This week the Cardiff Rugby Heritage Museum was launched to celebrate the heritage of rugby in Cardiff.
The museum contains over 800 items of rugby memorabilia-caps, jerseys, photographs, ties, trophies, programmes and season tickets-together with reports and results from each season since 1876.
The museum was the invention of members of the CF10 Arms Park Supporters’ Trust volunteers, and they’ve worked with volunteers from CF10 Rugby Trust, Cardiff Athletic Club and Cardiff University to make it happen. Cardiff University has contributed three of its conservation students to help the project.
Everyone involved has been brought together by their love of Cardiff Rugby and its history.
The museum is currently online at cardiffrugbymuseum.org but there is hope that a physical museum will be included in the future redevelopment of Cardiff Arms Park in the city centre.
I’m thrilled that this museum has been launched. Rugby has such a vibrant and strong history in the city, which continues to this day, and it’s great that this will be celebrate and allow new generations of rugby fans to learn about the history of the game here.
Sally Carter, a CF10 board member who is employed at Amgueddfa Cymru, led the practical work of placing the collection into safe storage. She commented “This has been a superb team effort, without which much of this invaluable collection would soon have been lost forever.”
CF10 board member Simon Baker – who was responsible for much of the technical work on the database – said “We’re really excited about this project because for the first time, this fantastic collection of rugby history is being made accessible to the general public.”
Importantly, the museum contains items from both Cardiff RFC and Cardiff Blues which marks out the museum as viewing the history of Cardiff rugby as one.
CF1O Chairman, David Allen, commented “We view the history of Cardiff rugby as a continuous one, and it’s therefore important that the museum reflects all its aspects.
“Despite the recent complications, we are confident that the Arms Park will eventually be redeveloped, and part of the plan for the ground will be a fit-for-purpose heritage centre that will enable the whole collection to be made readily accessible to Cardiff rugby fans and the local community.”
This is just the first step for the project.
While the online museum has now launched, it’s an ongoing work in progress. The team has so far prioritised cataloguing and photographing the artefacts but they’ll now move to researching the background to each item and getting all photographs professionally digitised.
The team also plan to add oral histories from the famous figures associated with rugby in Cardiff, and are working on new displays of memorabilia which has been gifted or loaned by former players. One of the most recent acquisitions is Sam Warburton’s jersey from the 2017 Lions Tour.
I’ve been watching rugby in Cardiff for many years and I’m really excited to take a look at the museum and find out more about the game’s rich history in our city.
I was proud to praise, Parliament, the CF10 Arms Park Supporters’ Trust and their collaborators for making this happen. You can watch my question here: