150 Years of The Gnoll

The Gnoll

Year opened: 1871
Capacity: 6,000

"The Heart and Soul of the Town"

The famous venue no doubt holds a special place in the hearts of the locals, who witnessed Neath RFC's domestic success. The supporters are as devoted as any club would want. Through the good, the bad and the ugly times they have stuck with the club and constantly kept returning to Wales' oldest rugby ground to watch their beloved Welsh All Blacks.

For many people the Gnoll was a massive part of their childhood or going even further, their whole life. For that reason, it would be appropriate to call the ground a special place.

Former Neath, Ospreys, Bath, Wales and British & Irish Lion Paul James, who made 23 appearances for the Welsh All Blacks feels priveleged to have played at the Gnoll.

"I wouldn't have wanted to play anywhere else other than the Gnoll. As a kid growing up, you just dreamed of playing there," James said.

"Our school Dwr-y-Felin would give us opportunities sometimes to play there or if you got to finals with your club teams.

"I was lucky to play there as a youngster a few times and I abolsutely loved it. All I ever wanted to do was play rugby and play in that Gnoll.

"It was the heart and soul of the town. Especially once professional rugby was being played out of there, it used to attract so many people into the town centre for rugby and for other things, like fireworks night.

"As a youngster I used to love going there because the atmosphere was buzzing."

"That field has had many famous people walk on it and just to be part of that history and to be able to say that I have played there is great.

"The Gnoll is a famous ground and it still is today. It is just great to be apart of a small part of Neath's history."

Neath RFC Honours

Welsh Club Champions: 1909/10, 1910/11, 1928/29, 1933/34, 1934/35, 1946/47, 1966/67, 1986/87, 1988/89, 1989/90
Welsh Premier Division: 1990/91, 1995/96, 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08, 2009/10
Welsh Cup: 1971/72, 1988/89, 1989/90, 2003/04, 2007/08, 2008/09
Principality Premiership Play Off Champions: 2009/2010

Touring Sides at The Gnoll

The Gnoll has played host to some of the world's best in the past with the likes of South Africa, Australia and the famous All Blacks of New Zealand. In and amongst those three teams also is the USA, Japan and Fiji.

Neath's success rate facing visiting national sides was unsurprisingly very low, however, alot of the results were very much evenly contested with the Welsh All Blacks just missing out on historic victories.

The only two wins coming against visiting nations was against Fiji and the United States in the 1990s; the Welsh club did salvage a draw against Japan in 1983.

One match that stands out more than others is the clash between Neath and South Africa in 1994. It is costantly recalled and lives in the memory of many rugby fans for it being one of the most brutal rugby matches ever. As a result of that, the match has been named 'The Battle of the Gnoll'. For an insight into that fixture and to see exactly why it was given that name, be sure to watch the video on the next slide.

Results Versus Touring Sides:
Neath & Aberavon 0 - 15 Australia - 15 Oct 1908
Neath 3 - 8 South Africa - 19 Dec 1912
Neath & Aberavon 3 - 8 South Africa - 28 Nov 1931
Neath & Aberavon 15 - 22 New Zealand Services 'Kiwis' - 3 Nov 1945
Neath & Aberavon 5 - 11 New Zealand - 23 Jan 1954
Neath & Aberavon 5 - 25 South Africa - 14 Jan 1961
Neath & Aberavon 3 - 9 Australia - 29 Oct 1966
Neath & Aberavon 3 - 43 New Zealand - 24 Jan 1973
Neath 21 - 21 Japan - 15 Oct 1983
Neath 6 - 15 USA - 31 Oct 1987
Neath 15 - 26 New Zealand - 25 Oct 1989
Neath 8 - 16 Australia - 11 Nov 1992
Neath 13 - 16 South Africa - 2 Nov 1994
Neath 30 - 22 Fiji - 2 Nov 1994
Neath 39 - 15 USA - 4 Jan 1997

Rugby League

The Gnoll became such a famous ground as a result of it being the home of Neath RFC.

However, the ground has played host to other sports such as rugby league, and was once the home of the South Wales Scorpions.

The Scorpions played their first competitive match at the Gnoll in a narrow 22-20 win against Workington Town in February 2010 with an attendance of just over 500.

Fast forward four years, Wales Rugby League took hold of the Scorpions and they were relocated to Maesteg RFC.

The scorpions have since been rebranded twice as the South Wales Ironmen and are currently known as the West Wales Raiders. At the time of playing at the Gnoll, then known as the Scorpions, they set the clubs biggest victory in July 2011; they thrashed Newcastle 70-16.

In addition to hosting the South Wales Scorpions, the Gnoll was the smallest venue to host a match in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. The fixture was a group D match between Wales and the Cook Islands, with the latter winning 24-28.

Neath Football Club

In 2008 Neath Athletic Football Club were given permission from Neath RFC to share the Gnoll. As a consequences of that move, the club opted to change their name to Neath Football Club.

The first football match hosted in the Gnoll was a pre-season friendly between Neath (then known as Neath Athletic) and Swansea City.

Swansea's Guillem Bauza was the first ever player to score a goal at the Gnoll. Following on from that opening goal, the Swans went on to thrash the home side 5-0.

The Gnoll did witness European football with Neath defeating Prestatyn Town 3-2 in front of a club record attendance of 1000 in the first ever Europa League play-off.

At the end of the 2011/2012 season the club were refused FAW and UEFA licences for the following campaign, and were unable to compete in the end-of-season Europa League play-off matches.

The club ceased to exist in 2012 after the club was wound up at the High Court.

Swansea's Danny Graham wins a header against Neath's Kai Edwards