The Welsh League was the first club
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 11 ...
competition in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
.
[Lush (1998), pg. 19] Its inaugural season was in 1908/09 when four additional teams were formed to join
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 Bridge End Field, Ebbw Vale were one of the first professional Welsh teams, and the ...
and
Merthyr Tydfil RLFC, which allowed a league tournament to take place. The Welsh League ran for just two seasons, after three of the teams,
Aberdare,
Barry Barry may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name
* Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 19 ...
and
Mid-Rhondda left the
Northern Union and ceased playing rugby in the first season; followed by the collapse of
Treherbert
Treherbert () is a village and community situated at the head of the Rhondda Fawr valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Historically part of Glamorgan, Treherbert is a former industrial coal mining village which was at its e ...
in 1910. Both seasons were won by Ebbw Vale.
History
The first rugby league clubs
South Wales in the late 19th and early 20th century was a staunch
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 it ...
area, with little interest in
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
, which was seen as a north Wales sport, or the emerging professional
Northern Union game, which would eventually be known as rugby league. The problem facing the
Welsh Rugby Union, the governing body of rugby union in Wales, was the problem keeping union an amateur sport during a period which saw fluctuating prosperity in an industrialised south Wales. The Northern Union paid players per match, offered large signing on fees, found jobs and even found houses for some of their bigger stars. Under rugby union rules, players were not even allowed to accept trivial monies such as travelling expenses, or be found guilt of professionalism and suspended, or more likely banned from the sport for life.
![Dai Tarw Jones](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Dai_Tarw_Jones.jpg)
To prevent losing their star players, many rugby union clubs secretly paid their players a small amount of money for each match played. The first real challenge to the WRU came in 1907, when two events triggered an investigation into the dealings of several clubs, mainly
Aberdare RFC,
Merthyr Alexandra RFC and
Treorchy RFC. It began when E.M. Rees, the ex-Secretary of Aberdare,
blew the whistle on player payments.
[Smith (1880), pg. 180] Rees made three claims in the local press, firstly that all players at his former club were receiving hidden wages, secondly that Aberdare had received a payment of £15 from rivals Treorchy to throw a crucial League match, and finally that Merthyr Alexandria had demanded a payment of £7 5''s'' to bring his team to play Aberdare.
The most notable player to be named in the scandal, was
Dai "Tarw" Jones,
an internationally capped player for
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, and hero of the famous 1905 Welsh victory over the first touring
New Zealand team. Aberdare were accused of paying their players 10
shillings a week, as well as free meals and travel expenses. Jones had switched from his old club
Treherbert RFC
Treherbert Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in Tynewydd in the Rhondda Valley. Treherbert RFC play home games in red shirts with black shorts and black socks. Today, Treherbert RFC plays in the Welsh Rugby Union Division Four ...
in 1902 to join Aberdare, but in 1906, Aberdare were forced to cut their 'wages' from 10 shillings to five, to combat mounting debts.
Jones had taken offence at this and switched back to Treherbert.
The WRU held an investigation into all the allegations, and the sub-committees final report, published in September 1907 asserted that the allegations of professionalism being "rampant in Welsh clubs" were not proven, although they did find evidence of certain clubs giving additional payments to their players.
The Union's reaction was incisive but unbalanced. Temporary suspensions were given to six players, including
Swansea's Fred Scrine, the permanent suspension of the entire Aberdare and Treorchy committees, and the permanent suspension of eight player from the sport of rugby union, including Dai Jones.
Although Merthyr Alexandria were let off with just a warning. The reason for the leniency shown to Merthyr is thought to have been connected to the club's apparent move to the professional Northern code.
Merthyr Alexandria, had proposed in their AGM of 1907 to turn away from amateurism and join the Northern Union.
Although the motion was heavily defeated, the week after the AGM it was reported that fixtures had been arranged, players signed and guarantors found for a new 'professional rugby club' in the town.
