| Founded | 1894 |
|---|---|
| Location | Newlyn, Cornwall, UK |
| Ground(s) | St Goulders |
Newlyn RFC was a rugby football club formed in 1894 (or 1895) and based in Newlyn, Cornwall, UK. They played their final match in December 1939 and amalgamated with Penzance RFC in 1944 to form Penzance & Newlyn RFC (The Pirates), currently known as the Cornish Pirates.
The club was formed in 1894 (or 1895) by a young curate of St Peter’s Church, the Rev Fred Peel Yates. [1] Before the founding of the club it was said that the young men of the village played a form of rugby on St Goulders Common and on moonlit nights a ball covered in chalk was used to make it easier to see. [2] In 1897–98 Newlyn RFC won the Cornwall Junior Cup, however the cup had to be returned to the Cornwall RFU because of an un-registered player. [1] The following year the cup was won again. Newlyn, like many Cornish towns and villages, was hit by the migration of its young men and shortly after, the club disbanded only to restart in 1904 as a senior club. [2]
There was always a certain amount of animosity with near neighbours Penzance RFC, although. because of the income lost when the matches were suspended, it was never in either clubs interest not to play matches. The gate receipts for a Boxing Day match, in the 1890s, against Penzance Reserves came to over £40. With an entrance fee of 4d, a crowd of well over two thousand attended. A 1906-minute records ...that we accept no player or committee man from Penzance. Despite this players did play for both clubs. [3]
As was usual for many clubs, Newlyn RFC did not operate during the Great War but occasional games were played near the Penlee Quarry by personnel of the Seaplane Base. [2]
Newlyn RFC final match was in December, 1939 when they beat St Ives.
In November 1944, after a public meeting held in St Peter’s Schoolroom, it was agreed to hold talks with Penzance RFC with a view to amalgamation. A Penzance RFU committee meeting on 21 November agreed to wind up the rugby club; and at a public meeting at the Guildhall, Penzance on 12 December 1944, it was agreed to start a new club. Despite the animosity the two clubs combined to form Penzance & Newlyn RFC. [3]
| Season | Pos | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1909–10 | 18 | 12 | 1 | 5 | |||||
| 1910–11 | |||||||||
| 1911–12 | 1st | 28 | 22 | 3 | 3 | 222 | 45 | 45 | Champions |
| 1912–13 | 1st |
The club played their matches at St Goulders, to the north of Newlyn overlooking the Coombe. The pitch was known for its slope and was grazed by cows during the week. In an attempt to stop people watching for free furze was put in the holes in the hedges to try to stop people sneaking in. Some matches were played at Trereife.
| First Year | Last Year | Name | Number of Caps | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1901 | 1901 | O Gilbert | 1 | |
| 2 | 1920 | 1928 | N ‘Nicky’ Peake | 22 | Forward |
| 3 | 1922 | 1924 | R A ‘Dick' Curnow | 9 | |
| 4 | 1924 | 1924 | Edwal L Rees | 5 | Three quarter; knee injury shortened career |
| 5 | 1927 | 1927 | Jack Matthews | 2 | Forward |
| 6 | 1931 | 1935 | Gerald Kneebone | 4 | |
| 7 | 1936 | 1936 | R ‘Dick’ Kitchen | 1 | Stand-off |
| 8 | 1936 | 1936 | Jack Stafford | 1 |
Newlyn is a seaside town and fishing port in south-west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the largest fishing port in England.
Rugby union in Cornwall is Cornwall's most popular spectator sport with a large following. The followers of the national side are dubbed Trelawny's Army. In 1991 and 1999 Cornwall won the County Championship final played at Twickenham Stadium, beating Yorkshire and Gloucestershire respectively to win the Cup. They had another strong spell in the 2010s, reaching seven of the eight finals contested between 2013 and 2022, winning four of them.
The Cornish Pirates are a professional rugby union team who play in the Championship, the second level of the English rugby union pyramid, and are the premier Cornish rugby club. Formerly known as Penzance & Newlyn RFU, the Cornish Pirates play and train at their home ground, the Mennaye Field in Penzance.
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The CRFU Cornwall Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out cup club competition organised by the Cornwall Rugby Football Union first played for in 1896 but only regularly since 1969. It is open for teams based in Cornwall that are ranked below the national leagues but above the Cornish regional divisions. Tier 9 to 10 clubs have their own competition in the Cornish Clubs Cup.
The CRFU Cornwall Clubs Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out cup club competition organised by the Cornwall Rugby Football Union. First played for in 1897 but only regularly since 1971. It is open to teams based in Cornwall and play in the Cornish regional divisions. It is the third highest ranked cup competition in the county after the Cornwall Super Cup and Cornwall Cup.
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Matthew Shepherd is an English and Cornish rugby union player who currently plays at scrum-half or full back for Redruth in National League 2 South, having previously played for Plymouth Albion in National League 1. An extremely reliable points scorer with a knack for scoring important tries, he was instrumental in Cornwall's County Championship victories in 2015 and 2016 and has also been capped by England Counties XV. As well as playing union, Shepherd has played summer rugby league for the Cornish Rebels.
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