Ebbw Vale RFC
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| Full name | Ebbw Vale Rugby Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Steelmen |
| Founded | 1879 |
| Location | Ebbw Vale, Wales |
| Ground(s) | Eugene Cross Park (Capacity: 8,000) |
| Coach(es) | Ceri Jones, Nigel Davies, Lewis Roberts, Nick Wakely |
| Captain(s) | Damien Hudd |
| League(s) | Principality Premiership |
| 2015/16 | 3rd (Principality Premiership) |
| Official website | |
| www |
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Ebbw Vale Rugby Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Rygbi Glyn Ebwy) is a Welsh Rugby Union Club based in the town of Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, South Wales. The club played in the WRU Championship and the SWALEC Cup during the 2013-2014 season, winning the league and so gaining promotion to the Welsh Premiership - the league below regional rugby in Wales. It also acts as a feeder club for the Newport Gwent Dragons.
Evidence of rugby union being played in Ebbw Vale was noted around 1879. Ebbw Vale RFC applied for and achieved Welsh Rugby Union (then known as the Welsh Football Union) membership between 1893 and 1894.
In 1907, the committee of Ebbw Vale rugby club voted 63-20 to switch from amateur rugby union to professional rugby league. Deals were made with the Northern Union, and on 26 July 1907 Ebbw Vale RFC became Ebbw Vale RLFC. The club, its players and members were all suspended from rugby union activities by the Welsh Rugby Union, though after Ebbw Vale RLFC collapsed in 1912, Ebbw Vale were readmitted as a union team after World War I.
In 1927 due to falling gate receipts, caused by the increasing attraction of rival sports such as football, Ebbw Vale staged a rugby league game on their pitch, the Welfare Ground. The WRU reacted strongly and threatened Ebbw Vale RFC with expulsion from the league. This was seen by many as an overly aggressive stance to a club that was desperate for aid not sanctions. By 1932 the gate at Ebbw Vale rarely reached twenty shillings, despite a catchment area population of 40,000. The club was forced to resort to public subscriptions.
Rugby union continued in Ebbw Vale during World War II due to the vital services provided by the steel and coal industry and Ebbw Vale was undefeated in 1940/1941. But by the mid 1950s Ebbw Vale RFC was once again becoming a prosperous club. Although seen as one of the most successful clubs on and off the playing field throughout the 1950s, Ebbw Vale was under-represented in the Welsh national team. Around the same time joint teams drawn from Ebbw Vale and neighbours Abertillery played New Zealand, Australia and South Africa international touring sides. These games were usually close encounters but with only one win - against Australia in 1958. In the 60/61 season the Athletic side, captained by Ken Cameron, lost only one game. Their players were a consistent source of supply to the 1st XV. The club has the dubious distinction of being on the receiving end of the heaviest defeat in Heineken Cup history going down 108-16 away to Toulouse in 1998 conceding 16 tries in the process. Although Ebbw Vale did have revenge, defeating Toulouse in the return fixture.
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