Our History

1920 - 1948

As young village boys one of the duties on every home match was to collect sawdust from the carpenters shop at Hafodyrynys Colliery to mark the 'lines' on the field. To convey the sawdust from the colliery to the field, about one mile, we fashioned a 'trolley' from an old orange box, pair of perambulator wheels and two lengths of wood for handles. Another task was to position the flags denoting, halfway, twenty five lines etc. on the field and collect at full time. We were also allowed to carry on the lemon slices at half time.

Mostyn Jenkins 1946
Sevens Tournament at Gazeera Sports Complex, Cairo.
He played scrum half for the 1st British Infantry Division.

Originally the rugby team 'headquarters' were the Hafodyrynys Hotel and the changing rooms were the Skittle Alley; a long narrow building constructed of stone and brick with a corrugated iron roof and concrete floor. At one end of the Alley was a smaller building which was used to heat water for washing. I assume the water was heated using a metal cauldron over an open coal fire. The washing facilities were very primitive, using half a dozen wooden beer barrels sawn in half as water containers. I do not recall any heating systems in the Alley, so with the stone and brick walls and concrete floor, it must have been very cold. Neither do I remember any festive board following a match, so I assume they retired to the Hotel. One thing I recall is that the young boys were allowed in the Alley until the players stripped then ejected. We were not allowed in the Alley after the match until the players were dressed. I cannot recall the strip colours but believe they were red and white hoops. I think it worthy to mention two people who played a vital part in the club over a considerable number of years as groundsman/caretaker were Henry Jenkins and Bill “Red” Jones (obviously Red because of his ginger hair).

During the Second World War (1939 – 1945) many rugby clubs disbanded but Hafodyrynys continued to function; attracting players from all over the county and playing clubs like Abertillery and Newbridge. During the war rugby league players were allowed to play rugby union and I remember playing in the village team containing two rugby league players namely Wilf Johns and George “Bananas” Pritchard (nicknamed 'bananas' because of his bandy legs). So keen were the young men to play rugby, it was quite common to see two or three players on the field 'black' with coal dust, having just completed a day shift at the colliery. The landlord of the Hafodyrynys Hotel at this time was an ex-policeman, George “Poppy” Lewis.

Locals who made good:

Cliff Richards
Played for Crumlin, Pontypool and Wales. Being a Hafodyrynys boy, I feel sure he must have played for the Village Team
Granville Jones Ellis Jones
Two brothers who went on to play for Ebbw Vale and Weston-Super-Mare.
Wilf Johns
Played for Pontypool, then onto Rugby League (club unknown).
Reg Johns
Reg, Wilfs' brother, went to Newbridge.
Mostyn Jenkins
Schoolboy trialist, 1st Div. British Army (Middle East) & Ebbw Vale
Albert Preece
Played for Abertillery.
Graham Tovey
Played for Abertillery.
Bob Smith
Played for Abertillery, then Rugby League with Bradford Northern.
John Griffiths
Schoolboy International for Wales (1955), then onto Rugby League (club unknown).

Diary Extracts

After researching over 40 years of my fathers’ diaries, Henry Jenkins, the following references and fixtures concerning Hafodyrynys Rugby Club were extracted.

1919 Nov 22
Henry Jenkins was Chairman at a Smoking Concert (Gentleman’s Evening) for the rugby club at the Hafodyrynys Hotel.
1925 July 6
Work started pegging out and taking levels at the Welfare Ground.
1925 Dec 3
Mr Dixon and Henry Jenkins opened the Skittle Alley at the Hotel.
1943 Sep 9
Hafodyrynys RFC practice at Welfare.
1948 Nov 9
Presentation by Winsor Price of the RFC to Henry Jenkins of a Pipe, Tobacco & Matches.

Fixtures

For 1943-44 Season up to 1948-49 Season.
This period of the war and just afterwards we see some different opposition to that of which we are used to today; from RAF Gloucester to Crumlin Boys Club and from Bream in the Forest of Dean to Trebanog in the Rhondda Valley.

Click here to view the fixtures