Rugby Club Issue 74 | Page 12

Narberth FOLLOW US ONLINE TWITTER.COM/RUGBYCLUBMAG Narberth RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB N arberth RFC was formed in 1882 and is one of the oldest rugby clubs in Wales. The Club’s nickname is “the Otters” or “the Pembrokeshire Otters” and this came about because the field where it now has its Headquarters was given to the Club by Miss Lewis-Lloyd who was the owner of a pack of hounds used for hunting otters , hence the Lewis- Lloyd ground! Since that time a lot has happened both on and off the field of play. The Club has spent almost half a million pounds improving its facilities with projects such as purchasing and leasing more land for additional pitches, a major extension and refurbishment of the clubhouse, the construction of a 500 seated stand with spacious changing rooms underneath, modern high quality floodlighting for two of its pitches, land drainage projects and an impressive gymnasium. A public address system with accompanying TV screens has been fitted throughout the Clubhouse for the benefit of members, sponsors and supporters 12 Issue 74 and the Club believes that it now has the best rugby club facilities west of the Scarlets ground at Parc y Scarlets. On the field there was little success until the 1980s and 1990s when the Club started to win the Pembrokeshire League and Cup Competitions at 1st Team, 2nd Team and Youth Team Levels. In 1981 the Club won the Pembrokeshire Cup for the very first time and in 1982, in its centenary year, the Club won the Cup for the second year and went on to win the Pembrokeshire League and remained undefeated for almost eighteen months. In the 90s the WRU created National Leagues and for the first time in its history the Narberth 1st Team (as winners of the Pembrokeshire League) was elevated to playing league fixtures against club sides throughout Wales. The team currently plays in the Championship Division at the top level of the amateur game in Wales but the old ‘Merit Table’ clubs still exist and over the past twenty years the Narberth Club has won matches against Neath, Pontypool, Llanelli and Swansea. This sort of success could only have been dreamed about in the 1970s! Last season (2016/17) saw changes to the senior coaching structure with Sean Gale (formerly Llanelli RFC and