We’ll be using social media to showcase some of our sporting treasures from down the years and we’d love clubs, players and fans to get involved.
What is the oldest team photograph out there? It may be hanging on the clubhouse wall, or be stored under the bed of the club secretary, but we’d love to see a picture of it on Twitter or Facebook.
Who has got a Welsh international cap or shirt that was won and worn by their brother, uncle, father or grandfather? If it’s you, then share your pride and let us know all about it.
We have a series of international matches coming up at the end of this month and into November, but who has the oldest programme from a Wales game? It would be great to see the front cover or team page of a very early international programme that might be in your collection . . . or attic!
And don’t forget about the trophies and medals that teams have won down the years. The South Wales Challenge Cup was first played for in the 1877-78 season and is arguably the oldest trophy in Welsh sport.
When it was struck in 1877 it cost £52 10s which, according to the UK Inflation Index, is roughly worth £6,747 today. Both the FAW Welsh Cup and the South Wales Challenge Cup were inaugurated in the same season, and the rugby union final was played at Bridgend on 2 March, 28 days ahead of the first football final.
The FAW didn’t get a trophy organised until the next year, so the first winners, Wrexham, weren’t presented with the trophy. There is no mention in the match report written about the first rugby final of a trophy being either presented after the match, or being with the captain on his triumphant arrival back in Newport.
However, there is a report of a banquet held at the King’s Head Hotel, Newport, on Wednesday, 24 April, at which the trophy was presented to the Newport captain, Will Phillips.
The FA Cup began in 1871, and was first presented after the inaugural final on 16 March, 1872. The Yorkshire County Cup, which claims to be the first knock-out competition in English rugby, began in 1877-78 and the first final was played on 29 December, 1877.
That makes the South Wales Challenge Cup a few months older, but played for in the same season. It was recently rediscovered and outdates even the South Wales Challenge Cup for cricket, which began in 1879.
Newspaper cuttings, photographs, badges, rosettes and other ephemera collected by fans at matches from anywhere in the world all come under the heading of ‘Sporting Heritage’. Why not share your wonderful memories with us.
National Sporting Heritage Day aims to raise awareness of the relevance of sporting heritage, encourage new and different audiences to have access to these collections, and encourage heritage, community and sporting organisations to recognise and celebrate sporting heritage as an ongoing, significant element of their work, not just something of importance during major sporting events.
If you want to get involved on Twitter then tag @welshrugbyunion, using the hashtag #ShareYourSportingHeritage – or send us your photos via email on digital@wru.wales.
