Ebbw Vale Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Glyn Ebwy) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

Club based in the town of

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 con ...

, Blaenau Gwent,

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

. The club play in the Welsh Premiership and act as 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

Dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

regional team.

History

Evidence of rugby union being played in Ebbw Vale is noted around 1879. Ebbw Vale RFC applied for and achieved

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the Sports governing body, 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 ...

(then known as the Welsh Football Union) membership between 1893 and 1894. In 1907, the committee of Ebbw Vale rugby club voted 63–20 to switch from amateur rugby union to professional

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 ...

. Deals were made with the Northern Union, and on 26 July 1907 Ebbw Vale RFC became

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 ...

. The club, its players and members were all suspended from rugby union activities by the Welsh Rugby Union, though after Ebbw Vale RLFC collapsed in 1912, Ebbw Vale were readmitted as a union team after World War I. In 1927 due to falling gate receipts, caused by the increasing attraction of rival sports such as football, Ebbw Vale staged a

game on their pitch, the Welfare Ground. The WRU reacted strongly and threatened Ebbw Vale RFC with expulsion from the league. This was seen by many as an overly aggressive stance to a club that was desperate for aid not sanctions. By 1932 the gate at Ebbw Vale rarely reached twenty shillings, despite a catchment area population of 40,000. The club was forced to resort to public subscriptions. Rugby union continued in Ebbw Vale during

World War II 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

due to the vital services provided by the steel and coal industry and Ebbw Vale was undefeated in 1940/1941. But by the mid 1950s Ebbw Vale RFC was once again becoming a prosperous club. Although seen as one of the most successful clubs on and off the playing field throughout the 1950s, Ebbw Vale was under-represented in the Welsh national team. Around the same time joint teams drawn from Ebbw Vale and neighbours Abertillery played New Zealand, Australia and South Africa international touring sides. These games were usually close encounters but with only one win – against Australia in 1958. In the 60/61 season the Athletic side, captained by Ken Cameron, lost only one game. Their players were a consistent source of supply to the 1st XV. The club has the dubious distinction of being on the receiving end of the heaviest defeat in

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

history going down 108–16 away to

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

in 1998 conceding 16 tries in the process. Although Ebbw Vale did have revenge, defeating

in the return fixture. In April 2010 the club's relegation to

WRU Division One East The Welsh Rugby Union Specsavers Division One East is a rugby union league in Wales. It was 'born' out of a restructure of the former league system that had formally begun in Wales for the 1990/91 season. As a result of the restructure of 2006, t ...

was confirmed. In April 2011 Ebbw Vale were crowned

Champions after gaining a bonus point win in their final league game at

Bedlinog Bedlinog is a small village (and larger community) located in The Taff Bargoed valley (Cwm Bargoed), north of Pontypridd, north west of Caerphilly and south east of Merthyr Tydfil in south-east Wales. It is currently in the south of Merthyr Ty ...

. In what was a remarkable run-in to the end of the season, Ebbw picked up 44 league points from their final 9 league games (out of a possible 45) to overhaul Newbridge and win the league title at the first attempt. In April 2012 Ebbw Vale retained the

title with one game in hand, following a 52–0 victory over

Tredegar Tredegar (pronounced , ) is a town and community situated on the banks of the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in the southeast of Wales. Within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the In ...

. The season was also marked by a remarkable cup run which saw them defeat Newport, Carmerthen Quins and

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, before drawing 19–19 to Cross Keys in the semi-final (Cross Keys subsequently progressed by virtue of tries scored 2–1). In April 2013 Ebbw Vale were crowned inaugural champions of the newly formed WRU National Championship, pitting the best teams from east and west against one another. In a season that marked the club's third league title win in a row the Steelmen won 23 of 24 league games, breaking the 1000 point barrier in the process. In April 2014 Ebbw Vale were again crowned champions of the WRU National Championship, this time gaining promotion to the

Principality Premiership The Welsh Premier Division, () known for sponsorship reasons as the Indigo Group Premiership, (''Uwch Gynghrair grŵp indigo'') is a rugby union league in Wales first implemented by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) for the 1990–91 season. Compe ...

. They won 25 out of 26 games and amassed another 1000 point season. In the 2015/16 season the club achieved a new height, winning the Premiership title for the first time.

Colours and badge

The club colours changed from black and amber to red, white and green in the 1930s. The change may have been made by Dai Regan Jones, who had played for Leicester RFC. Their home colours of green, white and red represent the colours of the Welsh national flag with the second-choice shirt coloured light blue. The club's badge like many other clubs in

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 ...

has a red dragon on it. The dragon is standing over a golden gate or drawbridge, over the dragons head is a semicircle with the club's motto of ''Iach Gorff Iach Meddwl''. This semicircle is part of a bridge shape which is coloured in the club's and Welsh colours of red, green and white. All of this is incorporated into a shield shape with the club's name Ebbw Vale RFC embroidered on the bottom.

Club's motto

The club's motto is "Iach Gorff Iach Feddwl", the Welsh for "Healthy Body Healthy Mind". The origin of this motto is speculative but this is an old proverb in the Welsh Language.

Current squad

Club honours

Snelling Sevens The Snelling Sevens (also known as the Snelling Seven-a-Side Trophy and originally known as the Welsh Seven-a-Side Tournament) was an annual Welsh Rugby Union sevens competition that ran from 1954 until 1995. The tournament was inaugurated in ...

1958 – Champions * Welsh Cup Runners-up 1998–99 *

2010–11 – Champions *

2011–12 – Champions * WRU Championship 2012–13 – Champions * WRU Championship 2013–14 – Champions *

2015–16 – Champions

Notable former players

The players listed below have played or coached rugby union or rugby league at international level and have represented or coached Ebbw Vale. :''See also :Ebbw Vale RFC players'' Stupid Lee (on loan from Beaufort RFC)

Notable former coaches and management staff

Games played against international opposition

¹A joint Ebbw Vale and

Abertillery Abertillery (; cy, Abertyleri) is a town and a community of the Ebbw Fach valley in the historic county of Monmouthshire, Wales. Following local government reorganisation it became part of the Blaenau Gwent County Borough administrative area ...

side.

External links

Bibliography

Notes

{{Authority control Rugby clubs established in 1879 Welsh rugby union teams Ebbw Vale 1879 establishments in Wales