| Full name | Penallta Rugby Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Pitmen | ||
| Founded | 1952 | ||
| Location | Ystrad Mynach, Wales | ||
| Ground(s) | Ystrad Fawr | ||
| President | Allan Rogers | ||
| Coach(es) | Alan Lucas | ||
| League(s) | WRU Division Two East | ||
| 2009-10 | 8th [1] | ||
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| Official website | |||
| www.penalltarfc.co.uk | |||
Penallta Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in Ystrad Mynach in the county borough of Caerphilly. Penallta RFC is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Newport Gwent Dragons.[2]
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Penallta Rugby Football Club is based in Ystrad Mynach. The rugby club was inaugurated by a group of miners from Penallta colliery in 1952 and moved from a number of different social addresses until it settled at Ystrad Fawr, hosting both its club and playing ground there. On November 1st 1991, Penallta Colliery shut down, but the RFC continued to play under its name. The club colours are blue/yellow.
Penallta became a full Welsh Rugby Union member in 2004 and since then it has won Divisions 3, 4 and 5 South East, plus the coveted Silver Ball trophy in 2005. During the 2007/08 season Penallta were promoted to Division 1 East.
One of Penallta's biggest Junion Union achievements was winning the Worthington Welsh 'Brewers' Cup in 2001. It was the only time the club won the cup in its junior union history.
Mike Voyle, a resident of Ystrad Mynach, is the only Penallta player to have represented Wales. He won 21 caps as a tight forward between 1997 and 2001.
Penallta's most capped player is Lee Acreman, with over 600 1st team appearances for the club. The most successful player in Penallta's history is Craig Phillips who captained the 1st team on six occasions and won the Player of the Year award on no less than five occasions, his career lasting between 1976 and 1992.
Current ex Penallta players who are thriving for higher placed clubs include Dai Flanagan (Cardiff Blues), Gareth Davies (Cardiff RFC) and Shaun Powell (Ebbw Vale RFC).
Penallta is also known for its excellent matchday programmes, written by Mike Guilfoyle and Martyn Rowe. Extracts from the programmes were made into a book in 2007 called "Shaking the Tree Boss - Portraits of a Welsh Ruby Club".
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