St Helen’s ArchivePreserving the past for the future
Video & Aural
This page houses several unique and fascinating movie clips, all filmed at St Helen's. Other will be added as we continue to populate the website. We begin with the earliest recorded footage at the St Helen's ground...
Glamorgan County FC v New Zealand at St Helen's 21st December 1905.
In this unique footage Swansea and Wales forward Will Joseph leads out a Glamorgan County team to face the 1905 All Blacks just 5 days after the New Zealanders finally lost their unbeaten tour record, losing 3 - 0 to Wales at Cardiff Arms Park. The All Blacks beat an understrength Glamorgan side 9 - 0 (3 tries). Several players from the Wales v New Zealand match were unjured and unavailable, Swansea's Dicky Owen for example, who had dispalced cartilege in his ribs. Other eligible players withdrew, perhaps waiting for their own club game with the All Blacks and a chance to beat them at club level. The opening segment of the movie shows the All Blacks appearing on the pitch, followed by Will Joseph leading out the Glamorgan team (in blue, white and red stripes). The film maker of the day may have missed the opportunity to record the All Blacks entry onto the St Helen's ground as the entrance has now been identified as the Welford Road ground where the All Blacks played Leicester and also Midland Counties earlier in the tour. This segment was spliced into the rest of the movie to make it appear that they were filmed at Swansea. We are very grateful to rugby historian John Griffiths for solving this mystery for everyone. See newspaper clip NC018
Swansea v New Zealand at St Helen's 28th September 1935.
On 28th September 1935 at St Helen's, Swansea became the first club side in the world to defeat a full New Zealand touring team and also thus became the first club side to have defeated the southern hemisphere 'big three' of Australia (1908), South Africa (1912) and New Zealand (1935).
Swansea v Kiwis at St Helen's 27th October 1945.
On 27th October 1945 Swansea played host to the NZEF rugby team, losing a thrilling, open match by 6 - 22. It was the opening match of a significant tour. Swansea RFC's Hon. Secretary Cliff Prosser and 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) Major Charles Saxton organised a tour by the 2nd NZEF rugby playing troops and a team of talented players toured as soon as hostilities were over in Western Europe, bringing smiles to faces wherever they went, with a brand of running rugby not seen again until the Barbarians recommenced playing. They toured the UK, Ireland, France and Germany. Known as the 'Kiwis', they played 33 matches, winning 29 of them. By staying in Europe to play instead of returning home, the Kiwis brought the joy of open, free-flowing rugby to a war weary Europe, desperate to brighten the early peace-time world with a return to rugby.
Wales v Ireland at St Helen's 12th March 1949.
A home movie taken on the trip to St Helen's, Swansea for the Wales v Ireland rugby international on 12th March 1949. Ireland's 5 - 0 win gave them the Triple Crown for just the fourth time. It was also Ireland's first win at St Helen's since 1889. The footage is fascinating for the off-field sequences that show Swansea Railway Station, views of the town, including Joe's Ice Cream parlour and pre-match preparations at St Helen's. A wonderful window into the past.
21 January 2021 - an introduction to the "Flying Dai Harries" project. The background to the project and how the story of "Flying Dai Harries" was pieced together, is explained by Dave Dow, a member of the Archive Team at St Helen's. To see the project itself, click HERE or why not look in 'Education' tab at 'Student & Volunteer Projects', where this and other projects can be found.
History and Heritage Work Placements at Swansea University
A film about the undergraduate history and postgraduate heritage work placements at Swansea University, filmed in the Spring of 2023. For more information visit https://www.swansea.ac.uk/history/ or contact CHART Email chartcentre@swansea.ac.uk. A segment includes the work done this year by the Swansea RFC Memorabilia CIC with a Placement Student.
Swansea v Barbarians at St Helen's 31st May 2023.
A fitting finale to Swansea RFC's 150th season activities was the visit to St Helen's on Wednesday 31st May 2023 of the Barbarians for the first time since 1994. A star studded Baa-Baas team won a thrilling encounter by 68 - 33 on a beautiful sunny evening. The event was made even more significant with the presence of Alun Wyn Jones, the world's most capped rugby union player, as he bowed out from international rugby with the second of two appearances as captain of the Barbarians team. A capacity crowd saw Alun Wyn turn out for both sides as he once more wore the famous Swansea jersey in the second-half, 'The Whites' having being his first senior club. He also acknowledged his Bonymaen origins as he wore that club's socks in the Baa-Baas tradition of 'club socks'.