Ynys (Aberdare)

The Ynys

Yr Ynys
Former names	Ynys Meadows Ynys Fields Ynys Grounds The Ynys Athletic Ground The Athletic Ground
Location	Aberdare, Wales
Coordinates	51°42′46″N3°26′15″W / 51.7127°N 3.4374°W / 51.7127; -3.4374
Record attendance	40,000 (for Rugby League)
Surface	Grass
Construction
Renovated	1893 1920 (for Soccer) 1971 (for Rugby Union) 2008 (for Cricket)
Tenants
Aberdare RFC 1890–present Aberdare Athletic F.C. 1893–1928 Aberdare RLFC 1908–1909 Aberdare CC 1968–present Aberdare Valley AAC 2008–present

The Ynys (Welsh : Yr Ynys) is an historic mixed sports venue in Aberdare, Wales. The ground is notable as the venue of the first ever international match in Rugby League history, and was also home to the professional rugby league club Aberdare RLFC as well as English Football League members Aberdare Athletic F.C. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Today the Ynys hosts the Aberdare Rugby Union Club, Aberdare Cricket team and Aberdare Valley AAC, as well as the Sobell Leisure Centre and the Ron Jones Athletics Stadium.

Name

The Welsh word Ynys (cognate with the Irish language innis), is commonly translated as island. However, it can also mean a flood plain, peninsula or river meadow. ^[4] It is a common toponym in the South Wales Valleys, denoting a flat area of land along the banks of a river. As such, a number of places named Ynys were found around the modern playing fields. ^{nb [5] [6]}

Early history

Aberdare was described as "very remarkable" for its traditions of Taplasau Hâf (summer games), rhedegfeydi (races) and gwrolgampau (manly sports) as early as 1853. ^[7] Although it is unknown when the Ynys was first used for sport, a number of special areas had been set aside by the townsfolk for these games since at least the 1640s, with the three most prominent being at Ton-glwyd-fawr (also known in English as "The Ton" in Cwmdare), Tontypel in Cefnpennar and "a small ynys on the shore of Cynon". The text explicitly names this "Ynys" as Glan-rhyd-y-gored near Llwycoed Mill, someway up river from the current playing fields. ^[8]

By 1875, The Ynys was under the supervision of the Abernant ironmaster, Richard Fothergill who contiued to use the land as a place for fêtes and athletic tournaments. As Fothergill was leasing the grounds to local societies, the area continued to be set aside and remained largely undeveloped, despite the rapid growth of Aberdare and the Ynys' situation as flat open land between the town's two main railways stations. ^[9] In August 1875, the Ynys hosted the first of an annual athletic tournament which would also include equestrian events and a brass band competition. ^{[10] [11] [12]} These events were sponsored by the town's hostilaries and attracted crowds of up to 10,000. ^[13]

1890-1920

Rugby Union was established at the Ynys sometime before 1890, when Aberdare RFC first started playing there. Three years later, an Association Football club was also established at the grounds, when it became the home of the newly formed Aberdare Athletic F.C.. ^[14]

The first decade of the twentieth century saw the rise of Aberdare as a force in Rugby Union, the club had great success, especially from 1905 to 1907 when local star Dai 'Tarw' Jones, captained the club. However, the club was soon embroiled in the professionalism scandal with the Welsh Rugby Union, the repercussions of which would see a number of players banned from the sport. Jones himself was subjected to a lifetime ban, which would ultimately lead to a change of focus at the Ynys.

Dai "Tarw" Jones, formerly of Aberdare's rugby union team would score the winning try in Wales' victory over New Zealand at the Ynys.

At the time, the Northern Union was looking to establish professional Rugby League teams across south Wales. Just a few months after the Welsh Rugby Union had sanctioned Aberdare RFC, the Ynys was the chosen venue of the Northern Union to host venue of the first ever rugby league international, between Wales and the touring New Zealand team as part of their 1907–08 tour of Great Britain. The match took place on 1 January 1908, with 15,000 fans travelling to the grounds to see Wales win a close match 9–8. ^{[15] [16] [17]}

The success of the match and the large number of paying spectators (gate receipts were reported as £560), highlighted the commercial potential of the Ynys. Discussions on the establishment of a Rugby League club in Aberdare advanced quickly and on 21 July 1908, Aberdare RLFC were admitted to the Northern Union's Rugby League. ^[18] On 5 September 1908 the new Aberdare team played their first match at the Ynys, hosting Wigan in front of a crowd of 3,000. ^[19] The potential of the venue was again demonstrated on 10 November 1908, when the Ynys hosted its second international side as 5,000 spectators watched Aberdare take on the first touring Australian team. ^{[20] [21]} However the Aberdare club side could not replicate the heroics of the Welsh team, losing the match 10–37. Indeed, Aberdare struggled under Northern Union rules and initially high crowd numbers deteriorated with the poor results, which saw Aberdare finishing their only season in the Rugby Football League as the bottom club. Finally on 10 July 1909, Aberdare reported 'unexpected difficulties' in its finances and resigned from the Northern Rugby League. ^[19]

