Llandovery was one of the founder members of the WRU in 1881. This page charts the Club’s progress from the 19th century through to the present day.

Click on the Read!! links to move straight to particular sections.

Read!!	Early days - The influence of the drovers and of the College
Read!!	1877 and 1878 - some of the first reported games
Read!!	1881 - A founder member of the WRU
Read!!	The 1880s - Llandovery represented in the first Wales internationals
Read!!	The Club through the 1880s
Read!!	Turn of the Century - affiliation to the WRU, and pre-First World War
Read!!	The 1920s and 1930s - the Club restarted
Read!!	The post-War formation of the Club in 1948, and the 1950s
Read!!	1956 - membership of the WRU, and 1965 - admittance to the West Wales Rugby Union
Read!!	The 1970s
Read!!	The 1980s
	VARIOUS HEADLINES TO BE CONSTRUCTED FROM THIS POINT, RELATED TO SUBSEQUENT HISTORY
Read!!	Llandovery players in first-class rugby
Read!!	The Club as a local benefactor
Read!!	The list of 1st XV Captains from the late 1940s
Read!!	Rowland Griffiths's 'Teams of the Decades'

Early days – The influence of the drovers and of the College

The history of the Welsh Rugby Union will show that Rugby Football in Wales was first played at Llandovery well over a hundred years ago.

Controversy exists as to how rugby was first brought to the borough - some say that the strong links established between Oxford and Cambridge resulted in the game being brought West, whilst others suggest that the drovers were responsible. Both suggestions seem plausible.

Since the 'College' had established strong academic links with the Oxbridge Universities in as much as many masters obtained their degrees there, it is easy to accept the notion that they introduced the game to the town.

Similarly, Llandovery was an important stopping point on the drovers routes which took in such notable early centres of Rugby Football as Blackheath and indeed Rugby itself, where the legendary William Webb Ellis who, 'with a fine disregard for the rules of football as played in his time, first took the ball in his arms and ran with it, thus originating the distinctive feature of the rugby game in 1823'.

One old resident used to recall how a drover gave vivid descriptions of the game as it was played at Blackheath. These drovers were engaged in moving cattle from all parts of West Wales during the middle of the nineteenth century, and Llandovery was the rendezvous for collecting cattle from the surrounding districts as well as much of the west of Wales. It is possible therefore that the drovers did bring the game to the town, but it is likely that the origin of the game in Llandovery will remain as much of a mystery as the origin of the game of Rugby itself.

It is clear, however, that the game was not welcomed with wholehearted enthusiasm - a strong Puritan element within the town objected to this 'barbaric pastime'. So as not to offend the town inhabitants, the game was often played in moonlight in 'Cae Glas y Bwci' - a field adjoining the town.

1877 and 1878 – some of the first reported games

Unfortunately the early club records were lost in the flood of 1926 and, since the Welsh Rugby Union do not have records of the pre-1892 period, some controversy has been evident with regard to the exact time when rugby was first of all played by the local residents. "The Welshman" dated 23 March 1877 carries one of the first reports of a game involving local citizens. The report was of a game played between Carmarthenshire Rovers and Llandovery College. The report shows that the 'Rovers’ were a combined side comprising players from Carmarthen, Llandeilo, LIanelli and Llandovery. The Llandovery men were: A. Rees, W. Morgan, D. Jones, H. Williams and G. Thomas. While this is not a specific reference to a Llandovery Town Side, it indicates that at least five individuals were positively identified as Llandovery Town players. It is also reasonable to assume that the Llandovery men had been invited to play on the basis of their known playing experience with the local side. Surely if they had gained their experience playing further afield, they would have been listed as from those clubs.

The "Carmarthen Journal" of Friday, 22 February 1878 carries a report of the tie between Llandovery and Newport Clubs played at Brecon on Saturday, 16 February. This was the semi-final of the South Wales Challenge Cup and Newport went on to win the Cup in its first year. On that Saturday of 16 February 1878, Llandovery lost by two goals to nil.

Some claims have been made that this was an exclusively 'College' side but consideration of all available evidence does not substantiate this.

Examination of newspaper reports of the time almost invariably make specific reference to the 'School' or 'College' when they were involved. The report in the "Carmarthen Journal" of 22 February 1878 however, refers to 'Llandovery' and not 'Llandovery School' or 'College'. Similarly in the Newport R.F.C. records of the time, reference is made to the game versus 'Llandovery'. Teams from both Lampeter and Monmouth also participated but it is worthwhile noting that both were designated as school teams (that is Lampeter College and Monmouth Grammar School). On 15 November 1877 Newport beat Monmouth Grammar School by two goals and four tries to nil, while on 19 December 1878 Newport were again successful defeating Lampeter College by three goals and four tries to nil. It would appear then that when school sides were involved, they were referred to as school or college sides in the fixture list.

The playing of rugby in the schools appeared to have arisen because the middle classes of the mid-nineteenth century wanted their sons to play a rather different game to that played in the major public schools (i.e. soccer). In consequence the minor and aspiring independent schools of the time provided rugby as an alternative - a game that was seen both as a team game and character building.

This is not to suggest that the 'College' did not contribute substantially to the game in the town. Indeed since a number of the pupils came from the town or its vicinity and continued to reside in the neighbourhood, later a substantially wider circle of players was available when the need arose. Similarly, Newport recognises the contribution of Monmouth Grammar School at that time - mainly through a master at the school who was a Newport player.

1881 – A founder member of the WRU

Sufficient interest was evident in the locality for Llandovery to be represented at the inaugural meeting of the Welsh Rugby Union held at the Castle Hotel, Neath on 12 March 1881.

The town that evening was represented by C. P. Lewis, being one of the 'gentry' families of the locality and having strong links with the tow. Charles Prytherch Lewis was born on 20 August 1853 and was during this period a master at the Llandovery College, having obtained his M.A. degree at Jesus College, Oxford. The records show he did not play for the College in the School game against Brecon during this time.

The clubs represented on that historic occasion were Bangor, Brecon, Cardiff, Lampeter, Llanelli, Llandovery, Llandeilo, Merthyr, Newport, Pontypool and Swansea. These teams have become regarded as the founder members of the Welsh Rugby Union and were honoured in 1981 by the presentation of plaques from the W.R.U. commemorating the occasion.

Any doubts regarding whom C. P. Lewis represented on that historic day in Neath were finally resolved when Herbert Michael wrote from Devon. Mr Michael had previously been in touch with the Welsh Rugby Union and his letter to us was in response to some press coverage of the centenary celebrations in 1981. Herbert Michael pointed out in his letter that he was C. P. Lewis' godson - 'C.P.' being a lifelong friend of his father. Mr Michael is (and here I quote from his letter) . . . "certain in my own mind that he (C. P. Lewis) represented the town in the first place with, of course the interests of Llandovery College resulting therefrom'. Indeed Herbert Michael believes that his father travelled to Neath with C. P. Lewis but is unsure as to whether his father attended the meeting.

It seems reasonable, then, to conclude that local residents were involved in the game well before 1881 and that the town in the person of C. P. Lewis was represented at Neath on 12 March 1881 when the W.R.U. was formed.

As stated previously, this fact was recognised initially in 1977 when the Welsh Rugby Union recognised Llandovery R.F.C. as a founder member and presented the club with a commemorative plaque.

The 1880s - Llandovery represented in the first Wales internationals

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