"BRIAN J.JONES Chairman of Newport R.F.C."
"As a former Crawshay player I am privileged as Chairman of Newport Rugby Football Club to extend a very warm and sincere welcome to the Team and Officials of the Crawshay Welsh XV, for this Special Match to help celebrate the Club's Centenary Season."
"We are delighted that this team founded in 1922 by the late Captain Geoffrey Crawshay, and now under Colonel Sir William Crawshay, have agreed to visit us and pay tribute to the great contribution 'Black and Amber' men have made to their outstanding history."
"It would be difficult for me to name all the 'Black and Amber' men with strong Crawshay links, but I am certain that they will all understand if I only mention the late Major Tommy Vile and the late Bill Everson. These two men whose contribution to Newport, Crawshay and Welsh rugby was immeasurable, ensured that the Crawshay XV continued on the death of the 'Captain' in 1954. So all those players who have worn the maroon jersey emblazoned with the leek motif since that date have a great deal to thank those two men for."
"I am certain that this evening's game will be a credit to both sides and bring pleasure to players and spectators alike."
"CRAWSHAY'S WELSH RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB 1922"
"Congratulations Newport on the Celebration of your Centenary! We are proud indeed to be invited to Rodney Parade as a part of these celebrations. In 1922 when Captain Geoffrey Crawshay took his first "Welsh XV" into the West Country there were three Newport players in the party, Harry Uzzell, Reg Plummer and Herbert Wreford. Newport have continued to supply players and officials to our club down the ages. Rodney Parade is our close-season resting place for the kit and even our finances are guarded by two friendly Newport auditors! We are forever grateful for all this, as indeed, we are for the help given by all the other clubs in the principality."
"We have a number of great Crawshay characters watching the game tonight, maybe two of them who actually played in the first game in 1922. I refer to Colonel Harold Giles, now in his eighties and who still likes coming on tour, and His Honour Judge Rowe Harding, a loveable character whose record on and off the field speaks for itself and whose guidance after the death of Captain Crawshay was inestimable. Newport's own Harold Davies went on the 1924 tour and like the others has endeared himself to everybody now wearing the Crawshay tie."
"For faithfulness to a club I could couple Harold Davies' name with that of the late Bill Everson, whom as a player in the thirties and Geoffrey Crawshay's assistant-par-excellence in the dangerous 1950's, when this famous club might easily have gone out of existence. We in the Crawshay Club mourned Bill Everson's untimely end. He was everything that rugby football and Geoffrey Crawshay stood for - "Friendship between clubs and Players". "
"It all started at the Guards Depot at Caterham in 1922. Captain Crawshay was there as a Company Commander of the Welsh Guards, and this great lover of Wales, later to become Herald Bard, and a patron of Welsh Art and Music, decided to form a team bearing his name drawn from the Welsh Clubs, to foster a spirit of friendship between them in place of the bitter rivalry which at that time was rife in Wales. Who in this knowledgeable crowd tonight would deny that this has happened? The Crawshay tradition continues, whether on tour in the West Country, in games against our leading public schools, Llandovery, Brecon and Monmouth, or in Centenary Celebrations such as this one tonight. Look around in your clubhouse or in those up the valleys or in the west and see how many Crawshay ties are sported, whether striped or crested."
"I wish space permitted mention of all the illustrious names of Newport's "Crawshay's Boys!", but I have room for only a few who as players, administrators or comedians have maintained the Crawshay tradition over the years. All have been players, Bobbie Owen, Doug Ackerman, Harry Morgan, Angus Evans and Tom Baxter-Wright have been administrators, Albert Fear, Jack Knowles and Bob Hughes the comedians. I must make special mention of your chairman, Brian Jones, who, playing against his old team for Devonport Services in 1957, gave us the biggest thrashing in our history, 21 points to nil, one of only twelve games lost in the West Country."
"Geoffrey Crawshay said in one of his last rugby speeches ..."
