Monmouth Rugby Football Club is a
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, from Monmouth in 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 ...
. The club is a member of the
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 ...
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
Newport Gwent Dragons
Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in ...
.
The Senior XV presently play in the
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 ...
Division One East. The Second XV, known as the Druids, play in the Monmouthshire League. The club also runs a youth team, junior and mini rugby sections.
History
Monmouth Rugby Football Club was founded in 1873. The game was brought into the town through Monmouth School. A master introduced it and it was a combination of older boys and town players who made up the team before eventually separating.
Keith Kissack
Keith Edward Kissack MBE (18 November 1913 – 31 March 2010) was a British schoolteacher and historian. He is notable for his many publications on the history of Monmouth and Monmouthshire.
Life
Kissack was born in Clun, Shropshire, to Rev. ...
, ''Victorian Monmouth'', The Monmouth Historical and Educational trust, , page 191
The ''
Monmouthshire Beacon
The ''Monmouthshire Beacon'' is a weekly tabloid newspaper covering the areas of Monmouthshire, south Herefordshire and western Gloucestershire. It has been in continuous publication since 1837. Since 1980 the newspaper has been part of the T ...
'' bears evidence of the first official town team in 1878. On the 24th October 1879 at the annual meeting, it was decided to change the name from "The Monmouth Football Club" to "The Monmouth (Drybridge) Football Club and the kit colours to be those of Mr Crompton-Roberts, very red and black. Rugby was very strong in the town in the 1880s and 1890s. Sometime in 1885 Monmouth FC amalgamated with Monmouth Rangers, playing their first match since amalgamating against Monmouth Grammar School on 8th October 1885, which was played on Old Dixton Road, Monmouth, where Monmouth Town beat the School team by 3 goals, five tries, and 6 touches down in self-defence to nil. In addition to the senior side there was a junior side known as Monmouth Juniors. The 1888-1889 team under the leadership of E. Dodds were "Invincible". They played 15, won twelve and drew three. In their ranks they had
P.L. Nicholas an
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
international. The ''Monmouthshire Beacon'' proclaimed, that the phenomenal success of the club had been, not due to luck but downright hard work and thoroughly deserved the title "Invincible".
In 1902 the team were "Invincible" again. They played 20, won 17 and drew three under the captaincy was R.G.Williams. The club displays in its lounge a photograph of the team and the caps that were awarded to L.Merrick and T.Hughes who were members of that great side.
In the 1930s, Monmouth fielded several good sides. In 1932, the team had a cosmopolitan make-up, containing A.C. Smith an Australian, R. Thompson a Scottish international,
Peter Hordern
Sir Peter Maudslay Hordern, DL, PC (born 18 April 1929) is a British Conservative Party politician.
Early life
Hordern was born on 18 April 1929 and was the son of Captain Charles Hubert Hordern MBE and grandson of Rt. Rev. Hugh Maudslay Hor ...
an English international and Scotsman Crictai Millar. The 1935-1936 team was of some note. They had an impressive record, playing 33, and winning 28, drawing four and lost only once. They had 267 points for and 97 against. A year earlier the club started playing on Monmouth Sportsground for the first time. The Sportsground remains the main venue for the club, although today it requires pitches on Chippenhan to accommodate 2nd XV, Youth, Junior and Mini Rugby Teams.
In 1969 the club took over the
Druid's Head Inn public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
which today is its headquarters. This building became a
Grade II Listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
building in August 1974.
In 1984-1985 the club built a lounge extension and new changing rooms. In 1998 a two storey extension was built to provide a large function room with a new kitchen on the first floor and a larger ground floor bar area. The latter project cost over £85,000 and was paid for by fund raising events.
In the 1980s another Monmouth boy and Cambridge Blue, captained Wales.
Butler
A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...
another No. 8, went on to play for Wales, sixteen times and captained Wales in six major internationals; he also toured New Zealand with the
British Lions. In 1975-1976 the club produced its first Welsh Youth cap. David Fryer went on to captain
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 ...
and was selected to tour Canada with the Welsh team but injury prevented him going. The club continues to run a Youth XV and several members have represented their District XV. One of the notable moments for the Youth was at the Tiverton Youth Sevens Tournament in 1976. An excellent performances by the Monmouth squad, saw them account for Cardiff Youth, with future Welsh scrum half
Terry Holmes
Terence David "Terry" Holmes (born 10 March 1957) is a Welsh former rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who won 25 caps for as a scrum-half, and later played rugby league for Bradford Northern.
Holmes was a highly physical ...
in their ranks and then Bristol Youth in the final.
Notable former players
*
Kenyon Jones (1 cap)
[''Fields of Praise, The Official History of the Welsh Rugby Union 1881-1981'', David Smith, Gareth Williams (1980) pg468 ]
See also
*
Monmouth Rugby Club
The Monmouth Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team in Division 1I of the Empire Geographical Union based in Monmouth County, New Jersey.
History
The Monmouth Rugby Football Club was founded as the Brookdale Community College, Brookdale Colleg ...
in
Monmouth County, New Jersey
Monmouth County () is a county located on the coast of central New Jersey. The county is part of the New York metropolitan area and is situated along the northern half of the Jersey Shore. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population w ...
, United States
References
{{Rugby union in Wales
Mon
Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to:
Places
* Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar
* Mon, India, a town in Nagaland
* Mon district, Nagaland
* Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India
* Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons
* An ...
Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...