Old Penarthians Rugby Football Club is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

team based in

Penarth Penarth (, ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg), Wales, exactly south of Cardiff city centre on the west shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay. Penarth is a weal ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. The Old Penarthians were formed out of an association set up on 7 December 1923 by Penarth County School. The society formed was the Penarth County School Old Boys Association and it covered the games of

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

, and rugby union. In their first full season during 1924/25 the club won ten matches, drew two, and lost nine. During the 1920s there was pressure from

Penarth RFC Penarth Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club based since 1924 at The Athletic Field, Lavernock Road, in Penarth, in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales. Team history Origins and early history Penarth RFC was founded in 1879 by Cyril and ...

for the Penarth C.S.O.B. to merge with their more established team, but these moves were resisted. In 1938 the rugby team decided to part from their old organisation and Old Penarthians RFC were formed. In 1961 Old Penarthians applied for probationary membership of the

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the Sports governing body, governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running ...

and became full members in 1964.

Notes

Rugby clubs established in 1923 Welsh rugby union teams Sport in the Vale of Glamorgan {{wales-rugbyunion-team-stub