Penarth RFC
| Full name | Penarth Rugby Football Club |
|---|---|
| Location | Penarth, Wales |
| Ground(s) | Athletic Field |
| President | John Coughtrey |
| Coach(es) | Mike Clare David Morgan |
| League(s) | WRU Division Three South East |
| 2011-12 | 12thWRU Division Three South East |
| Official website | |
| www |
|
Penarth Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club based since 1924 at The Athletic Field, Lavernock Road, in Penarth, in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales.
Penarth RFC was founded in 1879 by Cyril and Llewellyn Batchelor, sons of Cardiff politician John Batchelor. First named the Batchelor XV it joined with Penarth Dreadnoughts in 1882 and became Penarth Football Club. The team were nicknamed the "Donkey Island Butcher Boys" or the "Seasiders". Early games were played on a field which is now occupied by Penarth's All Saints Church.
In 1891 the pitch was relocated to land owned by the Earl of Plymouth on Stanwell Road. This was used to grow vegetables during the 1914-18 Great War. Seventeen Penarth RFC players were killed during the war and are commemorated by the Memorial Stand above the clubhouse’s Long Room.
The club subsequently moved to a field on Lavernock Road owned by Fred Davies of Morristown. Finally the team moved to a permanent home at the Athletics Field, again provided by the Earl of Plymouth for the town's rugby, cricket and hockey teams.
A number of Penarth RFC players have achieved international caps for Wales and the British Lions, between the late 1880s and the early 1960s. These included Richard Garrett (1888 – 1892), George Rowles (1892) and John M C Dyke (1906). Brothers Len and John Dyke were toured New Zealand with the 1908 Anglo-Welsh team, joined by former Penarth captain Reggie Gibbs.
Tommy Garrett and Tommy Crossman played a school-boy international for Wales against England in 1909. Other Penarth players gaining Welsh international caps were Mel Rosser (1924), Jack Bassett (1929–1932), Gomer Hughes (1934) and Frank Trott (1939-1945). Jack Bassett also played all five test matches with the British Lions in 1930. He also played for the Barbarians and captained the Wales team on nine occasions. Elwyn Jones played for the Barbarians against the 1963 All Blacks.
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