Under a variety of names, and in a number of different kits, Cardiff Rugby has a history of change since the club was formed over 130 years ago.
It is widely accepted that Cardiff Rugby Football Club (or Cardiff Football Club, as it was known in those days) was formed during a meeting at the Swiss Hall, Queen Street, Cardiff on Friday, 22nd September, 1876, by the amalgamation of two local clubs Glamorgan Football Club and The Wanderers. However, David Parry Jones' excellent volume Taff's Acre does suggest that the amalgamation included another Cardiff club, Tredegarville.
The first shirt worn by the players was all black with large white skull and crossbones emblazoned on the front and during this season the club had the nickname "The Pirates". This shirt only lasted for the first season, however, as the parents of the young men playing objected to their sons wearing such inappropriate emblems. A change was made for Season Two, 1877-78, to Blue & Black stripes, when T. W. Rees, a Cambridge College student, was seen wearing them.
After a fairly inauspicious start, this 25 year period would see Cardiff RFC ...
During this period, season 1885-86 saw Cardiff P:27, W:26, L:1, F:533, A:18. The captain was F. E. Hancock, who was so dedicated to a running game that Cardiff neither dropped a goal nor kicked a penalty but scored only tries - 131 in total, with only 4 against, 2 by Gloucester and 2 by Moseley, in the only defeat of the season, which was also the last game played. In addition, this period also saw the second, or "Rags" side formed (1879-80).