore was an international rugby forward who played rugby union for Abertillery and rugby league with Hull Kingston Rovers. He won a single caps for Wales under the rugby union code and then represented his country at rugby league in two matches between 1910 and 1911...

 Glyn Davidge

Glyn Davidge

Glyn Davidge was a Welsh international flanker who played club rugby for Tredegar and Newport. He was awarded nine caps for Wales and toured with Arthur Smith's 1962 British Lions squad.-Club career:...

 William "Will" T. Davies Damien Hudd

Damien Hudd

Damien Hudd is a Welsh professional rugby union and rugby league footballer who at club level has played rugby union for Tredegar RFC, Ebbw Vale RFC, Brynmawr RFC , and Cross Keys RFC, playing at Lock, i.e. number 4 or 5, and at representative level has played rugby league for Wales, and at club...

 Brian Jones

Brian Jones (rugby player)

Brian James Jones is a former international rugby union player.Jones made his debut for Wales on 12 March 1960 versus Ireland. He played club rugby for Newport RFC.- References :...

 Jack 'Bedwellty' Jones

Jack Jones (rugby)

John "Jack" 'Bedwellty' Jones was a Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1910s who at representative level played rugby union for Wales, and at club level for Abertillery RFC, playing at Prop, i.e...

 Mark Jones

Mark Jones (rugby player born 1965)

Mark Alun Jones is a Welsh former dual-code international professional rugby union and rugby league footballer, who at representative level has played rugby union for Wales, and at club level for Tredegar RFC, Tredegar Ironsides RFC, Neath RFC, Ebbw Vale RFC, Pontypool RFC, Aberavon RFC, playing...

 Percy Jones

Percy Jones (rugby player)

Percy Jones was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Pontypool and Newport. He was awarded eight caps for Wales and faced the touring with South Africans...

 Mike Ruddock

Mike Ruddock

Mike Ruddock, OBE is a Welsh rugby union coach, currently coach of the Ireland Under-20 Rugby Union Team and Lansdowne FC . Ruddock was the coach of the Worcester Warriors until his resignation on 28 April 2010 following their relegation from the Guinness Premiership...

 Phil Thomas

Phil Thomas

Philip "Phil" Thomas was a Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1900s and '10s who at club level played rugby union for Tredegar RFC, and at representative level played rugby league for Great Britain, and Wales, and at club level for Leeds, and Hull Kingston Rovers,...

 Harry Uzzell

Harry Uzzell

Henry "Harry" Uzzell was a Welsh international rugby union player. He played club rugby predominantly for Newport and played county rugby for Gloucestershire. A fruiterer by trade he later became landlord of the Tredegar Arms in Bassaleg.Uzzell spent the majority of his rugby career with Newport...

 Paul Woods