Chapter 3

The Early Years

It is at this point that we must reveal a secret to the reader. Although this book is part of the celebration of a century of St. Peter’s R.F.C., the exact date of the formation of the Club is not known! The date of 1886 has been decided upon because references have been found to what appears to be a thriving Club in 1888 but it is possible that the Club played before 1886, particularly since the original school opened in 1868 and the game was establishing a strong presence in Cardiff at this time.

Perhaps this confusion is understandable. The early years of the game were characterised by a truly amateur if not to say haphazard approach. The numbers per side varied and it was customary for players to wear ordinary clothes and even hats. Admittedly by the 1880s such eccentricities were rarer but photographs of the time still show players with decidedly independent postures.

The Italian priests who had founded St. Peter’s Parish had returned to Italy and Fr. John Hayde was Rector. The school headmaster was the formidable Charles Higgins who presided over 150 juniors in 1888 aided by Mrs. Higgins and Miss Duggan, while Miss Carey attempted to control a further 220 infants.

Such facts can he gleaned from the Parish Magazine, the St. Peter’s Chair, which was published monthly from early 1888 until late 1899. Unfortunately the magazine does not contain any references to the sporting life of the parish and little reference to the social life either. Whether the editor would have welcomed the attentions of the rugby club is doubtful since he refers with evident satisfaction to a Procession of the Blessed Sacrament in December 1864 in which more than fifty teetotallers took part! There is no mention how many in the procession were of the other persuasion. Also in 1889 there was a branch of the Total Abstinence League of the Cross in St. Peter’s with Fr. Hayde, no less, as President. However there were signs of another and, in the event, more lasting tradition in the parish.

The first reference to St. Peter’s R.F.C. that has so far been discovered is in a Western Mail of September, 1888 which referred to a fixture between St. Peter’s and St. Margaret’s, Roath due to be played at the Harlequins Ground. In view of the ground becoming the home of St. Peter’s ninety years later, it is a fascinating reference. Sadly the result is not recorded.

On 5th October, 1888 in the Western Mail it was announced that the captain for the season of St. Peter’s juniors was S. Sexton with S. Lennon as vice captain. The Secretary and Treasurer was Mr. Harry Smith of 16 Gold Street, Roath. We find from the Parish Magazine that the redoubtable Mr. Smith was also Secretary of the C.Y.M.S. Hence a link between the rugby club and the Catholic Men’s Society occurred which is echoed by links in modern times.

The juniors were probably a second or a youth team but this is not clear. They are recorded as playing against Roath Waterloo at the recently opened Roath Park on 27th October, 1888 and winning by 3 goals, 5 tries and 9 minors to nil. In those days one goal out-scored any number of tries and if teams tied with the same number of goals and tries, the number of minors were used to determine the winners. In late December they beat Water Lily F.C. by a goal and two tries to nil.

Names such as St. Margaret’s, Roath Waterloo, and Water Lily were typical of the teams which were formed at this time. Sadly the City of Cardiff was to breed many sides who rapidly grew but in almost all cases just as rapidly disappeared.

The Club nickname of the ‘Rocks’ was soon in evidence. It comes from the Gospel reference to St. Peter – ‘Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it’ (St. Matthew, Chapter 16). There is a play on words because the Greek word for Peter is the same as for rock. The name was to prove popular and persists to this day. In December 1888 St. Peter’s Shamrocks played against Cardiff Albions and won with tries from J. Bateman and J. Brady and a goal by J. Ryan. It is the only reference to the ‘Shamrocks’ – an interesting combination of ‘Rocks’ and the Irish influence of the time. Later in the month St. Peter’s played the Higher Grade (later to become Howard Gardens High School and now Howardian) and it seems likely that this was a schoolboy game. The result was a disputed try to a disputed try and the South Wales Echo recorded that the Higher grade were ‘compelled to walk off the field on account of St. Peter’s beginning to fight and cheat’. No doubt the scribe was a Higher Grade man!

The choice of the Club colours was unlikely to have caused much debate since St. Peter’s traditional colour is green. Hence, perhaps influenced by the early Irish immigrants, the colours became emerald green and black and have never altered.

In 1889 the Club was raising a 1st XV and a junior side. The former played Penarth United, Tredegarville, Cogan 2nds and Cardiff United. Players included D. Dwyer (who scored four tries against Tredegarville), T. Sexton, F. Nelson, Reuben and Driscoll. The juniors beat Llandaff with F. Sexton and J. Martin scoring. The Club did not seem to have a regular home ground since various venues are recorded although the Barracks Field was the most popular.

