The year 1823 was a momentous
occasion in the history of rugby football.
In a Bigside game at
Rugby School a young William Webb Ellis laid the foundation of the game as we
know it today when running with the ball.
A tablet set in a wall at
the school reads ‘This stone commemorates the exploit of William Webb
Ellis who with a fine disregard for the rules of football as played in his time,
first took the ball in his arms and ran with it, thus originating the distinctive
features of the rugby game – A.D. 1823.’
It was almost 50
years later, circa 1870, that rugby first appeared in Cornwall.
Bodmin
claimed to be the first town in the county in which the game was played, closely
followed by Penzance, Redruth and Hayle.
Rugby in Newlyn was to come later,
but on this website history of the Pirates it is essential that brief histories
are provided of both the Newlyn and Penzance clubs.
Penzance
Newlyn V Guys 1945
History Overview
| History of Penzance Club | History
of Newlyn Club
