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Ebbw Vale RLFC
Ebbw Vale Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Ebbw Vale, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at Eugene Cross Park, Bridge End Field, Ebbw Vale were one of the first professional Welsh teams, and the last to disband in 1912 after the failure of the Welsh League. Ebbw Vale produced seven players who would go on to represent the Wales national rugby league team, and were seen as the only Welsh team of the time who could challenge the Northern League. Formation The Ebbw Vale rugby league team was the first club in Wales to 'turn professional' being founded on 15 July 1907,Lush (1998) pg. 24 the same month that Merthyr Tydfil RLFC formed. The team formed out of Ebbw Vale RFC, an amateur rugby union team, whose members were enraged at the "...bogus amateurism in the Monmouthshire League". Rugby union, led by the Welsh Rugby Union in Wales, had strict laws, barring all players to accept any wages or expenses to play the union ...
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Ebbw Vale
Ebbw Vale (; cy, Glynebwy) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a population of roughly 33,000. It has direct access to the dualled A465 Heads of the Valleys trunk road and borders the Brecon Beacons National Park. Welsh language According to the 2011 Census, 4.6% of Ebbw Vale North's 4,561 (210 residents) resident-population can speak, read, and write Welsh, and 5.7% of Ebbw Vale South's 4,274 (244 residents) resident-population can speak, read, and write Welsh. This is below the county's figure of 5.5% of 67,348 (3,705 residents) who can speak, read, and write Welsh. Early history There is evidence of very early human activity in the area. Y Domen Fawr is a Bronze Age burial cairn above the town and at Cefn Manmoel there is a demarcation dyke believed to be of neolithic or medieval ...
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Aberdare Athletic Ground
The Athletic Ground, also known as Aberdare Stadium and the Ynys Stadium, was a mixed sports venue in Aberdare, Wales, which was predominantly used for football. It was the home of Aberdare Athletic, who were members of the English Football League between 1921 and 1927. For a single season (1908–1909) it was the home of short-lived pioneer rugby league team, Aberdare. History The ground was opened in 1893 as the home of Aberdare Town, who later became Aberdare Athletic.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p17, On 1 January 1908 the Athletic Ground the venue of the first rugby league international involving a team from outside the British Isles when Wales played New Zealand as part of the 1907–08 tour, with Wales winning 9–8. The match attracted approximately 15,000 fans By 1920 the ground was still quite basic, with a narrow grandstand on the southern t ...
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John Foley (rugby League)
John Foley (1878 – June 1949) was a Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s and 1910s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Newport RFC, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Wales and Welsh League XIII, and at club level for Ebbw Vale, as a forward (prior to the specialist positions of; ), during the era of contested scrums. Background Jack Foley was born in Brynmawr, Wales, and he died aged c. 70–71 in Brynmawr, Wales. International honours Jack Foley won 5 caps for Wales in 1908–1911 while at Ebbw Vale 2-tries 4-points, and represented Welsh League XIII while at Merthyr Tydfil in the 14-13 victory over Australia at Penydarren Park, Merthyr Tydfil 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 ... on Tuesday 1 ...
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Highfield RLFC
Liverpool Stanley was a semi-professional rugby league club from Liverpool, England. It was renamed Liverpool City in 1951, but was otherwise unrelated to the Liverpool City (1906) (rugby league), original Liverpool club of the same name. The club's origins date back to 1880 when it was founded as Wigan Highfield. Although the club was best known for its years in Liverpool, the club relocated numerous times, and were known as London Highfield, Huyton, Runcorn Highfield, Highfield, and eventually Prescot Panthers throughout their existence before being eventually wound up in 1996. History The first Liverpool City – 1906–1907 A professional club first emerged in Liverpool, called Liverpool City, in 1906, playing at the Stanley Athletics Ground. They hold an unwanted record in the professional game in the United Kingdom as being a team who lost every game in the season. In 1906–1907, they lost 30 games – they drew one against Bramley RLFC, Bramley which was expunged becaus ...
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Athletic News
The ''Athletic News and Cyclists' Journal'' was a Manchester-based newspaper founded by Edward Hulton in 1875. It was published weekly, covering weekend sports fixtures other than horse racing, which was already covered by the ''Sporting Chronicle'' founded by Hulton in 1871. It was an advocate of professional football and many of its staff were actively involved in the sport. In 1931 it merged with the ''Sporting Chronicles Monday edition. The original name was preserved until the 1940s in the titles of the ''Athletic News Football Annual'' first issued in 1887 and the ''Athletic News Cricket Annual'' first issued in 1888; both these annuals were eventually taken over by the ''Sunday Chronicle The ''Sunday Chronicle'' was a newspaper in the United Kingdom, published from 1885 to 1955. The newspaper was founded in Manchester by Edward Hulton in August 1885. He was known for his sporting coverage, already publishing the ''Sporting Chron ...'', founded by Hulton in 1885. Refere ...
