The club have issued an apology to fans after they were denied the opportunity to witness a “special moment”
Maesteg RFC have issued an apology to their fans after they were unable to lift the league trophy on Saturday after sealing the Division Four West Central title.
The club came out on top at the Bandstand, beating Bridgend Sports 38-7 to seal the title and secure their place in Division Three next season. However, despite being their last game of the season, they were unable to lift any silverware in front of their supporters due to what they say is a new Welsh Rugby Union policy.
Their victory this weekend moved them nine points clear of second-place Bonymaen Athletic, although Bonymaen still have one more game to play. It was that fixture next weekend, when Bonymaen host Bridgend Sports, that seemingly meant Maesteg couldn’t celebrate with a trophy on Saturday.
While Maesteg headed into the game needing just one point to seal the title, they say they were told that they would not receive the trophy for their clash with Bridgend due to the league title not being “100% guaranteed” prior to the game kicking off.
The club’s committee have now apologised to players, coaches and travelling supporters in a statement after they were denied the opportunity to celebrate in full and witness a “special moment” for the club.
Maesteg secretary Darren Farmer told WalesOnline that he had even offered to drive the trophy to Bonymaen himself next weekend in the event of them pipping his side to the title, but this was also turned down.
“We had played our penultimate game six weeks ago and always knew we just needed one point to win the title,” he said.
“I was very confident that we would do it given our form this season, but the WRU insisted that, as there was a small chance we wouldn’t do it, it would be a waste of time and money if we didn’t end up securing the title.”
Maesteg will now be presented with the trophy at their own ground next weekend, after playing Tonna RFC in the District Trophy final at Kenfig Hill RFC. There is therefore potential for the team to lift two pieces of silverware in the same afternoon but, regardless of the result in that game, the team will head back to Maesteg to receive the league trophy in their full kit.
In a statement to fans over the weekend, the club’s committee wrote: “Firstly, thank you to our supporters who turned out this afternoon to see our win at Bridgend Sports and finally secure the Division Four West Central title.
“Apologies to our players and coaches that they could not receive the league trophy at the conclusion of today’s game when we were declared the league winners, to celebrate what has been a very successful season and one in which you have put so much effort into making it successful.
“Also, apologies to our many travelling supporters that they were not able to join us and witness this special moment. We, as a club, tried very hard to arrange the trophy to be presented today, however the WRU refused to do so.
“We must thank our district representatives, Steve Owen, Kerry Frey and Steve Powell, for their support in trying to get the trophy available today to be presented if we were declared league winners.”
“However, the senior WRU management refused due to a new policy they have in place,” the statement continued.
“This new policy states that the league title must be 100% guaranteed to be won by a club prior to the game kicking off to receive the trophy on a specific day, even if it is the last league game of the season.
“Now that we are league champions, we will liaise with the WRU to arrange the presentation of the trophy at a later date. When this is arranged, we will communicate this to everyone so we can celebrate this achievement together.
“Thank you again to everyone for the effort and support in making 2025/26 a successful league campaign.”