  Mid Rhondda Athletic Ground Location within Wales | |
| Location | Tonypandy, Wales |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°37′08″N3°27′20″W / 51.61894626936886°N 3.4556297580649784°W |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1903 |
| Demolished | 1933 |
| Tenants | |
| Mid Rhondda | |
The Mid Rhondda Athletic Ground was a multi-purpose arena in Tonypandy, Wales, most notable for hosting the Mid Rhondda football and rugby league clubs.
The Mid Rhondda Ground was built in 1902, originally as a cinder running track surrounding by a horse track, and hosted its first athletics meeting on Easter Monday in 1903. An asphalt cycling track was added in 1907. [1]
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. 12,000 paying spectators turned out to watch an exciting game which Wales won 35–18. [2] The gate receipts were enough to impress the committee to compete in the Northern Union and in 1908, Mid-Rhondda RLFC was formed to play at the Athletic Ground, although the club proved not to be profitable, with crowds in the low thousands. After 8,000 fans turned up to watch the South Wales FA Senior Cup final between Merthyr Town and Ton Pentre in April 1909, [3] the club committee and decided to switch to association football. [4]
The football club occupied the ground until its dissolution in 1928. [5] The ground infrastructure survived until 1933, when the local council turned the area into a recreation park, [6] and remains as a playing field in 2025, generally called "the Mid". [7]
Aberdare is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550. Aberdare is 4 miles (6 km) south-west of Merthyr Tydfil, 20 miles (32 km) north-west of Cardiff and 22 miles (35 km) east-north-east of Swansea. During the 19th century it became a thriving industrial settlement, which was also notable for the vitality of its cultural life and as an important publishing centre.
Treorchy is a town and community in Wales. Once a mining town, it retains such characteristics. Situated in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf in the Rhondda Fawr valley. Treorchy is also one of the 16 communities of the Rhondda. It includes the villages of Cwmparc and Ynyswen.
Tonypandy is a town, community and electoral ward located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining town, the town was the scene of the 1910 Tonypandy riots.
The Wales national rugby league team represents Wales in representative rugby league football matches. Currently the team is ranked 17th in the IRL World Rankings. The team was run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, but an independent body, Wales Rugby League, now runs the team from Cardiff. Six Welsh players have been entered into the Rugby Football League Hall of Fame.
Rhondda, or the Rhondda Valley, is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley – so that the singular "Rhondda Valley" and the plural are both commonly used. The area forms part of the South Wales Valleys. From 1897 until 1996 there was a local government district of Rhondda. The former district at its abolition comprised 16 communities. Since 1996 these 16 communities of the Rhondda have been part of Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough. The area of the former district is still used as the Rhondda Senedd constituency and Westminster constituency, having an estimated population in 2020 of 69,506. It is most noted for its historical coalmining industry, which peaked between 1840 and 1925. The valleys produced a strong Nonconformist movement manifest in the Baptist chapels that moulded Rhondda values in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is also known for its male voice choirs and in sport and politics.
Rugby league is a sport played in Wales. The governing body of the game in Wales is the Wales Rugby League.
Penygraig Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in Penygraig, Wales. Penygraig RFC formed in 1877, one of the earlier rugby clubs to emerge, and by the 1890s were a strong voice in the Welsh Rugby Union, one of four clubs from the Rhondda Valley that held WRU representation.
The 1908–09 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the 14th season of rugby league football in the United Kingdom.
Ioan Haydn Price was a Welsh footballer who played at wing half or centre forward for various clubs in the period prior to World War I and the Wales national team, before brief spells as a manager with Walsall and Grimsby Town.
David "Dai" Thomas was a Welsh professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s. He played at representative level for Wales, and Welsh League XIII, and at club level for Dewsbury, Aberdare RLFC, Halifax and Mid-Rhondda, as a wing.
Ebbw Vale Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Ebbw Vale, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at Bridge End Field, Ebbw Vale were one of the first professional Welsh teams, and the last to disband in 1912 after the failure of the Welsh League. Ebbw Vale produced seven players who would go on to represent the Wales national rugby league team, and were seen as the only Welsh team of the time who could challenge the Northern League.
Treherbert Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Treherbert, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at the Athletic Ground, Treherbert were one of the first professional Welsh teams, formed in 1908 but folding after just two seasons. Treherbert also produced a single player, David Galloway, who gained international caps directly from the team.
Mid-Rhondda Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Tonypandy, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at the Athletic Ground in Tonypandy, Mid-Rhondda were one of the first professional Welsh teams, formed in 1908 but folding after just a single season. Mid-Rhondda later became Mid Rhondda F.C., a notable association football team in the Rhondda Valleys.
The Welsh League was the first club rugby league competition in Wales. Its inaugural season was in 1908/09 when four additional teams were formed to join Ebbw Vale RLFC and Merthyr Tydfil RLFC, which allowed a league tournament to take place. The Welsh League ran for just two seasons, after three of the teams, Aberdare, Barry and Mid-Rhondda left the Northern Union and ceased playing rugby in the first season; followed by the collapse of Treherbert in 1910. Both seasons were won by Ebbw Vale.
Barry Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at the Trinity Street Ground in Barry, the club was one of the first professional Welsh teams, formed in 1908 but folded after just a single season.
Aberdare Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Aberdare, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Playing from Ynys Field in Aberdare, the club was one of the first professional Welsh teams, formed in 1908 but folded after just a single season.
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.
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.
Frank Wrentmore was a Welsh rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Penygraig RFC, and club level rugby league (RL) for Mid-Rhondda, he served with the Somerset Light Infantry with the British Expeditionary Force in World War I.
The South Wales FA Senior Cup is the regional knock-out competition for clubs beneath the umbrella of the South Wales Football Association, in the Welsh Football Pyramid in South Wales.