Black and Ambers greats inducted into Newport hall of fame

Roger Bidgood, Gordon Britton, Sven Cronk, Ken Davies, Tom England, Del Haines, Jerry Shea and Geoff Whitson were added to the list of Newport icons.

Centre Bidgood joined from Pontypool in 1990 and went on to make 94 appearances over four seasons with his exploits earning five caps.

Britton, from Risca, played from 1959 to 1969 a wing, centre and full-back, making 212 appearances and being a member of the side that drew with Australia in 1966. He was capped against Scotland in 1961.

Cronk enjoyed two spells at Rodney Parade with the prop from Machen racking up 183 outings and captaining the club.

After hanging up his boots the front rower joined the management team and was head coach when the Black and Ambers claimed some notable British and Irish Cup scalps.

Davies scored 111 tries in 217 appearances with the 'Flying Farmer' from Abergavenny winning the WRU National Cup with the famous win against Cardiff in 1977.

Full-back England played for the club between 1888 and 1895, kicking 48 conversions in the invincibles season of 1891/2.

Haines joined Newport in 1996 as a centre but was soon moved to flanker where he enjoyed great success as a member of the championship-winning team of 1968/9 and helped beat the Springboks in 1969. He made 220 appearances in black and amber.

Shea played two years for Newport before he was signed by Wigan for £700 in December, 1921. He made 75 appearances for the club after moving from Pill Harriers and won four caps – scoring a full house against England at St Helens.

Whitson joined Newport in 1954 as a winger before moving to flank forward where he joined forces with Leighton Jenkins and Doug Ackerman.

He was capped against France in 1956 and beat the Aussies with the Black and Ambers in 1957.

The event was organised by the Friends of Newport Rugby Trust, go to fonr.co.uk for more information about how to help their efforts to support the sport in the city.