Welsh Professional Clubs
There have been various attempts to introduce professional rugby league to Wales throughout the 20th century. Merthyr Tydfil and Ebbw Vale joined for the 1907/08 season; followed closely behind Aberdare, Barry, Mid-Rhondda and Treherbert joined in 1908/09. The 1908/09 season saw the first Welsh League, played alongside the Northern Union League.
Aberdare, Barry, and Mid-Rhondda dropped out after that season, with Treherbert following the next year. Merthyr Tydfil lasted until 1910/11, and Ebbw Vale was the last of these to leave, after 1911/12. The next Welsh club was Pontypridd, who joined in 1926/27; only to dropped out after 8 games of the 1927/28 season. A Cardiff club participated in the 1951/52 season, but disbanded after that season.
Following in the footsteps of Fulham F.C. (who founded the RL team that is now London Broncos), Cardiff City F.C. decided to enter a team for the 1981/82 season. The Blue Dragons, as they were known, shared Ninian Park with the Bluebirds until the 1983/84 season, when the club went into liquidation. They were then moved to Bridgend for the 1984/85 season, where they placed on the bottom of the table, and were expelled after the season for failing to obtain a home ground. The final professional rugby league club was South Wales RLFC, who finished 6th in the Second Division in 1996. Because of small crowds, the club withdrew from the league before the next season.
There are currently two professional rugby league clubs in Wales. The Crusaders Rugby League team, based in Wrexham, play in the Super League competition. Neath-based South Wales Scorpions play in the Championship 1, there are also plans for the CPC Bears, based in West Wales, to join the Championship competition in 2013.
Read more about this topic: Rugby League In Wales
Famous quotes containing the words welsh, professional and/or clubs:
“God defend me from that Welsh fairy,
Lest he transform me to a piece of cheese!”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“We have been weakened in our resistance to the professional anti-Communists because we know in our hearts that our so-called democracy has excluded millions of citizens from a normal life and the normal American privileges of health, housing and education.”
—Agnes E. Meyer (1887–1970)
“Women realize that we are living in an ungoverned world. At heart we are all pacifists. We should love to talk it over with the war-makers, but they would not understand. Words are so inadequate, and we realize that the hatred must kill itself; so we give our men gladly, unselfishly, proudly, patriotically, since the world chooses to settle its disputes in the old barbarous way.”
—General Federation Of Women’s Clubs (GFWC)