Our club owes its past to two school teachers Bernard Altmeyer (front row, 2nd from left) and David Knapp (holding ball) who formed Gwernyfed Old Boys in late 1965 to offer rugby in the area around the High School at Three Cocks for the first time since a Talgarth team had disbanded in 1879.
The Old Boys, soon to become Gwernyfed RFC, joined the Neath & District Rugby Union for the 1966/67 season and soon became a formidable outfit built upon the strength, literal and metaphorical, of the farming community.
In 1990, after huge fund-raising and building efforts, Gwernyfed RFC opened its new HQ, The Old Malthouse in Talgarth, adjacent to its pitches it leased from the Council.
The Club achieved full WRU status in 1997 and continued to grow, developing The Old Malthouse and installing floodlights on both pitches which were purchased outright in 2017 following another massive fund-raising effort.
The Club’s fiftieth anniversary was celebrated in 2015, the occasion marked by a ball at which 500 guests welcomed Warren Gatland, Wales and Lions coach, who congratulated the Club on its history and commitment to grass roots rugby.
As well senior and youth rugby, Gwernyfed has fielded a Ladies XV since 2004 and mini and junior rugby has thrived for over thirty years. In recent years the Club has become a girls’ ‘rugby hub’, welcoming players from south-east and mid Wales.
In 2015, Gwernyfed became a limited company but remains and will always remain a Club firmly rooted in its community, built upon voluntary effort and love for ‘The Badge’.
