CHRIST COLLEGE RUN OUT WINNERS OF A VERY SPECIAL RETURN RUGBY FIXTURE … 100 YEARS ON!
23 Oct 2013
ON SATURDAY 21ST SEPTEMBER CHRIST COLLEGE WERE THE 28-5 WINNERS OF A SPECIAL RUGBY MATCH BETWEEN CRICKHOWELL AND CHRIST COLLEGE. IT WAS THE ‘RETURN’ FIXTURE OF A MATCH THAT WAS PLAYED ALMOST A HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
The original match was played to raise funds for families affected by the Senghenydd disaster of October 14th 1913 when 439 miners were killed in an explosion in the Universal Colliery.
Transcript from the 1913 Senghenydd match
Tragically occurring just 12 years after a similar explosion that had killed 81 men in the same colliery, the Senghenydd disaster remains the worst mining disaster in the history of the British coalfields. In this Centenary Year the Christ College and Crickhowell teams are re-staging the match to raise money for the Welsh National Mining Memorial at Senghenydd.
When Mal Powell, archivist at Crickhowell RFC contacted Christ College with an enquiry about the Crickhowell and Christ College fixture that was played regularly at the turn of the twentieth century, Felicity Kilpatrick, Christ College Archivist, shared with him match reports and a photograph of the Christ College team that played Crickhowell in 1913. Donated by Mrs Jenny Morris of Pontardawe, whose father Harold Jones (Penderel) played in the 1913 match, the photograph turned out to be the starting point for arranging the return fixture.
“I was thrilled to see the photograph,” says Mal. “I had come across the 1913 match in my own researches. In Crickhowell RFC archives we hold a copy of the letter sent to the Lord Mayor of Cardiff enclosing the donation of £7 3s 2d to the Senghenydd Relief Fund. When I approached Christ College with the idea of a ‘return match’ Tim Trumper, Director Sport, was hugely enthusiastic and it all went from there.”
“The Christ College Archive is always at its best when it opens up a narrative such as this,” says Felicity. “Mal was able to tell us that an 1883 match was the first recorded match played by ‘Brecon College’ against Crickhowell, and he willingly shared his researches into this early rugby fixture between the two sides. The timing of Mal’s enquiry meant the teams could join forces once again, this time to support the Memorial. It just shows what an old photograph can do!”
“It was be a great pleasure to welcome players and supporters from around the region to Christ College for this special match to mark the centenary of the Senghenydd mining disaster in 1913. The event was tinged with the sadness that inevitably attends such memorials, and it was right that we paused and remembered those miners who lost their lives and the tragic impact on their community. At the same time this match however the occasion proved to be a celebration of the pride, tradition and camaraderie that reside almost uniquely in the game of rugby and I know that the game provided great enjoyment both for those who played in this historic fixture and those who watched.”Emma Taylor, Head of Christ College
All money raised from the event will be donated to the National Mining Memorial at Senghenydd.For further details or to send a donation, please contact Maldwyn Powell (Crickhowell RFC) Tel: 01873 811273 or e-mail mal_11a@btinternet.com – or Felicity Kilpatrick or Tim Trumper (Christ College) Tel: 01874 615440.