"From quiet homes and first beginnings
Unto the undiscovered end.
There's nothing worth the wear of winning
But laughter and the love of friends"
"Think about it! How true! This is a truly great game we play . . . let's keep it that way."
"BIRTHDAY GREETINGS AND CONGRATULATIONS"
"from the South African Rugby Football Union, Capetown"
"On behalf of the South African Rugby Board and all rugby followers of my country, we wish to extend to the Newport Rugby Club our congratulations on this milestone they have reached in their history and all wish them well for the next hundred years."
"Newport, to all South Africans, has become a household word. Firstly, because of the very hard games our Springboks always have had against this famous Club, for the narrow victories we have celebrated and even for the defeat which cost us our Springbok head. We, therefore, have the greatest respect and admiration for this Club."
"The second reason why we honour it, is because of the great personalities your Club has given to the rugby world. I know that these personalities will be dealt with in your brochures or books, but I would like to mention one who meant so much because of his rugby wisdom to me and to many Springbok teams, namely Tommy Vile, who not only was a grand player, an outstanding referee, but an outstanding man."
"We also honour the Newport Rugby Club because of its contribution towards the evolution of this game. We realise that rugby would have been poorer if it was not for this contribution, and we believe that contributions do not cease when a Club is dynamic as Newport has always been."
"We are also proud of the fact that we have had more associations with Newport than the mere playing of matches. Several of your players have come to this country and have played for some of our teams. It is perhaps not known, but one of your players, Lt. J. E. C. Partridge, after the Anglo Boer war, remained here for a while, and shortly after the smoke of cannons and rifles had cleared up in that war, played for South Africa, and as such, became one of our Springboks. This is the spirit of rugby - notwithstanding wars, rugby relationships stand out and everything is forgotten when it comes to this wonderful game."
"Thanks, Newport, for everything, but thanks also for giving us the Springbok, who helped to lay the foundations of the game in this country and of our attitude towards the game, the countries in which it is played and the clubs in those countries."
"Dr. Danie H. Craven"
"President S.A.R.F.U."
"BIRTHDAY GREETINGS AND CONGRATULATIONS"
"from the Australian Rugby Football Union, Sydney"
"To the President and Members of the Newport Athletic Club - It is with particular pleasure that the President and members of the Australian Rugby Football Union extend congratulations to you all on the occasion of your Rugby Centenary this year because Australia has always enjoyed a strong Rugby relationship with Wales and with Welsh clubs, and our players have fond memories of many a memorable match and many a happy melodious evening in clubs throughout your country."
"Our current President, Mr. Bill McLaughlin, has this type of memory from the 1966/67 tour by Australia when he was manager of the touring team. He clearly recalls the high standard of Rugby played by your club over the years, particularly against teams from the "down under" countries."
"The ability of your club to maintain this standard of play and this type of association augurs well for your future activities and we wish you many more years of happy Rugby."
"From the pen of a staunch supporter of the Game in Australia comes the following tribute. This piece of Welsh prose should assist in the consummation of our feelings."
"LLONGYFARCHIADAU AR CYRAEDD EICH CAN MLYNEDD ODDIWRTH CLWBIAU RYGBI AWSTRALIA. YR YDYM YN GOBEITHIO FYDDWCH YN MEDRU CHWARAE'R AIL CAN MLYNEDD YN YR UN YSBRUD AC EFELLAU ENILL UN NEU DAU-OND DIM GOBAITH ERBYN AWSTRALIA - CASNEWYDD A AWSTRALIA AM BYTH POB HWYL" [Ed. some Welsh spelling corrected]
"Congratulations on reaching your Hundredth Birthday from the Rugby Clubs of Australia. We hope that you will play the second hundred in the same spirit and perhaps win one or two, but I hope not against Australia. Newport and Australia for ever,"
"Best Wishes,"
"WALLACE W. MCQUEEN"
"Secretary A.R.F.U."
