Senghenydd Rugby Football Club are 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 peopl ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

club based in

Senghenydd Senghenydd ( cy, Senghennydd, ) is a former mining town in the community of Aber Valley in South Wales, approximately four miles northwest of the town of Caerphilly. Historically within the county of Glamorgan, it is now situated in the county bo ...

in South Wales. The club formed during the 1898/99 season built around the immigrant workers coming from port areas around Wales to find employment in the newly sunk Senghenydd

coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron fro ...

Early history

1904 saw the great religious revivalSmith (1980), p. 120. throughout South Wales led by the

lay preacher Lay preacher is a preacher or a religious proclaimer who is not a formally ordained cleric and who does not hold a formal university degree in theology. Lay preaching varies in importance between religions and their sects. Although lay preachers ...

, Evan Roberts. Rugby was seen as a wicked sport leading to violence and drunkenness, and Roberts managed to convert so many to his cause that Senghenydd RFC disbanded due to a lack of players. In 1907 a rugby team reformed under the name Senghenydd Bluebells RFC, before reverting to Senghenydd RFC. On 14 October 1913 Britain's worst ever mining disaster occurred at Senghenydd Colliery, amongst the 439 victims were five members of Senghenydd RFC. During the 1914/15 season Senghenydd applied for and was successful in gaining membership of the

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the 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 of rugby in Wales, ove ...

. This would allow them to play the larger affiliated clubs and take part in more accepted cup competitions. This new era of rugby did not occur due to the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

causing the cessation of competitive rugby throughout Wales.

Post 1945

One of Senghenydd RFC's most successful periods was during the late 1960s and early 1970s. By the time that the senior team won the

Glamorgan County Silver Ball Trophy The Glamorgan County Silver Ball Trophy (also known as the Glamorgan County High Motive Silver Ball Trophy) is a Welsh rugby union competition open to all non-premier Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) clubs playing in the Glamorgan , HQ = ...

for the first time during the 1970/71 season they had won the Mid-District Championship four times in the previous five seasons.Smith (1972), p. 57. They made that five in six in 1970/71 when they finished the table with a perfect 20 wins out of 20 matches. The only major trophy the team failed to win in the 1970/71 season was the Mid District Cup, beaten by Beddau 17–11 in the final.

Club honours

*1911/12 Cardiff and District League Championship, 2nd Division – Champions *1911/12 Lord Ninian Stuart Cup – Champions *1923/24 Lord Ninian Stuart Cup – Champions *1924/25 Lord Ninian Stuart Cup – Champions *1949/50 Ivor Williams Cup – Champions *1970/71 Mid-District Championship – Champions *1970/71 Glamorgan County Silver Ball Trophy – Winners *1971/72 Glamorgan County Silver Ball Trophy – Winners *1976/77 Ivor Williams Cup – Champions *2010/11 Swalec Bowl

External links

Senghenydd RFC

Bibliography

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References

{{reflist Rugby clubs established in 1898 1898 establishments in Wales Rugby union teams in Wales Sport in Caerphilly County Borough