Beddau Rugby Football Club is a
rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
team from the village of
Beddau
; ) is a large former mining village (and electoral ward) situated within the South Wales Valleys Davies (2008), page 507. around from Llantrisant and from the larger town of Pontypridd in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales.
...
, South
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. The present club was formed in 1951–52, but it can trace its roots to around 1900. Beddau RFC is a member of the
Welsh Rugby Union
The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; ) is the 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 of rugby in Wales, overseeing 320 member clu ...
and is a feeder club for
Cardiff Blues
Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams.
Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back ...
.
History
Beddau had a village rugby team from around 1900 until the Second World War. During the war all the club's records were destroyed apart from a few remaining photographs of Beddau RFC teams from the late 1930s.
Beddau RFC was reformed in 1951-52 and has since been based in Castellau Road, Beddau. The club plays at Mount Pleasant Park, Beddau.
Today
Today, Beddau RFC plays in the
WRU Championship. In the 2006–07 season, Beddau RFC won the Division One East League, but were denied promotion to the Premier League as their grounds were deemed not to meet WRU criteria. This ruling was upheld at an EGM by 67% of members.
The club was entered into the inaugural Swalec Championship and had several good seasons in the second WRU league tier before being relegated in 2013/14. In 2014/15 With new coaches Lee Davies and Ben Daniels at the helm the Green and Golds led by Glenn Slater bounced back immediately to the Championship winning the Division One East Central title in emphatic fashion, winning 21 out of their 22 fixtures and going unbeaten at home. Winning the league meant a Play-off game for promotion to the Championship against
Penallta RFC which Beddau won convincingly 22–13.
The club has a thriving mini and junior section, excellent Youth team that all feeds into the Development XV and 1st XV.
Club honours
* Worthington's
Mid District Cup 2007-08 – Winners
* Swalec Division One East Champions 2014/15
* WRU Division One East Champions – 2006–07
* Mid District Cup 2006-07 – Winners
* Mid District Cup 2005-06 – Winners
* Mid District Cup 2004-05 – Winners
* Mid District Cup 2003-04 – Winners
*
Glamorgan County Silver Ball Trophy
The Glamorgan County Silver Ball Trophy (also known as the Glamorgan County High Motive Silver Ball Trophy) is a Welsh rugby union competition open to all non-premier Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) clubs playing in the Glamorgan
Glamorgan (), or s ...
1989-90 – Winners
* Mid District Cup 1970-71 – Winners
Notable former players
Full Internationals
*
Gareth Prothero (Wales and
British Lions)
*
Steve Fenwick
Steven Paul Fenwick (born 23 July 1951) is a Welsh former rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Wales, and at club level for Bridgend RFC, as ...
(Wales and British Lions)
*
Chris Bridges (Wales)
*
Andrew Lamerton (Wales)
*
Gareth Wyatt (Wales)
*
Michael Owen
Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker for Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, Newcastle United ...
(Wales and British Lions)
*
Gemma Hallett (Wales Women)
*
Gethin Jenkins
Gethin Jenkins (born 17 November 1980) is a Welsh former professional rugby union player who played as a prop for Pontypridd, Celtic Warriors, Cardiff Blues and Toulon. At international level, he won 129 caps for Wales. On his 105th appearance ...
(Wales and British Lions)
*
Bradley Davies (Wales)
*
Dillon Lewis (Wales)
Other internationals
*
Tom Slater (Wales Sevens)
* Tom Riley (Wales Sevens)
* Brett Davey (Wales Development XV)
References
External links
Beddau RFC
Rugby union teams in Wales
Beddau
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