Rugby Site 2011

We will try and add a mix of articles in this section from the history of the area as well as that of the club and the rugby team. After all they have given rise to one another and are interdependant - remember the old favourite "chicken and the egg" question.

Photos (Right):

Road access down to recreational ground c.1927.

Cyrus Davies Cup winners 2011.

c.1900

Starter for Ten

Historic Map

(Tony Bates)

Photograph

(Peter Ynell)

Where do we start from?

Simple question - difficult answer.

We've said already that we believe the ground as we know it was constructed in c.1926; yet the team was playing in 1920 (Argus report below) but where? To have the name of Hafodyrynys is it because they played in the village? .. or.. did they form from one of the local mines? Until we have the answer we'll assume they played here for now.

From the map opposite (re-printed 1899) you can see there is nothing on the site where todays ground is located; in fact the area is a marshland, as shown by the map symbols. However the picture (left) c.1927 shows some sort of building on the site. I believe this may be the original Pavilion. In my early days with the club this was the changing rooms and is still there. The main present day use for this building is a newly fiitted out weight training room.

1913 - Feb 1st	Bobby Lloyd "The Hafodyrynys Wonder" - Capped for Wales
Articles (Steve Woodward) Web Search (Tony Bates)	Bobby Lloyd (1888-1930) born in Crickhowell has proved to be somewhat of an enigma. Where did he get this name The Hafodyrynys Wonder? He was capped for Wales first in 1913 against Scotland and had seven Welsh caps in all in the 5 Nations matches. But in 1914 he moved to Halifax to play rugby league and indeed played some161 games for the club. In 1920 he gained his one and only Great Britain rugby league cap against Australia on tour and went on to gain a Welsh rugby league cap in 1921. His transfer to league shows he was transferred from Pontypool RFC so still nothing to say where the Hafodyrynys link is. My best guess is that it may come from his association with the mines; in that he was indeed a miner. If he did work in one of the Hafodyrynys mines then it's possible he gained his nickname from this rather than any connection to the Hafodyrynys rugby club. However it would be nice to romanticise about this character having put on a Hafod jersey but sadly I have no evidence of it happening.

1920 - Jan 17th	Match Report - Hafodyrynys v Panteg
Footbal Argus (Steve Woodward)	Report extracted from this copy of the Argus (shown opposite) reads... "Panteg were the visitors to Hafodyrynys last Saturday, and although the visitors were far the more experienced and heavier side they were defeated by three points to nil, a try scored by T.Lewis, the home outside half, who followed up the kick by T.Hale, beat the full back and scored wide. The home forwards played their finest game of the season, and outclassed their opponents. The home side heeled five times out of six. W.Potter, W.Davies and B.Johns were the pick of the pack. The home halves played a great game. Tom Lewis is a tower of strength to the team. T.Hale still keeps his form, and his play in the long line-outs was a feature of the match. E.Hale (his brother) at full back plays a good game. His fielding and tackling is sure and he has a good kick. The home forwards are to be complimented on their great display." On the same page reports on Abertillery losing to Pill Harriers, Tredeegar beating Varteg, Risca beating Pontypool, Crumlin drawing with Llanhilleth, Abercarn 2nds drawing with Chepstow and Machan 2nds take on Pill reserves. On the international front G Stephens (Neath) elected captain is not fit for the game while the reserves were named as; M Thomas (Ebbw Vale) Wing, G Davies (Guy's Hospital & Lanelly) Centre, W H Evans (Treherbert) Half, F Rees (Cross Keys) Inside Half, W B Jones (Treherbert) Forward, B Huxtable (Swansea) Forward and Dr G Thomas (Neath) Back.

1972 - Apr	Funeral Club Committee (Llandudno Tour)
Tony Bates	The committee seen here in 1972 just before setting off the club Easter tour to Llandudno. It all started as a bit of a laugh when the group formed at the beginning of the 1971/72 season. The principle was simple everyone put 10p into the kitty every week then if someone died the rest would have a booze up on them; don’t forget a pint of beer was then 25p. Well to do the idea justice we decided as a committee we should hold weekly meetings. These were held on Sunday nights starting in the Swffryd Club, then The Star and finishing at Hafod Welfare. At each venue there were different rules of right or left hand drinking, use of christened names or nicknames, no swearing, etc. Everyone would start the evening so carefully but as the beer flowed the mistakes increased and so did the fines. We never waited for that funeral so all the players had a payout at tour time. Where everyone had enough for a few pints the committee had enough from those meetings to pay for their tour. Happy days... L-R Barry Phillips, Barry Foxwell, Tony Bates, Derek Broom, Roy Hale & Garrad Knight