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Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves amateur, semi-professional and professional clubs. The final of the Challenge Cup at Wembley Stadium, London, is one of the most prestigious matches in world rugby league and is broadcast around the world. " Abide with Me", sung before the game, has become a rugby league anthem. The current holders of the Challenge Cup are Wigan, beating Huddersfield, 16–14 in the 2022 Final on 28 May 2022 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, winning the competition for the twentieth time. Wigan are the most successful club in the history of the competition, winning the Cup a record 20 times. History The clubs that formed the Northern Union had long been playing in local knock-out cup competitions under the auspices of the Rugby Football Union. The rugby ...
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Barry RLFC
Barry Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at the Trinity Street Ground in Barry, the club was one of the first professional Welsh teams, formed in 1908 but folded after just a single season. Club history Formation At the beginning of the 20th century, rugby union was the sport of choice for most villages and towns. Association football was viewed as a north Wales activity, and cricket was the summer game. At the end of the 19th century, clubs in the north of England had broken away from the International Rugby Board, and started a professional version of rugby which later became known as rugby league. Rugby union was a strictly amateur sport, and any player or club that took any form of payment were likely to be suspended from the game. This was very difficult to administer, as clubs were beginning to experience their star players "Going North", to the profes ...
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Aberdare RLFC
Aberdare Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Aberdare, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Playing from Ynys Field (later Aberdare Athletic Ground) in Aberdare, the club was one of the first professional Welsh teams, formed in 1908 but folded after just a single season. Club history Formation At the beginning of the 20th century, rugby union was the sport of choice for most villages and towns. The sport was strictly amateur and players were not expected to receive any monies for taking part in the sport. If players were to be discovered taking payments, they and their club could be permanently suspended. The problem facing Welsh rugby was the rise of the professional Northern Union (later rugby league) in the North of England, where several clubs had split away from the International Rugby Board and formed their own league where players were paid to play. Many rugby union clubs found their star players poached from them by th ...
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Mid-Rhondda RLFC
Mid-Rhondda Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Tonypandy, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at the King George's Park, Tonypandy, Athletic Ground in Tonypandy, Mid-Rhondda were one of the first professional Welsh teams, formed in 1908 but folding after just a single season. Mid-Rhondda later became Mid Rhondda F.C., a notable association football team in the Rhondda, Rhondda Valleys. Club history Formation In 1907 the first two rugby league teams in Wales were formed, Ebbw Vale RLFC, Ebbw Vale and Merthyr Tydfil RLFC, Merthyr Tydfil. Although South Wales was best known for its rugby union teams, events in Aberdare and the Rhondda between 1905 and 1907 had revealed several clubs were breaking amateur rules and were paying their players. This led to club and player suspensions by the Welsh Rugby Union, and this in turn led to some clubs considering switching to the professional Rugby Football League, Northern Union and ...
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Treherbert RLFC
Treherbert Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Treherbert, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at the Athletic Ground, Treherbert were one of the first professional Welsh teams, formed in 1908 but folding after just two seasons. Treherbert also produced a single player, David Galloway, who gained international caps directly from the team. Formation In 1908 Treherbert was a large village at the head of the Rhondda Valley, a heavy industrial coal mining area. The village already had a rugby union team, Treherbert RFC, but after the creation of two rugby league clubs in 1907, Merthyr Tydfil and Ebbw Vale, attempts were made to form a professional team to play in the Northern Rugby League. In April 1908, the Treherbert and District Northern Union Club Ltd was formed with capital of £500.Lush (1998), pg. 32 The team played at the Athletic Ground in the village, and set their headquarters at the local pub, the Dunraven Hot ...
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England National Rugby League Team
The England national rugby league team represents England in international rugby league. The team, largely formed from the Great Britain team which also represented Wales and Scotland, is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League. It participates in the Rugby League World Cup, Four Nations and Test matches. The team dates to 1904, when they played against a mixture of Welsh and Scottish players in Wigan. Until the 1950s, they regularly toured Australia and New Zealand and played both home and away matches against neighbours Wales and France, but when it was decided that Great Britain would tour the Southern Hemisphere instead of England, France and Wales became the only regular opponents. Their first appearance in the Rugby League World Cup was in 1975. They have been three times runners-up; in 1975, 1995 and 2017. England also competed in the European Nations Cup, and, in 2006, an England 'A' team competed for the Federation Shield. England's main rivals hi ...
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