Skewen Rugby Football Club is a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

team from the village of

Skewen Skewen ( cy, Sgiwen) is a village within the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, in Wales. The village is served by Skewen railway station and has its own rugby club. History Skewen was once an industrial village. There were a number of c ...

, South

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 ...

. Skewen RFC is a member of the

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) 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, ove ...

and is a

feeder club In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

for the Ospreys.

Club history

There's evidence of a Skewen rugby team playing as early as 1879 with a match reported in "The Western Mail" against Neath being played on 4 January 1879, losing by 2 tries and 4 touch downs to nil, at the Court Herbert Field. During the 1897/88 season they applied for and were successful in gaining membership to the

, though funding remained an issue and it is recorded that during the 1902/03 season the club still claimed no money from the WRU. In 1904 the club secured a regular playing ground at Cae Lynch, from here they could charge a few pence for admission. In 1905 they switched grounds to Cae Wathen, the same year the club held their first official dinner, an important event for any rugby club. Unlike most Welsh clubs, rugby was still played in Skewen during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, but mainly as charity matches between local collieries. In 1920 the club was playing competitive rugby and managed to beat

Bridgend RFC Bridgend Ravens ( cy, Cigfrain Pen-y-bont) (formerly Bridgend RFC) are a semi-professional rugby union club based in Bridgend, South Wales. They currently play in the Welsh Premier Division and are a feeder club to the Ospreys regional team. ...

a team that played at a far higher level than Skewen. In 1936 Skewen RFC moved to their present pitch at Tennant Park. During the

second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

all rugby ceased under the orders of the WRU. Skewen RFC were the losing finalists of the inaugural

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 , HQ = ...

competition during the 1956–57 season. Welsh international props Paul James, Rhodri Wells and Craig Mitchell came through Skewens junior teams, as did centre Ashley Beck.

Club honours

WRU Division Three South West The Welsh Rugby Union Division Three South West (also called the SWALEC Division Three South West for sponsorship reasons) is a rugby union league in Wales. Competition format and sponsorship Competition There are 12 clubs in the WRU Divisio ...

2009/10 - Champions

Notable past players

Glyn Gething Glyn Ivor Gething (16 June 1892 – 20 March 1977) was a Welsh international rugby union full back who played club rugby for Skewen and Neath and international rugby for Wales. He was a bank clerk by profession. Rugby history Gething first ca ...

- Wales

References

External links

Skewen Rugby Football Club
{{Rugby Wales links Rugby clubs established in 1883 Welsh rugby union teams Rugby union in Neath Port Talbot 1883 establishments in Wales