For the 1890/91 season Dwyer, a wing, was captain and the Secretary was E. Thomas of 10 Bedford Street. Opponents included Barry Dock and Railways, Red Rose (Taffs Well), Cardiff Rangers, Barry Rovers, Llandaff Yard, Nantgarw, Cardiff Stars, Roath Windsor and Cardiff Albion. The team travelled to away games by public transport, either train or bus, and met at the stations. The Club was running a junior side that year which was known as St. Peter’s Rovers.

Roath Park had become the Club’s home venue by the mid 1890s. In the 1894/95 and 1895/96 years the 1sts were led by three-quarters A. Leary and P. Downey while the 2nds prospered under the direction of veteran outside half Ivor Williams. The Club dominated the early leagues of the Cardiff and District Union.

The earliest photograph of a St. Peter’s team to survive is that of the unbeaten 1896/97 side who played 24 matches winning 20 and drawing 4, whilst scoring 256 points and conceding a mere 27. They won the District league easily. The captain was John Ryan and the photograph includes Fr. Hayde. For such a record to be achieved clearly shows how strong the Club had become by then. As far as can be discovered, the only other unbeaten St. Peter’s team is the youth side of 1980/81, and bearing in mind the difficulty of modern fixture lists it is doubtful the feat will be performed again.

The Secretary at the time was J. Crawley of 2 Cyfarthfa Street. The Club junior side seemed to have changed its name to the more colourful St. Peter’s Stars in 1895 when they were led from outside half by M. Downey. The name persisted until 1897 when T. Dunn was captain but from 1898 a youth side known as St. Peter’s United began to play. In 1896 there was another team called St. Peter’s Harps led by M. Watkins playing. It was however clear that all these teams were of lower status to the St. Peter’s 1st and 2nd XVs playing at the time.

The Cardiff Junior Rugby Football Challenge Cup was played for in these early years of rugby in the City. It is inscribed as being presented by the Cardiff Football Club, the word ‘Rugby’ often being omitted at that time. The Cup was rediscovered in an attic a few years ago and belongs to the Cardiff and District Rugby Union. It must be one of the oldest trophies in the game covering the period starting in 1896. The Mallett Cup is a few years older. The strength of the St. Peter’s Club was confirmed when this new cup was won by the 2nd XV in 1897. The successful team continued to be led by Ivor Williams and his partnership with scrum half P. Conners had much to do with the triumph. Others in the 2nds at that time were W. Ashmore, later to play for the District on the wing and forward W. Jenkins, later to join Cardiff R. F. C. With almost all of the other winners of the Cup no longer in existence, the District Union in 1984 asked St. Peter’s to keep it on permanent display at the Clubhouse.

There was some reluctance to play on Good Friday but this did not stop two well known local characters named Cullinane and Carney from raising teams to play at Roath Park on Good Friday 1898 with both sides liberally laced with players from the Rocks. A riotous game took place in front of a large crowd.

On 2nd April, 1898 St. Peter’s played Penylan at Roath Park. Full back was D. Butler and the three quarters were J. Ryan, J. Grey, D. Warren and A. N. Other. The forwards were W. Sexton (captain), W. Neill, J. Sullivan, J. ‘Straw’ Desmond, C. Bowyer, J. A’Hearne, J. Cummins and W. Greenslade. Neill was destined to become a Welsh International. On 2nd May, much the same team but with M. O’Leary as wing forward, beat St. Paul’s at the Harlequins Ground by one goal and two tries to a goal, a win which entitled them to play against Cardiff Reserves (now the ‘Rags’). Most of those named were stalwarts of the late 1890s and several were to captain the Club in this period. Sexton’s team again won the District league title while the 2nds now captained by D. Ryan, Ivor Williams having retired after many years of service, also won their competition when they met Canton Cresents at Cardiff Arms Park and triumphed by a converted try, scored by a player called Jones, to nil.

By 1898/99 T. Collins was the captain playing at outside half and again the Club won the league title. In April they played Cardiff Reserves at the Arms Park after the Cardiff v Leicester match. The 2nds were led by J. Downey and the United by W. Huntley.

The Secretary in 1899 was the splendidly named Mortimer O’Sullivan of 31 Topaz Street, another to feature in the 1896 photograph. The 1899/00 captain was forward C. Bowyer and, as was becoming customary, the team won the league as well as the Mallett Cup. In view of their dominance they must have been disappointed to have had only three players in the District team that met Cardiff at the Arms Park in a new fixture at the start of the season. These were W. Ashmore, J. Sullivan and J. Connell.

