St Helen’s ArchivePreserving the past for the future

Item

MD007

Title

MD007

Description

Swansea District League, Runners up medal,1905-06 season. Morriston Football Club Second Fifteen. Tom Morgan, forward.

Type

Rights Holder

CIC

Date

Abstract

This medal, small as it is, represented a stepping stone for a young Morriston forward, Tom Morgan. The Swansea District Football League was developed in the mid-1890s as a natural extension to the Swansea District Junior Challenge Cup, which was established on 26th July 1886 at a meeting at the Tenby Hotel, Swansea. The Swansea Football club oversaw the junior Cup competition, which it financed. It also gave generously to the District League coffers and oversaw its League championship. Swansea football Club began playing a season 'opener' against a District League XV as early as 1894 and the town's club obviously benefitted from the development of young players in the District League, the best of whom filtered up to the senior club.
Forward Tom Morgan was one such player and this is his medal as a Morriston Second Fifteen player in 1905-06, when they were Runners up in the District League. Tom joined the Swansea First fifteen in 1907 and played for the ‘All Whites’ in their famous win over South Africa on Boxing Day 1912 at St Helen's. The archive holds Tom’s medal as a member of the welsh Championship winning Swansea 1st XV of 1912-13 (see: MD004). In a distinguished career at St Helen’s, he made 182 appearances for the 1st XV between 1907 and 1920, and 36 for the ‘seconds’. Another of Tom’s medals was for the 2nd XV in 1909-10 marked their having remained undefeated at home that season. This is also in the St Helen’s Archive collection (see: MD005). Tom was also capped for Glamorgan County. Tom’s 1912-13 Welsh Championship medal is also on display in the St Helen’s Lounge.

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