In late April 1911, the Monmouthshire Evening Post reported on a charity game held at Rodney Parade. A “Married” team was turned out in a variety of shirts owned by the side’s skipper, Charlie Pritchard. A fixture in the fearsome Newport side for the first decade of the twentieth century, Charlie was a core forward in the Welsh pre-First World War “Golden Age” side. Most famously, he was many pundits’ choice as “Man of the Match” on that famous day in December 1905 when Wales beat the All Blacks. He is sat in the centre of the shot, the ball resting on his bandaged knee, his gentle gaze fixed on the camera. He is proudly wearing an All Black shirt. On his left is another Newport legend, George Boots, who is wearing an Anglo-Welsh touring shirt from 1908. Two to his right is Jehoida Hodges, sporting a Springbok shirt from their very first tour in 1906. There are also shirts from Australia (again, the Wallabies’ first ever tour in 1908), each of the Home nations, an Ulster shirt and from club sides such as Cardiff and Watsonians. To see Charlie’s collection of shirts is to see a potted history of the growth of the game.