Hence in the late 1890s St. Peter’s were an outstanding side which produced a series of fine players foremost among whom was the great Billy Neill. He was a young vice captain in 1897 before joining Cardiff with W. Jenkins, in 1898/99. Billy was an expert line out forward who has become a legend. By 1901/02 another St. Peter’s vice captain and forward, Jack Brown, was to join Neill at Cardiff and two years later more St. Peter’s players, E. Coughlin and D. Ryan arrived. In the 1880s and 1890s many of Cardiff R.F.C.’s players were Catholics. Several came from St. David’s whose team disbanded around that time. Hence the St. Peter’s players were helping to set a tradition still evident in Cardiff R. F. C. sides.

Billy Neill became the first St. Peter’s man to win a full Welsh cap in 1904 against Scotland. He was to win a total of 11 caps in the next few years during a period acknowledged as one of the golden eras of Welsh rugby. They included the triple crown years 1904/05 and 1907/08. In 1907 jack Brown was to play with Billy Neill against England and become the second St. Peter’s international. He was to win 7 caps in the next three years. Both players were to be vice captains of Cardiff but did not captain the club. Billy Neill turned professional with Warrington in 1908. Under the seniority rule it was customary to apply at that time, he would have captained Wales the following season.

Billy Neill was later to coach St. Peter’s after the First World War. His parents, John and Ellen O’Neill together with John’s sister, had been shipwrecked off the Welsh coast when emigrating to America in one of the infamous ‘coffin’ ships. Their descendants have populated the ranks of St. Peter’s R.F.C. ever since with branches of the family including the Manleys, Whelans, Crowleys, O’Briens, Sweeneys, Ellerys and Leahys. They were to provide six Club captains and two others who married into the family. One wonders how different St. Peter’s would have been if that ship had not floundered off the Welsh coast all those years ago.

Returning to St. Peter’s R.F.C., by 1900 the Club was at a peak of achievement having proved itself to be the best in the Cardiff and District for the previous decade. The number of clubs in full membership of the W.R.U. was a lot fewer then and St. Peter’s were able to attract some of the top fixtures particularly for early season games. Thus in 1900 they played Bridgend, Maesteg and Tredegar and must have harboured thoughts of W. R. U. status. They were running three sides, lsts, 2nds and United and, as we have seen several of their players had moved on to Cardiff where they were playing with distinction and two were to become Welsh Internationals. The bright future was shattered during the season 1900/01 as the Club suffered a blow from which it was not to recover until after the First World War.

Although in the 1890s there are references to teams called St. Peter’s Rovers, St. Peter’s Stars, St. Peter’s Shamrocks, and St. Peter’s Harps as well as the regular St. Peter’s United, some of these were clearly part of the main Club. If some of the others were splinter groups, they do not seem to have done much harm. It was quite customary for players to change clubs at this time and the Cardiff and District Union spent much of its weekly meetings vetting applications for transfers. A few players moved from club to club as Don Juan was reputed to do with women. Such difficulties did not apply to St. Peter’s, one of whose strengths had been the loyalty of the players. Therefore the events of 1900/01 were all the more surprising.

The season began normally. The District team selected to play against Cardiff included St. Peter’s players W. Ashmore on the wing, J. Barry at inside half, J. Connell at lock and J. Sullivan at prop. Sullivan was captain of the Club and W. Lewis led the 2nds. An illustration of the strength available was the team selected to play against Cardiff Mackintosh in early September, the week after the Cardiff match. It was fullback E. Jones, three quarters John Ryan, E. Coughlin, P. Loughlin and Ashmore, half backs D. Ryan and Barry, and forwards Sullivan, W. Sexton, H. Summerhayes, C. Bowyer, J. Desmond, J. Connell, M. A’Herne and T. McCarthy. Thus Sullivan had three former captains in the side, two players who were soon to join Cardiff R. F. C. and a string of others who had or were to play for the District.

Although no record remains, there seems to have been a major row of some sort and by the end of the season most of the prominent players had transferred to other clubs. The Mallett Cup final was between Grange Stars, who included Sullivan himself and ex-St. Peter’s forward Desmond, and Cardiff Mackintosh, who had E. Jones, J. Ryan, D. Ryan, H. Summerhayes and C. Bowyer in their ranks. Hence several former captains had transferred. By 1901/02 the only St. Peter’s side left was the United.

