Our History

It was reputed that rugby was first played in Felinfoel during 1873-74 under the captaincy of William Yalden Neville, and strongly supported by the local industrialists, the Johns and Nevilles. The Ground was on the present site of the filter beds and Llanelli and Swansea played there in 1875-76.

In January 1878, Llanelli again visited the ground and were defeated by a goal and four tries to nil in a 16-a-side encounter.

Felinfoel have produced 16 senior internationals with the first being William Morris in 1896-1897. In 1937-38 W.H. Clement became secretary of the Welsh Rugby Union.  Elvet Jones (1939) became President of Llanelli RFC. Phill Bennett O.B.E captained the British Lions in 1969.

The club has also produced 17 Welsh Youth Caps, the first being Ken Poolman in 1955-56. In 1913 the Booth field was presented to the rugby and cricket clubs by Mr. Evan Jones (Westfa) and Lady Howard Stepney. The field was later enlarged and named the King George V Memorial Field in 1939. The club celebrated its 75th Anniversary during the 1951-52 season with the visit of Cardiff RFC captained by Dr. Jack Matthews. In 1975-76 the club celebrated its Centenary with a dinner and Ball at the Drill Hall, in attendance was Mr. Dennis Howell, Minister of Sport. That year the club also toured Berlin. 
In 1935-36 the club gained membership of the Welsh Rugby Union and the West Wales Rugby Union and were losing West Wales Cup Finalists in their first season. The first cup success came in 1947-48 under the captaincy of Ken Jones who later became secretary of Llanelli RFC. Further cup wins came in 1952-53, 1961-62, 1973-74, 1990-91, and 1992-93. The following seasons brought further success to the club.

1985-86 – 1st XV: West Wales Section D Champions – Capt. David Nicholas, 2nd XV: Llanelli & District Section E Champions, Buckley’s Cup Winners – Capt. Jeff John.
1986-87 – 2nd XV: Llanelli & District Section E Champions, Doreen Rogers Cup Winners – Capt. Brian Edwards.
1987-88 – 1st XV: West Wales Section C Champions – Capt. Brian Edwards, 2nd XV Llanelli & District Section C Champions, Buckley’s Cup Winners – Capt. John Owen.
1988-89 – 1st XV: West Wales Section B Runners-Up promoted to Section A.
1990-91 – West Wales Tovali Cup Winners – Capt. Anthony Griffiths.
1992-93 – 1st XV West Wales Section A Champions, West Wales Tovali Cup Winners, & West Wales Welsh Brewers Championship Winners – Capt. Jonathan Mayze.

In 1986 new changing rooms were provided at the ground and officially opened on April 15th 1986 with a game against the Crawshays Welsh XV (Felinfoel  16-34 Crawshays Welsh XV). Again further improvements were made in 1992 with the addition of a fully equipped weight-training area and improved floodlighting. A game against a Phil Bennett ‘Golden Oldies XV’ celebrated the occasion.

The club have played against a number of first class teams including, Penarth at Stradey Park in the Welsh Cup, Newbridge (away), Bridgend Dec, 1988 (home)and Jan, 1994 (away). Pontypridd Jan, 1977 (home) in the Swalec Cup. Neath Feb, 1991 (away) in the Schwepps Cup. Maesteg Dec 15th, 2007 in the Konica Minolta Cup. 
With the introduction of the Heineken League in 1990, Felinfoel failed to gain entry, losing 10-8 to Caerphilly in a play-off. However when the league was extended in 1994, the club beat Maesteg Quins 18-5 in a play-off to enter Division 5 for the 1994-95 season.

In 1997 the club was promoted to Division 4. When the National Leagues were formed in 1998, the club played in Division 3 West. In 2002/03 the club were promoted to Division 2 West.  

In 2008 Felinfoel finished top of Division 2 West, being undefeated all season and gained promotion to Division 1 West of the WRU National Leagues.