Treorchy 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 it ...

team from the village of

Treorchy Treorchy ( cy, Treorci; ) is a town and community (and electoral ward) in Wales. Once a mining town, it retains such characteristics. Situated in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf in the Rhondda Fawr valley. Treorchy is also one of the 16 ...

, 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 ('' ...

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 ...

. They formed in 1886 and by 1891 were a strong voice in the Welsh Football Union and were playing in the Rhondda Division.

Club history

With the industrialisation of the Rhondda, the game of rugby spread through the valley as the growing population looked for social activities to become involved in. Although not the first club to form in the Rhondda, Treorchy provided the first international player to represent

while still playing for a valley club. In the opening game of the

1886 Home Nations Championship The 1886 Home Nations Championship was the fourth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Five matches were played between 2 January and 13 March 1886. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The 1886 Championship ...

, Treorchy provided the first 'Rhondda forward' when Sam Ramsey was selected to face

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 ...

. Although Ramsey would only win two caps, and the second took a wait of eight years, Treorchy would provide several players throughout their history, including

Billy Cleaver William Cleaver (15 September 1921 – 29 September 2003) was a Welsh international Rugby Union fly-half who played club rugby for Cardiff. He won 14 caps for Wales and was selected to play for the British Lions on the 1950 tour of Australia ...

who would eventually play for the British Lions In 1907, Treorchy was accused of throwing a rugby game against

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; cy, Aberdâr) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tyd ...

, which gave Aberdare the Glamorgan League title. The resulting enquiry by the WRU saw the permanent suspension of Treorchy's entire committee.''Fields of Praise, The Official History of the Welsh Rugby Union 1881-1981'', David Smith, Gareth Williams (1980) pg 180 As Treorchy finished in the top four of the WRU premier division during the 1994/95 season they were given the privilege of hosting that year's touring international team Fiji.

Club honours

* 1992/93 WRU Division Three - Champions * 1993/94 WRU Division Two - Champions * 2008/09

WRU Division Three South East The Welsh Rugby Union Division Three East (also called the SWALEC Division Three South East for sponsorship reasons) is a rugby union league in Wales. Competition format and sponsorship Competition There are 12 clubs in the WRU Division Three ...

- Champions * 2016/17 WRU Division One East Central - Champions

Notable former players

:''See also :Treorchy RFC players'' The following players have played for Treorchy and have also been capped at international level.

Games played against international opposition

References

{{Authority control Rugby clubs established in 1886 Welsh rugby union teams Sport in Rhondda Cynon Taf 1886 establishments in Wales