"BIRTHDAY GREETINGS AND CONGRATULATIONS"
"from the Canadian Rugby Union, Toronto"
"Congratulations from the Canadian Rugby Union on achieving your Centenary. The first hundred years are always the hardest."
"We in Canada have happy memories of Rodney Parade as Canada must be, perhaps, the only team to enjoy an undefeated, untied record at your ground. Mind you, this magnificent feat was achieved in only one game and we have yet to face the might of Newport."
"We have had close ties with Welsh Rugby especially in the last three or four years and consequently the name and reputation of the Newport Rugby Football Club is well known and highly regarded in Canada."
"May your second century be as successful as your first."
"R.W. ELDER"
"Acting President, C.R.U."
"THE HAPPIEST TOURING TEAM"
"By J. B. G. Thomas, Sports Editor, Western Mail"
"If you have not been fortunate enough to have made a tour with Crawshay's Welsh XV, you have never really toured. This is the opinion of all playing members, former players, officials and vice presidents, and when you inspect the list of members it represents most of the people who matter in Welsh rugby. It is a club without a home although one would suggest that Llanfair Court is the place where the "holy grail" is preserved."
"It was there that the late Captain Geoffrey Crawshay lived and wore the first symbol of the Club, the "magic cloak of green", and it is there that the memorial arch to the great man is sited as a tribute to what he did for public life, the services, rugby football and, especially, Crawshay's Club."
"It all began in 1922 when Commander Sydney Cooper, then secretary of Devon-port Services and later secretary of the R.F.U., invited Captain Crawshay to take a side to play a Services XV at Devonport and, despite the fact that the legendary Davies and Kershaw played for the Services that day, the match was drawn and the ideal touring club was born."
"In that first side were Harry Uzzell, Reg Plummer and Herbert Wreford of Newport, supported by Steve Morris (Cross Keys), Clem Lewis (Cardiff) and Rowe Harding of Swansea. So Newport played an important part in the launching and has remained closely associated with the Club through its 52 years of life; and did much to revive the Club after World War II."
"The list of Newport men who have helped Crawshay's, on and off the field, is a long one and no-one did more than Tommy Vile, who was a player with them in 1923 and 1924 and then toured through the 1950's as a senior adviser."
"Bill Everson was another, starting in the 1930's as a player and then through the 1950's when the "revival" took place since, as secretary of the Newport Club, he never allowed the touring team to travel "short" of a player. Nick Carter has been equally kind while those younger Newport men, Bobby Owen, Doug Ackerman, Harry Morgan, Brian Jones and Tom Baxter-Wright gave invaluable help to Wilfred Jones as he did the "admin" work. Again, those amusing "twins" Albert Fear and Jack Knowles, who wielded the "knife" so efficiently at initiation ceremonies, and Jack the pianist and Albert the touch judge. I have never heard or seen better on any tour!"
"I recall the "Big Five" of Crawshay's in the 1930's, all delightful leaders with a superb sense of humour and blessed with a sporting dignity that gave pride to the team . . . Dai Jones, Dai Hiddlestone, Herbert Wreford, Lt. Col. Giles and the "Prince", Captain Crawshay. Wreford wrote the now famous team song while someone in Newport composed the music, and there are no truer words for members than, "We're in his team for life!"."
"To be a member is a privilege and a pleasure, and of all the tours I have made with rugby teams, none have proved better than a trip with Crawshay's, as it is the only tour I know where the players, bless 'em all, look after the committee! The present leaders of the Club, Colonel Sir William Crawshay (President), Arthur Rees (chairman), Vivian Jenkins (vice-chairman), and Doug Ackerman (hon. secretary), with Lord Brecon as patron, represent all that is good and happy in the game."
"As a Crawshay's man, I feel sure all members will join in wishing Newport "Happy Anniversary", coupled with sincere thanks for the help given freely, along the road. On with the Game . ."