A brief history of Colwyn Bay
08-Jan-2006
The Rhos ground and the Wooller family are closely linked as it
was Wilf Wooller who was instrumental in taking first-class
cricket to the ground his father helped to found in 1924.
Indeed, it was the actions of Wilf Wooller senior that led to the
ground being laid out in a field off Penrhyn Avenue, near the
seafront at Rhos-on-Sea , and within many decent club cricketers
having moved to the area from Manchester and Liverpool, it wasn't
long before the Colwyn club became successful. The legendary
Sydney Barnes also lived in the area, and he acted as a coach in
the nets in the 1920's.
The Colwyn club therefore soon became successful, and in 1929 the
ground hosted Wales' game with the South Africans. In 1930
Denbighshire entered the Minor County Championship and they also
used the Rhos ground for their home fixtures. During the Second
World War, the Club also hosted a number of fund raising games
for the War Effort, and with a further influx of good players
from the cities of North-West England, the Colwyn club went from
strength to strength.
These wartime friendlies were well attended, so when Wilf Wooller
became Glamorgan captain in 1947 he organised a short tour to
North Wales which would help to boost the club's support and fly
the flag in the North. The tour, at the end of August, included
two day games against Sir Learie Constantine's XI and a North
Wales XI. During the next few years, another series of
exhibition and Benefit games were held at the ground, including a
match in 1955 between R.W.V.Robin's XI and Vinoo Mankad's Indian
XI and as a result of the success of these games, the club spend
money on various ground improvements, including an extended
pavilion and dressing room area.
By the 1960's, the Rhos club were holding a Cricket Festival,
attracting top playerts from the Lancashire Leagues, during the
peak holiday period in August. The success of these games led
Wilf Wooller into considering the viability of county games at
the seaside ground, and in 1966 the Rhos ground staged
Glamorgan's Championship match with Derbyshire. Over 4,000
people attended the game, so in the period up until 1974 the
ground staged either an Annual Champioship game, or a Sunday
League fixture.
Taking cricket to the North was quite expensive, so when the
club's finances started to shrink during the mid 1970's, Colwyn
Bay was deleted from the county's calendar, although it continued
to host Benefit and exhibition games, including the 1984 West
Indians match against the League Cricket Conference. These games
continued to be well attended, so when a sponsorship package was
offered to the county, they agreed to return to the North in 1990
for their Champioship and Sunday League fixture with Lancashire.
This became a regular fixture until 1995, as Glamorgan began
investing in a club base at Cardiff, and it now seems likely that
the Colwyn Bay ground will alterante with Abergavenny on the
county's calendar. In the past few years, the ground has also
hosted several of Wales Minor Counties' fixtures, and in 1996 a
new extended Pavilion was opened by a game involving a Glamorgan
Past and Present XI.