Rhydycar Athletic Grounds
Merthyr Tydfil, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
Rhydycar Athletic Grounds, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales — opened Not confirmed; in sporting use by at least the 1909-10 season, 50 rugby league games hosted, home of Merthyr Tydfil R.L.F.C., from partway through the 1909-10 season until the club folded in January 1911.
Sourcing caveat: Capacity, floodlights, and surface not confirmed. A dedicated Rugby League Project venue page for this ground could not be located (a direct URL guess returned a 404).
Ground facts
| Opened | Not confirmed; in sporting use by at least the 1909-10 season (Merthyr Tydfil R.L.F.C. (founded 1907) relocated here during the 1909-10 season, after starting out at College Field/College Park, but the ground's own construction/opening date is not documented in sources found.) |
| Home club | Merthyr Tydfil R.L.F.C., from partway through the 1909-10 season until the club folded in January 1911 |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 50 |
| Top recorded crowd | 0 |
| Years used | 1907–1910 |
| Location | Merthyr Tydfil, Merthyr Tydfil |
Name history
- Rhydycar Ground / Rhydycar Athletic Grounds — no name change found; Wikipedia's Merthyr Tydfil R.L.F.C. article refers to it simply as 'the Rhydycar Ground' on the outskirts of town — the fuller 'Athletic Grounds' name used in this site's own venue directory was not independently corroborated
Rugby league history
A short-lived early-20th-century Welsh rugby league ground, used only briefly (roughly 1909/10-1911) by the pioneering but short-lived Merthyr Tydfil R.L.F.C. during rugby league's early Northern Union expansion into Wales. The club's earlier, larger-drawing ground was College Field/College Park, which hosted crowds up to 8,000-12,000 for a 1907 New Zealand touring match; Rhydycar was the club's final home before it folded amid financial and crowd-trouble difficulties. After a match against Dewsbury, the ground was suspended for four weeks when spectators threw clinker (furnace waste) at the referee, cutting his head — no exact date found for this incident. What became of the ground afterward, or whether it survives today in any recognisable form, was not established in sources checked. Note: a modern, unrelated leisure-development proposal in the area is also called 'Rhydycar West' — not to be confused with this historic ground.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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