Our History

The 1960's proved to be a succesful period for the club both on and off the field. The first lights were erected on the ground in 1960 which meant that training could continue during the winter months, whilst on May16th 1961 the decision was taken to change the name of the club from Pontnewydd RFC to Cwmbran RFC. By June 1965 their ambition of owning their own clubhouse was realised. An interest -free loan had been obtained from Webb's Brewers (Aberbeeg), subsequently Welsh Brewers, and the premises were built by Western Disposals (Cwmbran).

In March 1966, the club made it's first overseas trip to play Clontarf RFC in Dublin whilst in April Cwmbran registered their first -ever victory at Cardiff Arms Park with a 11-6 win over Cardiff Athletic. In October Cwmbran played for a trial period at the newly-constructed Cwmbran Stadium and later in the season played a special fixture there against Abertillery to inaugurate floodlighting at the sradium. In April 1967 Cwmbran RFC recorded their first victory on foreign soil with a 18-6 win over Anthony RFC in Paris, whilst another "first" was recorded when Trevor Hoskins became Cwmbran's first Welsh Youth cap in the game against France. In 1968-69 season Hoskins kicked himself into the record books by creating a new Welsh rugby club record of 317 points in a season.

As the decade drew to a close Cwmbran RFC could look back on a period when the club had grown in strength and stature. Numerous players had been groomed for rugby on more exotic pastures. Three teams were flourishing and the uncertainty of previous years had bee replaced with a confidence that the future would bring further progress.

But for all that the 1970's bega in unspectacular fashion and apart from a few occasional flashes, Cwmbran did not achieve any remarkable standards until most of the decade was over. The 1970-71 season saw the introduction of a squad system which meant the disbanding of the Athletic, a structure that lasted four seasons until the Athletic was re-formed in 1974-75. The outstanding achievement of 1970-71 season however was the double over Cardiff Athletic - 17-0 at Cwmbran Stadium and 14-8 on the new Arms Park pitch. That was followed in 1971-72  by a record-breaking 70-4 victory over visiting Wellington RFC when 14 tries were scored. and a new points record of 607 for the season was achieved. In October 1973 that match record was smashed with a 104-0 victory over a touring side from San Francisco, USA.

The seasons 1974-75 and 1975-76 were unremarkable with Cwmbran achieving a 50/50 success record. This was followed by one of Cwmbran worse-ever post -war seasons in 1976-77 when they won only 12 of their 36 matches but this proved a turning point as Cwmbran began to re-build and prepare to celebrate their centenary seaon.

Although the playing record up to this point

was modest at best Cwmbran did establish enviable touring tradition with trips to Scotland, Jersey, Germany, Manchester, Liverpool and Paris. The American connection was also firmly established with teams from San Francisco, Detroit and Eagle Rock visiting Cwmbran.

1978-79 saw the return of Bryan Rowlands from Newport RFC together with the recruitment of Alan Rainbow from Ebbw Vale and the building of new changing rooms adjacent to the King's Head ground pitch got underway. Pontypool RFC visted in early 1979-80 season to commemorate the opening of the new changing rooms and, under the leadership of coach John Morris, that season saw Cwmbran beat every side in the Eastern Valley and achieve a remarkable run of 14 consecutive wins