Mid Rhondda F.C.
| Nickname(s) |
The Mush Mushrooms |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1912 |
| Dissolved | 1928 |
| Ground |
Mid Rhondda Ground Tonypandy |
| Capacity | 10,000 (0 seated) |
| League |
Southern League Welsh League |
Mid Rhondda Football Club was an association football team, based in Tonypandy, Wales that was formed in 1912. Mid Rhondda were one of the earlier South Wales teams to form, as competition from rugby union within the Rhondda Valleys was very strong. The team played in both the Southern and Welsh Leagues, and should have been promoted to the first division of the Southern League after topping the second Division during the 1919–20 season. This though was denied them by a restructuring of the league, which in turn saw the club flounder and collapse by 1928.
The Mid Rhondda Ground was built in the early part of the 1910s, as an attempt to form the 'best athletics ground in Wales'. It was built by the Mid Rhondda Athletic Company, and officially opened on 13 April 1913. The company raised £3,000 to complete the venture, and when complete it housed an outer cycle track with an inner field for the promotion of football, cricket and foot running. Although housing large events, such as an annual horse show, there appeared to be little sign of the Athletic Company recouping their outlay, until the committee of the Mid Rhondda Social and Athletic Club decided to embrace professional rugby league in 1908.
On 20 April 1908, the world's first rugby league international between the England and Wales national sides took place on the Mid Rhondda Ground. 15,000 paying spectators turned out to watch an exciting game which Wales won 35–18. The gate receipts were enough to impress the committee to compete in the Northern Union and in 1908, Mid-Rhondda RLFC were formed, playing not only in the Northern League but also in the Welsh League and Challenge Cup. Although the team performed well on the pitch, and hosted international competition from the touring Australia side, the venture was unprofitable. The rugby league crowds averaged between 3,000 and 4,000, but when the Mid Rhondda Ground hosted the 1909 final of the South Wales and Monmouthshire Football cup, a crowd of 8,000 was recorded. Association football was traditionally more popular in north Wales, but the cup final between local Rhondda team Ton Pentre F.C. and the newly formed Merthyr Town F.C. showed the Mid Rhondda Club that "soccer was the coming game". Mid-Rhondda RLFC folded at the end on the 1908–09 season, and plans were put into action to form an association team.
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