Llynfi Road is a rugby stadium in

Maesteg Maesteg (; ) is a town and community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English translatio ...

Bridgend County Borough Bridgend County Borough () is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. The county borough has a total population of 139,200 people, and contains the town of Bridgend, after which it is named. Its members of the Senedd are Sarah Murphy ...

, Wales. It is the home of

Maesteg RFC Maesteg Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team from the town of Maesteg, South Wales. The club currently play in the Division 3B west Central Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Ospreys. Club history Maesteg RFC was formed in 18 ...

History

Rugby Union

Maesteg RFC was formed in 1877 in the

Llynfi Valley The River Llynfi (), is one of three main tributaries of the River Ogmore (). It runs for around 10 miles from its source north of Maesteg and flows generally southwards through the Llynfi Valley to the confluence with the River Ogmore and the ...

, in the county of

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

. The Llynfi ground (sometimes referred to as the Old Parish, was constructed in an area dominated by Llynfi ironworks at the time and is believed to have been built sometime around the end of the 19th century. In 1920, a fund was set up to improve the ground and add changing rooms next to the grandstand and add fencing and turnstiles.

Greyhound racing

A short lived greyhound track was built around the Old Parish Ground owned by Maesteg Rugby Club. The racing took place before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

from approximately 1930 until the outbreak of war. The Maesteg Greyhound Association applied for a betting licence in 1935, under the

Betting and Lotteries Act 1934 The Betting and Lotteries Act 1934 ( 24 & 25 Geo. 5. c. 58) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, ...

Rugby league

The first senior

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

match played at Llynfi Road was in 2005 when

Bridgend Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (known as Bridgend Blue Bulls RLFC between 2003 and 2012) are a rugby league side based in Pyle, Wales. They play in the Welsh Premier of the Rugby League Conference. They are the most successful amateur rugby league team in Wa ...

played

Valley Cougars Valley Cougars are a rugby league team based in Treharris. They play in the Wales Premier League, which they won in 2017 after defeating the Torfaen Tigers in the league's Grand Final. History They were founded in 2001 as Cynon Valley Cougars an ...

. The game attracted a crowd of around 1,500. The two sides would face each other again in 2010. Celtic Crusaders took on

Keighley Cougars The Keighley Cougars are a professional rugby league club from Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Cougar Park and compete in RFL League 1, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, British rugby le ...

in 2006, winning 58–18. The game had been moved from

Brewery Field Dunraven Brewery Field () is an 8,000 (1,100 seated) capacity sports stadium in Bridgend, Wales. It is the home ground of the rugby union team Bridgend Ravens. Bridgend Athletic RFC often use the ground for their home matches, as well as the ...

because of a Bryan Adams concert two days before. Throughout 2009, Celtic Crusaders reserves played 12 games, their under-18s played four times and the under-16s once. On 8 November 2009, Italy beat Serbia 42–14 and Lebanon beat Ireland 40–16 in a European Cup ranking double header event. Professional rugby league returned to the Bridgend county borough as

South Wales Scorpions The South Wales Scorpions, known as the South Wales Ironmen in 2017, were a semi-professional rugby league club based in South Wales. They played in the third tier of the British rugby league system The British rugby league system is based on ...

moved to Llynfi Road for the 2014 season. This lasted for one season following the Scorpions move to Mountain Ash for the start of the 2015 season

Club house fire

On 13 August 2013, the club's house was devastated by fire, destroying the Sponsor's Lounge including memorabilia and the electricity. Other areas of the club were also damaged by smoke and water. This was a result of an arson attack. This resulted in there being no annual firework display by Maesteg Round Table on 5 November 2013.

References

External links

Maesteg RFC official site

South Wales Scorpions official site
Sport in Bridgend County Borough Maesteg Rugby league stadiums in Wales South Wales Scorpions Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom Greyhound racing in Wales {{wales-rugbyunion-team-stub