a Community Hub and Café in the 2010s. Today, the club runs 3 adult teams and 4 junior sides. Rugby League The Northern Union hired the Ynys on the 1 January 1908 to host what would be the first ever international rugby league match. Played on a near frozen pitch, the match between Wales and the New Zealand All Golds proved to be a close and exciting game. The decisive score came from local star and former Aberdare RFC player, Dai "Tarw" Jones, who scored a try just minutes before the final whistle, giving Wales a 9–8 victory. The match attracted 15,000 paying spectators, with the gate receipts of £560 highlighting the commercial potential of rugby league at the Ynys. This took place at a time when the Northern Union was looking to establish professional teams across south Wales and just months after the Welsh Rugby Union had sanctioned Aberdare RFC for professionalism (banning Jones for life). As such, discussions on the establishment of a Rugby League club in Aberdare advanced quickly and on 21 July 1908, Aberdare RLFC were admitted to the Northern Union's Rugby League. On 5 September 1908 the new team played their first match against Wigan in front of a crowd of 3,000 at the Ynys. The potential for crowd support was again demonstrated when on the 10th November 1908 the Ynys hosted its second international side as 5,000 spectators watched Aberdare take on the first touring Australian team. However the Aberdare club side could not replicate the heroics of the Welsh team, losing the match 10–37. Indeed, Aberdare struggled under Northern Union rules and initially high crowd numbers deteriorate with the poor results, which saw Aberdare finishing their only season in the Rugby Football League as the bottom club. Finally on 10 July 1909, Aberdare reported 'unexpected difficulties' in its finances and resigned from the Northern Rugby League. Rugby Union A rugby club representing Aberdare was recorded as early as 1876, but the modern Aberdare RFC traces its history back to a foundation of 1890. The club had great success in the early twentieth century with local star Dai 'Tarw' Jones captaining the club from 1905 to 1907. Jones gained recognition as a player in club, representative and international games. Most notably, Jones played an important part in the "Match of the century", when Wales defeated the New Zealand All Blacks. In 1907, Jones and