In July 1907 a new Merthyr Tydfil league team joined the
Northern Rugby Union. It was therefore believed the WRU did not suspend or punish Merthyr Alexandria to prevent the squad converting to the newly formed league team.
Just prior to the formation of Merthyr Tydfil RLFC,
Ebbw Vale RFC had decided to switch from the union game and joined the Northern Union because the members were enraged at the "...bogus amateurism in the Monmouthshire League".
[Lush (1998), pg. 24] Both these clubs formed the first professional challenge from Wales in the Northern League finishing 23rd (Merthyr)
[Lush (1998), pg. 20] and 26th (Ebbw Vale)
[Lush (1998), pg. 25] out of 27 teams in their first season.
The spread of professional rugby
Before the start of the 1908/09 season, two important matches took place that helped spread the appeal of Northern Union rugby. The first match saw the
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
rugby league team, take on their counterparts from
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
in the first true international rugby league game in world history. The team consisted of Welsh exiles form the Northern Union teams, plus two players from both Ebbw Vale (
Chick Jenkins
Thomas Henry Jenkins ( – 1932), also known by the nicknames of "Chic", and "Chick", 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 Pontypool RFC, ...
and
Oliver Burgham) and Merthyr Tydfil (
Dai "Tarw" Jones and
David Davies). Rather than playing the game at either Ebbw Vale or Merthyr, the neutral ground of
Aberdare Athletic Ground was chosen by the Northern Union.
[Lush (1998), pg. 28] An earlier attempt to produce a professional team in Aberdare had failed, despite the fact that the town had been at the centre of the "shamateurism" row; mainly due to a failure to achieve financial backing and a failure to secure a playing field.
After a crowd of 15000 paid £560 to watch
Wales win 9-8, and the commercial potential of a Northern Union club became more apparent.
A group of 'tradesmen and sportsmen' met in March 1908 to agree financing, and from this Aberdare RLFC was formed.
The second match was another international, this time the first encounter between Wales and
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 ...
on 20 April 1908. In similar circumstances the Northern Union chose another venue where professional sympathies lay, this time
Tonypandy
Tonypandy is a town, community and electoral ward located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining town, the town ...
in the
Rhondda Valley
Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( cy, Cwm Rhondda ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley ...
. Just a few weeks after the game, Tonypandy saw the emergence of their own Northern team, Mid-Rhondda. A second Rhondda team also formed at almost the same time, Treherbert RLFC joined the Union in April. The sixth and final Welsh team, Barry, joined at the same time, and they played their first match in September, against Treherbert.
Welsh League XIII
A Welsh League XIII was formed to face the
Australia national rugby league team on their
first tour. The first league tourists were the New Zealand team in 1908, who faced the Wales team, but Australia did not face Wales so the Welsh League XIII was the closest the Kangaroos came to facing the national side. The Welsh League XIII was made up of players from all six teams, but the majority came from Merthyr, who supplied eight of the thirteen players.
[Proud Victory](_blank)
Merthyr Express, 15 January 2009 The Welsh League XIII faced the Australians at Merthyr in front of a crowd of 6000, and won the game by a narrow 14-13 scoreline. A Welsh League XIII also played Ebbw Vale at the end of the 1908/09 season.
Collapse of the Welsh League
The Welsh League lasted for just two seasons, and the 1909/10 tournament had just three teams competing. Simply the League failed because the clubs failed and with no new clubs emerging the first attempt at bringing rugby league to Wales came to an abrupt end. The new clubs faced hostility from the rugby union scene, class prejudice and the rise of a more popular professional game, association football. Though the biggest issues for the Welsh League were an inability to challenge the more established clubs for players, a lack of support from the Northern Union and the mismanagement of the Welsh clubs.
[Lush (1998), pg. 34]
The Welsh League was weak in comparison with the more established northern clubs. Between the six clubs competing only one Welsh rugby union international was signed to their books, and that was Merthyr's Dai "Tarw" Jones.