The ‘Macs’, a local Roath team based at the Mackintosh Institute, displaced St. Peter’s as the prominent club in the District for the next decade and more and many of the better Rocks players continued to join them. In 1905 a past versus present match was refereed by Billy Neill himself and included many former St. Peter’s players. By then the ‘Macs’ were playing with distinction against opponents who included Pontypridd, Pontypool, Tredegar, Cross Keys, Blaina and Cardiff Reserves. The drain of players to the ‘Macs’ may have been caused by a feeling that they were going places but in the event it was the older Club who survived.

Although only St. Peter’s United were playing in 1901/02 they were successful for a young team and the photograph which has survived clearly shows the enthusiasm. The captain was M. McCarthy, the vice captain and Secretary was N. D. Reed, both of whom were props, and the Treasurer was P. Donelly.

The team retained the ‘United’ tag the next season but dropped it in 1903/04 when they were led by another prop, T. Delacour..

St. Peter’s School was a founder member of the Cardiff Schools Rugby Union in 1902 and is one of the few left playing today. A photograph survives of the school team of 1902/03 which was one of the early successes and was captained by B. Thompson. Thompson was one of several St. Peter’s boys to play for the first Cardiff Schools team. The photograph shows that he was a big boy and, judging from the gargantuan ball he is holding, he seems likely to have been one of the few who could catch it! His team dominated the Schools season with 314 points for and only 27 against.

In 1908 Arthur Callus, uncle of Frank Callus who became a teacher at St. Peter’s and Deputy Head at Lady Mary High School, became the first St. Peter’s boy to win a schoolboy international cap. He was the kicker for the Cardiff Schools team. The Monday following the announcement of his selection the Headmaster lined the whole school up to greet the hero but unfortunately Arthur was not the most punctual of pupils and by the time he arrived the only one left waiting, was the Headmaster complete with cane. A year earlier Giovanni Corsi, father of the three brothers all of whom were to play for St. Peter’s, won a cap whilst at St. David’s. It was the custom in those days for schoolboy caps to wear their international jerseys in school matches, a ploy worthy of Michael Green’s coarse rugby men which also saved on new school jerseys! When St. Peter’s and St. David’s met in 1908 the two internationals stood out like sore thumbs. Whenever Corsi received the ball he headed in a straight line for Callus and vice versa. The game and the rest of the players were forgotten as the two battled away.

The District team of 1906 featured five ‘Macs’ and four more were reserves but the old Club was fighting back and M. Donovan of the Rocks joined them for the game against Cardiff.

The Cardiff and District Committee meetings of the time were concerned with transfers of players between clubs and enlivened by appeals that league points should be awarded to losing teams because the winners played ineligible players. All this was faithfully reported in the South Wales Echo whose reporter was allowed to attend the meeting. After one row over league points an irate club Secretary called the Committee all sorts of names. At the next meeting members demanded an apology but the offender only withdrew the worst of the offending names. The row dragged on for months with the offender gradually withdrawing the names but by the end of the season alleging that the Echo had misquoted him in the first place! At the start of the 1906/07 season there was a move to exclude the press from the meetings as though it was the Echo’s fault that the row took place! The motion was passed by a narrow majority but the St. Peter’s delegate, J. Downey, voted against.

Downey, another prop, was captain of St. Peter’s that season and the club was back in the First Division of the District leagues for the first time since 1901. They were still there in 1907/08 when J. Keane, a wing forward, led them but they then dropped back to the Second Division. It is strange how the captain was changed with such regularity in those days. It seems that it was regarded as a great honour which should be passed around. It was not until the 1930s that a man was to captain the club for more than one year.

St. Peter’s School was playing baseball before the War and in 1907 a St. Peter’s team played an American side at their version of the game. Messrs Jarvis of City Road made the American style bats for the match. The first ever baseball international between Wales and England took place at the Harlequins Ground on 3rd August, 1908.

The Harlequins Ground has been host to many such events over the years. Cardiff City A.C. played some major games there around 1908 in the period before they were admitted to the Football League. They normally played at Sophia Gardens in those days but made special arrangements for the visits of the League clubs Middlesbrough, Crystal Palace and Bristol City by playing at the Harlequins Ground and Cardiff Arms Park.

In 1909/10 T. Griffiths, a wing, led St. Peter’s who had returned to the First Division but their stay was short lived and by the next season we find that they were again in the Second where in January 1911 the District Committee awarded league points to Splott Crusaders because the Rocks played an ineligible player. Thus the Club continued to struggle in the years leading to the First World War and were not to recapture their former glory until after the conflict.