Our History

Fall Bay RFC was founded in 1994 by a small group of us after a (somewhat drunken) discussion with my brother, Alex, in the bar of the King Arthur Hotel.  On the 20th May 1994 a meeting was called at the Countryman (our initial sponsors) and the original committee was formed as follow:

Hon. President – Rev.  A. Ivan Davies

Chairman – Alex Williams

Secretary – Gwyn Davies

Treasurer – Andy O’Brien (replaced by Jeff Higgins 2 weeks later)

Captain – Richard Bennett

Vice Captain – Mark Button

Coach – John Philips

Members – Keith Phillips, Meirion Phillips, Dave Haines, Gareth (Charlie) Davies, Stuart Jackson and Huw Thomas.

We settled on the name Fall Bay after variations on ‘Gower’ were discussed, after the beach most of us played rugby on as youngsters (the first training session taking place in Rhossili Car Park!)  

Various pitch options were looked at.  Len O’Driscoll, the landlord of the King Arthur, offered the land that now has the Avalon Room standing on it.  We could not fit a minimum size pitch on it unfortunately, but Len became a great friend to our club and the King Arthur remains our main seasonal benefactor.

It was then suggested that we approach SGSC for a pitch.  We weren’t too confident as we thought they were exclusively football, but I was pleasantly surprised when I approached them at a meeting.

The first game was set for the 8th of July 1994 against a Swansea Law Society XV, who included a number of good players from the legal profession, including Swansea wing Blethyn Taylor, who sold one of the lawyers a photocopier, which dubiously qualified him for the Law XV.  It took place on what is now the 2nd football pitch.  We tied scaffolding poles to the posts and filled fertilizer bags with straw for pads.  

The referee was Carwyn Jones AM, current Leader of the House at the Welsh Assembly and Counsel General for Wales (best remembered here as the Minister for Rural Affairs during the Foot and Mouth crisis a few years ago), who at the time was a barrister in private practise in Swansea.

Local interest was huge; we charged £1 on the gate and took over £300, with the Lawyers also bringing a lot of support.

The original team was as follows:

1.  Teddy Rees

2.  Gwyn Davies

3.  Richard Furneaux

4.  Peter Morris

5.  Richard Bennett (Capt)

6.  Keith Phillips

7.  Charlie Howson

8.  Jon Tucker

9.  Biff Davies

10. Andrew Lewis

11. Aussie Morgan 

12. Neil Thomas

13. Charlie Davies

14. Mark Button (V.Capt)

15. Brian Davies

Replacements were:

Huw Thomas, James Beynon, Neil Parry, Ivor Parry, Jamie Bramhall, Andrew Griffiths, Stu Jackson, Gavin Lewis, Gareth Davies and Simon Morse-Jones, all of whom got on (it was a friendly!)

We narrowly lost the game, thought the score is lost in the mists of time, but the first ever scorer for Fall Bay was club stalwart Keith Phillips, scorer of our only try that day.

After a season of friendlies we entered the Swansea and District League in 1995, which we won outright in 2002-03, winning the cup in 2005.  

Last season saw the most significant step forward for our club since the formation of Youth and Junior Sections with new Division 6 of the WRU League.  We finished 4th last season out of 10, a reasonable start but with room for improvement.

We are now firmly established as a club and I would like to thank all those people who have grafted and played through the years to get us where we are.  Particular mention should go to Lynn Watts and Denver Austin whose considerable efforts with the Falcons (Youth) side have borne fruit.  Also a special mention to Debbie Jones, Paul Fleming and everyone involved with the Junior section, which is flourishing and bodes well for the future.

We would welcome anyone who wishes to get involved in any capacity.  Hope to see you at the club.