1920-1968

Despite the loss of professional rugby league, the Ynys continued to host a variety of sporting events. By 1920 it was home to a competitive cycle track and a small grandstand had been constructed.However, the cycle track was removed in that year as part of the redevelopments that would allow Aberdare Athletic gain entry to the Football League. ^[14]

On 14 May 1921 the Ynys would host host 22,584 fans for a schoolboy soccer international between Wales and England a record attendance for an association football match at the ground. This was quickly followed by the election of the Aberdare Athletic FC to the Football League for the following season. The first League match at the Ynys was played on 27 August 1921, with Aberdare and Portsmouth drawing 0–0 in front of 9,722 spectators. ^[14] However, the soccer team proved unsuccessful on the pitch and Aberdare were voted out of the Football League in 1927. ^[14]

The Ynys would go on to host greyhound racing with a race distance of 475 yards. The first official events taking place on December 26th 1932, ^[22] and three years later, the first international rugby union side came to the Ynys. The 1935-36 All Blacks played a tour match against a combined "Mid-Districts" team on 12 December 1935. In front of a crowd of 6,000, the All Blacks won the match 31–10. ^[23]

The Greyhound Track was updated in 1959 with "an Inside Sumner hare installed at a cost of £1400". At its height, Greyhound racing at the Ynys would see as many twenty bookmakers attend the meetings, however, by the 1960s this had fallen to just seven when an apparent downturn in the number of entrants seems to have resulted in the venues closure and demolition in the late 1960s. ^[24]

1968-1990

Cricket returned to the Ynys in 1968 when the Riverside Cricket Club (named for its location near the banks of the river) was re-established. ^[25]

Rugby Union club matches finally returned to the Ynys in the 1960s, when Aberaman RFC began to play fixtures at the old Aberdare ground. By February 1971, a clubhouse was established near the grounds, which was followed by the construction of a larger grandstand costing £20,000.

21st century

The modern Aberdare Rugby Club near the Ynys. The signage displays the initials as RUFC rather than RFC, distinguishing it as the town's rugby union club.

Following the professionalisation of rugby union in 1995, the WRU sanctions against Aberdare were no longer applicable and the Aberaman club (now firmly established at the Ynys instead of Aberaman), took the name Aberdare RUFC once again.

The cricket club was also now known as Aberdare CC, and was granted a 25-year lease on the land outside the boundary of the Ynys' pitch 1 in 2008, where a club house and training nets would be built, followed by a Community Hub and Café in the 2010s. ^[26]

References

1. Athletic Ground (Aberdare) Doing the 92
2. Promotion to/Relegation from the Football League by year Pyramid.info
3. Delaney, Trevor (1991). The Grounds of Rugby League. Thornton and Pearson. p. 193. ISBN   978-095099822-0.
4. last1=Scott |first1=Margaret Rachael |title=The Germanic Toponymicon of Southern Scotland: Place-Name Elements and their contribution to the Lexicon and Onomasticon |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/293038093.pdf |pages=174
5. "A plan of the parish of Aberdare in the County of Glamorgan". The National Library of Wales. p. 38. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
6. "Aberdare". historicplacenames.rcahmw.gov.uk/. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
7. "Aberdare History 44 - Sports, games and pastimes". Cynon Valley History Society. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
8. Williams (Carw Coch), William (29 August 1853). Gardd Aberdâr yn cynwys y cyfansoddiadau buddugol yn Eisteddfod y Carw Coch, (in Welsh). Aberdare: William Thomas. p. 56. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
9. "Foresters' Fete at Aberdare". The Cardiff Times. 7 August 1875. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
10. "Aberdare". South Wales Daily News. 16 August 1875. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
11. "Licensed Victuallers' Athletic Sports". The Aberdare Times. 9 September 1882. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
12. "Athletic Sports at Aberdare". South Wales Daily News. 26 July 1887. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
13. "Aberdare Athletic Sports". South Wales Echo. 28 July 1885. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
14. Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005, Yore Publications, p17, ISBN   0954783042
15. Rugby League – 100 years since it kicked off in Aberdare BBC Radio Wales
16. R League: The day Wales made history Wales on Sunday, 23 December 2007
17. "The All Golds". Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
18. Lush, Peter; Farrar, Dave (1998). Tries in the Valley: A History of Rugby League in Wales. London: London League Publications. p. 9. ISBN   0-9526064-3-7.
19. Lush, Farrar, Peter, Dave (1998). Tries in the valleys : a history of Rugby League in Wales. London: London League. pp. 29–30. ISBN   0-9526064-3-7.
20. Kangaroo Tour: 1908-1909 Archived 2008-05-23 at the Wayback Machine rl1908.com
21. Phil Blanche (1 January 2008). "R League: Jones did the double over NZ". Western Mail. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
22. Barnes, Julia (1988). Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File. Ringpress Books. p. 409. ISBN   0-948955-15-5.
23. Tegeltija, Sam (8 December 2015). "'It was like preparing for a royal visit' The day the All Blacks visited Aberdare 80 years ago on Saturday". Wales Online. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
24. Particulars of Licensed tracks, table 1 Licensed Dog Racecourses. Licensing Authorities. 1950.
25. "History". Aberdare Cricket Club. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
26. "History". Aberdare Cricket Club. Retrieved 7 August 2022.