Quick history lesson... Club History.... Llandudno is a resort town on the North Wales coast. . In 1952 a Mr. John Kidson arrived from Liverpool to work in the town. He was amazed to find that in this Welsh town there was no local Rugby Club. In a few months he had made enough friends in his new home town to form the first ever Llandudno Rugby Club, which commenced playing at the beginning of the 1952-53 Season with Mr. R.E. Williams the first ever Club Captain. As the club had no ground in the town, all its games in its first season had to be played away. . In 1953 the nearby Conwy Football Club disbanded and it was suggested that the Rugby Club approach Conwy Corporation to take over the football ground on Conwy Morfa. These negotiations were successful and from the beginning of the 1953-54 season the Club were established on its first ground. For the next three years the Club developed local interest in the game and at the same time Rugby was introduced at the towns John Bright Grammar School. A few years later there was a steady stream of players from the School (which continues up to the present), helping greatly with the development of the Club. The connection between John Brights School and the Club is marked by the Annual Boxing Day game between the Old Boys and Llandudno 1 st XV. In 1957 a fire destroyed the dressing rooms at the Morfa ground. This hastened the Clubs departure to a ground provided by the then Llandudno Urban District Council founded on the Maesdu tip in the town. The Club continued to prosper for the next three seasons, and in 1959 were granted full membership of the Welsh Rugby Union. For the commencement of the 1961-62 season the Club moved to the present Maesdu Road recreational ground where it has been established ever since. After using several different hotels in the town (and there are lots of them!!) to entertain visiting teams after the games, the Club took over the old Sailing Club headquarters on Mostyn Broadway. Changing accommodation for visiting teams was always a problem and it was only as a result of the co-operation of the local Youth Club, John Brights School and Llandudno Central School and the Club and its visitors had anywhere to change at all. A great deal of work was done over the next few years by Alan Jennings, Captain for eight consecutive seasons from 1959, and the return to the town of local GP, Dr Ian Wynne Hughes. These two stalwarts took the Club from strength to strength with the help of various hard working committees. Over the years the playing strength continued to grow and the Club was regularly fielding a First and Second XV together with a Youth XV. Two players from the youth side, David Kyffin and Carl Moose went on to represent Welsh Secondary Schools at International level. In its short history, the Club has produced one Welsh “B International, Chris Neville and members of the club have also represented North Wales at District level. In 1976 the Club formed an Official 3rd XV calling themselves “The Cavaliers. On 6 th November the Club officially fielded four full sides for the first time in its history when the first, second, youth and “The Cavaliers all played. In its history the Club have won the North Wales Championship on six occasions and the North Wales 7s four times. It was the first North Wales side to play and beat a touring New Zealand side, Waihou in 1989. The 1990s have seen the Club playing in the Welsh National League for four seasons and seen success in the early rounds of the Swalec Cup, the Welsh Rugby Union Championship. From 1998-99 season the Club began playing in the new Division 5 North of the Welsh National League. The Club has been granted a further thirty-year lease on the Maesdu Road ground and in November 1999 work began on the new changing facilities to replace the present ageing changing rooms on the site. Under captain Jason Roberts, the 1st XV became North Wales Cup Winners in 2000( versus Wrexham Div 3) and 2001( versus Rhyl Div 5), all thanks to an excellent squad of players, who had built up great team spirit in previous years, not to mention a great scrum!. The 1st XV were relegated to Div 2 in 2012/2013 after they lost a number of players but won that league in 2013/2014 and so will play in Div 1 North again in 2014/2015....
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 12:24:48 +0000
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