Penydarren Park is a sports stadium in

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 ...

, Wales, that is the present home ground of

Merthyr Town Merthyr Town Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Tref Merthyr) is a Welsh semi-professional association football, football club based in Merthyr Tydfil, currently playing in the , in the seventh tier of the English football league system. The ...

Historically used for varying sports, it has been the home to two professional football teams, Merthyr Town and

Merthyr Tydfil F.C. Merthyr Tydfil Football Club was a Welsh association football, football club based at the Penydarren Park ground in Merthyr Tydfil. In 2010 the club was liquidated and reformed under the name Merthyr Town F.C., Merthyr Town, which was accepted ...

The stadium is one of two in Merthyr Tydfil, along with

The Wern The Wern is a sports stadium in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. It is the home of rugby union club Merthyr RFC and was, for a short period in 2017, also home of rugby league club South Wales Ironmen. The stadium is located on Cae'r Wern in the east of Mer ...

, home of

Merthyr RFC 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 Ty ...

Early history

Penydarren Park is situated on a hill in the town of Merthyr Tydfil. The site was once used by the Romans for their local military encampment and during the industrial revolution it became part of the Penydarren House estate. In the latter half of the nineteenth century Penydarren Park was used by the locals as an open recreational for walks, athletic competitions and team sports.Leeworthy (2012), p. 108 It was redeveloped in the 1890s with a cinder running track and a cycling track added to cater for the fad in foot and cycle racing. An early attempt to bring rugby league to Wales, saw local team

Merthyr Tydfil RLFC Merthyr Tydfil Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at College Field, Merthyr Tydfil were one of the first professional Welsh teams, ...

set up at the rival College Ground. This in turn led to the larger Penydarren Park being host to the first touring Australian rugby league side where they faced a Wales XIII in front of a crowd of 6,000.

Football years

A housing estate next to it also carries the name of the stadium. It was also the home of the town's former club,

There are plans for Merthyr to move to a new stadium on the edge of the town. The stadium would be part of the new 'Merthyr Village' development and have a capacity of around 12,000. These plans were thrown into doubt by the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( cy, Llywodraeth Cymru) is the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and Minister (government), deputy ministers, and also of a Counsel General for Wales, counsel general. Minist ...

's rejection of the project in 2007. In July 2011, the newly promoted Merthyr Town FC hosted Welsh Premier League side Llanelli in a pre-season friendly at Penydarren Park, and thereafter took up full-time residency.

Greyhound racing

Greyhound racing took place around the pitch at Penydarren Park from 1930 to 1960 on Thursday and Saturday evenings at 7.15pm and was a popular flapping track (unaffiliated to a governing body). It is listed in the 1947 betting licensing lists as having a capacity of 20,000 It is believed that

Rudolf Hess Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, Hess held that position unt ...

attended race meetings here whilst a prisoner of war.

References

Bibliography

External links

Merthyr Town FC
Official website of Merthyr Town FC. Football venues in Wales Rugby union stadiums in Wales Welsh Cup final venues Stadiums in Wales Buildings and structures in Merthyr Tydfil Sport in Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Town F.C. Merthyr Tydfil F.C. Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom Greyhound racing in Wales {{Wales-sports-venue-stub