Treherbert Rugby Football Club is a Welsh

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 it ...

team based in

Tynewydd Tynewydd is a village located in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, south Wales. With Treherbert, Blaencwm, Blaenrhondda and Pen-yr-englyn it is part of a Community (Wales), community of Treherbert. The village lies in the former industrial ...

in the

Rhondda Valley Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( cy, Cwm Rhondda ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley ...

. Treherbert RFC play home games in red shirts with black shorts and black socks. Today, Treherbert RFC plays in the Welsh Rugby Union Division Four South East league and are a feeder club for Cardiff Blues.

Early history

In 1875, the newly established coal mines of Treherbert brought workers from Aberdare and

Merthyr Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

and with them the game of rugby; and that year saw their first recorded rugby game between a team of players from Treherbert and a team from Merthyr who already had a well established "town" side. On 18 January 1879 a team from Treherbert travelled to

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

to play the city team. By 1884 Treherbert had established regular fixtures with the Cardiff Second XV, Merthyr, Aberdare and Pontypridd. The club's first major success came in 1889-90 by means of the Glamorgan League Championship, a title they were to win on another five occasions. In 1895 Treherbert RFC applied for and were successful in achieving WRU affiliation. Early in the 1920s another club was formed in the neighbourhood, Blaenrhondda. They played on a field belonging to a local farmer and under the guidance of Mr. T. L. Mort, the local Colliery Agent, the Hay Field was transformed into a rugby pitch. However, after struggling during a difficult period in the early 1920s the team was close to disbanding. Around this time the private company that owned the Treherbert R.F.C.'s field sold the Hay Field to Great Western Railway and the Treherbert Club found themselves without a home. With Treherbert homeless and Blaenrhondda struggling to survive, the future appeared rather dim. In 1929 Treherbert RFC disbanded due to financial troubles and the remains of the team moved the mile up the valley to Blaenrhondda to merge with the smaller club. The merged teams of Treherbert and Blaenrhondda (until 1954 known as Blaenrhondda when the Club changed back to Treherbert R.F.C.) now playing on Blaenrhondda Park won the Rhondda and East Glamorgan League in 1935-36 as well as winning the Coleman Cup twice.

Notable past players

''See also :Treherbert RFC players * Gus Broughton * Stan Davies (1 Cap) * Gomer Gunn * Dai Harris * David 'Tarw' Jones (13 Caps)''Fields of Praise, The Official History of the Welsh Rugby Union 1881-1981'', David Smith, Gareth Williams (1980) pp467 * Tom Llewellyn *Lou Reed

External links

Treherbert RFC, The First Sixty Years by Desmond Barnett
Sourced 11/08/2007

References

{{Rugby union in Wales Rugby clubs established in 1879 Rugby union teams in Wales Sport in Rhondda Cynon Taf