Cardiff City Blue Dragons were a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

team formed in 1981. Their home ground was

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan and hosted fixture ...

, which was also used by

Cardiff City F.C. Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

. The club spent three seasons in Cardiff before relocating to

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge ...

in 1984 as the Bridgend Blue Dragons, and were finally wound up in 1986. The team colours were royal blue shirts with a yellow and white vee. The shorts and socks were also blue. In 2014, two Rugby League clubs in the city, Cardiff Demons and Cardiff Spartans, merged as Cardiff City RLFC and the name was revived and a new club formed, with a modernised badge and kit paying homage to the original side. The 1st and 2nd open age sides played senior home matches at Cardiff Arms Park during the 2015 Welsh Conference season. The club was renamed Cardiff Blue Dragons in 2016 following feedback from supporters. In 2017, they played at The Memorial Ground, Ely, following a partnership with Glamorgan Wanderers RFC. The club includes Wales' first Women's Rugby League side and is the largest in Wales by number of registered players.

History

Early history of rugby league in Cardiff

The first rugby league team formed in Cardiff were Cardiff City Northern Union in November 1907. They played their first and possibly only match against Merthyr Tydfil, in Merthyr, on Christmas Day in 1907, losing 25-3. Despite having a few more matches arranged, including one away to Ebbw Vale on New Years Day in 1908, no other results have so far been found. In 1947–48 and 1951–52, following a successful stint in the Welsh League,

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 ...

was elected to the Rugby Football League. However, after one disastrous season with low attendances, the club withdrew.

Cardiff City Blue Dragons RLFC

The initial success of rugby league teams

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

and Fulham RLFC which were backed by

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

and

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

association football clubs respectively, encouraged Cardiff City to form ''Cardiff City Blue Dragons'' for the 1981–82 season. Their managing director was David Watkins, their coach was John Mantle. The club initially signed three (former) rugby union internationals –

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 ...

, Tommy David and

Paul Ringer Paul Ringer (born 28 January 1948) is an English-born former Welsh dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballer. He played representative level rugby union for Wales and at club level for Ebbw Vale RFC, Llanell ...

. A fourth (former) international,

Brynmor Williams David Brynmor Williams (born 29 October 1951) is a Welsh dual-code international rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for British Lions and Wales, at invitational level for Bar ...

, was signed later on. Their first game against

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

on 30 August 1981 attracted a crowd of 9,247. Despite finishing half-way up the Second Division in their first season, success on the field was elusive and the club failed to win promotion in three seasons at

. Towards the end of their tenure in Cardiff crowds had dwindled to about 500 and they were forced into liquidation after the death of Cardiff City chairman Bob Grogan. Their last home game was a 28–26 loss to

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. In July 1984 the club was bought out of liquidation by a consortium. The new owners came under pressure from the

Welsh FA The Football Association of Wales (FAW; cy, Cymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru) is the governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Welsh national football team, its corresponding women's team, as well as the Welsh ...

who wanted Ninian Park as their permanent headquarters and were opposed to ground sharing with rugby league. As a result the Blue Dragons changed their name to ''Bridgend Blue Dragons'' and relocated the club to Bridgend Town AFC's Coychurch Road ground.

Bridgend Blue Dragons RLFC

Their first home game on 9 September 1984 attracted a crowd of 1,983 to watch Bridgend go down 28–16 to Swinton. After that attendances dropped and by February 1985 less than 200 fans were watching the home games. Their lowest gate was 148 for the final home game against Doncaster on 21 April 1985 when they went down 28–10. The club finished bottom of the Second Division with only one win. Four days before the start of the 1986–87 season the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...

dropped ''Bridgend Blue Dragons'' from the fixtures for failing to secure a ground and Bridgend RLFC decided not to seek reinstatement.

Players earning international caps while at Cardiff City (Bridgend) Blue Dragons

* Chris Camilleri won caps for ''Wales'' while at Barrow in 1980 against France, while at

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

in 1982 against Australia, and while at Cardiff City (Bridgend) Blue Dragons in 1984 against England, and won caps for Great Britain while at Barrow in 1980 against New Zealand (2 matches) * Mike Davies won a cap for ''Wales'' while at Cardiff City (Bridgend) Blue Dragons 1984 1-cap * Tommy David won caps for ''Wales'' while at Cardiff City (Bridgend) Blue Dragons in 1981 against England, and in 1982 against Australia *

won caps for ''Wales'' while at Cardiff City (Bridgend) Blue Dragons 1981…1982 2-caps 5-goals 10-points *

Ness Flowers Ness Flowers (birth unknown) is a Welsh former rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He captained the Welsh Schools Under-15's in 1971, and played for Wales Youth in 1973. At club level he playe ...

won caps for ''Wales'' while at

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

, and Cardiff City (Bridgend) Blue Dragons 1980…1984 4-caps 1-tries 3-points *

Lynn Hallett Lynn Hallett is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s. He played at representative level for Wales, and at club level for Cardiff City (Bridgend) Blue Dragons, as a , or , i.e. number 1, or 6. International hon ...

won caps for ''Wales'' while at Cardiff City (Bridgend) Blue Dragons 1982…1984 2-caps 2-goals 4-points * Christopher O'Brien won a cap for Wales while at Cardiff City (Bridgend) Blue Dragons 1984 * Gordon Pritchard won caps for ''Wales'' while at Barrow, and Cardiff City (Bridgend) Blue Dragons 1978…1981 1(3?)-caps + 2-caps (sub) *

won caps for ''Wales'' (RL) while at Cardiff City (Bridgend) Blue Dragons 1981…1982 2-caps * Graham Walters won caps for ''Wales'' while at

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and wer ...

, and Bridgend Blue Dragons 1980…1984 2(3?)-caps + 1-cap (sub) *

won a cap for ''Wales'' (RL) while at Cardiff City Blue Dragons 1982 1-cap 1-try 3-points

References

External links

Current Cardiff City Rugby League websiteRugby League's modern expansionists
{{Rugby League Wales links 1981 establishments in Wales Rugby clubs established in 1981 Welsh rugby league teams Defunct rugby league teams in Wales Sport in Cardiff