Merthyr Tydfil RLFC
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Merthyr Tydfil Rugby League Football Club |
| Founded | 15 July 1907 |
| Exited | 1911 |
| Former details | |
| Ground(s) |
|
| Competition |
Welsh League Northern Union |
| 1910–11 | 26th |
Merthyr Tydfil Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at College Field, Merthyr Tydfil were one of the first professional Welsh teams, and folded in 1911 after the failure of the Welsh League. Merthyr Tydfil produced five players who would go on to represent the Wales national rugby league team, and in the 1908-09 season finished eighth in the Northern League, the best result achieved by any of the first six professional Welsh teams.
At the beginning of the 20th century, rugby union was the sport of choice for most villages and towns in Wales. The sport was strictly amateur, and players were not expected to receive any monies for taking part in the sport. If players were discovered taking payments, they and their club could be permanently suspended. The problem facing Welsh rugby was the rise of the professional Northern Union (later rugby league) in the North of England, where several clubs had split away from the International Rugby Board and formed their own league where players were paid to play. Many rugby union clubs found their star players poached from them by the new Northern League.
At the start of the 20th century the most successful rugby team in Merthyr was Merthyr Alexandria. At the club's AGM in July 1907, E.M. Rees, the former secretary of Aberdare RFC, alleged that Merthyr was involved in professionalism. He stated that not only had the secretary of Merthyr Alexandria, W.T. Jones, demanded £7 5s. to bring his team to play Aberdare, but also Merthyr paid players per match. These allegations prompted an investigation by the Welsh Rugby Union, the governing body of rugby union in Wales. At the AGM a proposal was made for Merthyr Alexandria to adopt professionalism and join the Northern Union, but this was overwhelmingly rejected by the committee. Even though Merthyr Alexandria remained true to the amateur sport, within a week of the AGM it was reported that fixtures had been arranged, players signed and guarantors found for a new professional rugby club in Merthyr.
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