With little capital up front, they were seen as a poor alternative to players wishing to switch to the professional code.
Ben Gronow was offered £25 and a job to join Ebbw Vale, yet he turned down the offer only to accept a fee of £125 to sign with
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
.
With few star players, the attendance at matches was low, and therefore the club takings suffered.
The Northern Union was also unhelpful in these early attempts at creating a Welsh League, expecting the Welsh clubs to take care of themselves. When Ebbw Vale and Merthyr formed in 1907, the Northern Union allowed a travel subsidy of £10 every time they played in the north, but after the election of the other four clubs, this subsidy was reduced to £5, despite the problems facing the new clubs.
The Northern Union also showed little support in helping the new clubs cope with the challenges of professionalism, and few questions were asked about the background of the people running each business.
[Lush (1998), pg. 24] By 1910, Merthyr's administration was described as shambolic with no one appearing to be running the club; while financially it was reliant on unsecured loans that helped precipitate its rapid demise.
Although difficult to measure, the uncaring attitude of the northern clubs also had an effect on the Welsh game. One commentator stated, 'if the game there
outh Walescannot be made self-supporting, clubs in the north should not be taxed to make good its weakness.'
When Tom Thomas failed to settle in Wigan, his club placed a hefty £60 fee on his head to transfer back to Wales.
Merthyr raised the fee with great difficulty, and although it made good business sense for Wigan to get the best price for a player of little future use to them, it was the sort of short-sightedness that damaged the sport in Wales.
As often occurred, the member clubs' self-interest overrode the desire for expansion, and was yet another factor in the demise of rugby league in Wales and the Welsh League.
Welsh League
When Aberdare and Barry joined the Northern Union on 21 July 1908, it was decided that with six Welsh teams a Welsh League could be formed. The Northern Union presented the League with a cup, valued at 50 guineas, for the Welsh champions.
[Lush (1998), pg. 29]
1908/1909 season
The first Welsh League tournament was contested between Aberdare, Barry, Ebbw Vale, Merthyr Tydfil, Mid-Rhondda and Treherbert. Each team was scheduled to play each other twice, home and away. As the Welsh teams were playing in the Welsh League and the Northern Rugby League, and both leagues were separate tournaments, each team would over the course of the season face each four times, twice in the Welsh League and twice in the Northern Rugby League.
The position of each team at the end of the season is decided on winning percentage. Winning percentage is calculated on games won plus half games drawn divided by games played. The teams are then ranked in order, with the club with the highest percentage as champions.
The first Welsh League was won by Ebbw Vale.
Table
1908/09 Matches
1909/1910 season
The second Welsh League tournament was contested between Ebbw Vale, Merthyr Tydfil and Treherbert. Each team was scheduled to play each other twice, home and away. As the Welsh teams were playing in the Welsh League and the Northern Rugby League, and both leagues were separate tournaments, each team would over the course of the season face each four times, twice in the Welsh League and twice in the Northern Rugby League.
The position of each team at the end of the season is decided on winning percentage. Winning percentage is calculated on games won plus half games drawn divided by games played. The teams are then ranked in order, with the club with the highest percentage as champions.
The second Welsh League was won by Ebbw Vale.
Table
1909/10 matches
See also
*
Rugby league in Wales
Rugby league is a sport played in Wales. The governing body of the game in Wales is the Wales Rugby League.
There is a long but sporadic history of rugby league in Wales ( cy, rygbi'r gynghrair). Over the decades hundreds of Welsh players have p ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
* {{cite book , last=Smith , first=David , author2=Williams, Gareth , title=Fields of Praise: The Official History of The Welsh Rugby Union , year=1980 , publisher=University of Wales Press , location=Cardiff , isbn=0-7083-0766-3
Rugby league competitions in the United Kingdom
Defunct sports leagues in the United Kingdom
Rugby league in Wales
1908 in Welsh rugby league
1909 in Welsh rugby league
1910 in Welsh rugby league