Arthur 'Monkey' Gould

Arthur (Monkey) Gould (centre/fullback). Born 10th Oct 1864 Newport. Called "Monkey" because of childhood passion of climbing trees. Played for Newport 1882-1898. He made debut as 18yr old on Nov 18th 1882 vs Weston Super mare at Rodney Parade(W 1g 2t to 0). His elder bother Bob had already played for Wales. Arthur had played a few games for the 3rd XV and was replacement for regular fullback. He ran in 2 tries with captain C H Newman shouting "kick, kick"! Most Welsh capped centre until Steve Fenwick (Bridgend) beat this at Lansdowne Rd on 15th March 1980. He played 27 times for Wales (2 at fullback / 25 at centre} - making debut vs England on 3rd Jan 1885 and ending also against England on 9thJan 1897 – the last game was played in front of 17,000 supporters at Rodney Parade and Wales won 11-0. It was 18th time Gould had captained Wales. Record stood until 1994 (Ieuan Evans).

No accurate records until 1886 but from 1887-1898 he scored 136 tries and dropped 42 goals.

        1891/2 : 7 dg / 31t……121pts        
        1892/3 : 4 dg / 37t……127pts
        1893/4 : 8 dg / 17t…….83pts
        1894/5 : 1 dg / 15t…….49pts
        1895/6 : 5 dg / 17t…….71pts
        1896/7 : 9 dg /  7t…….57pts   

NB : No records available for conversions and penalty goals.

Captained Wales 4 times in 1889 and 1890 but then spent year in West Indies. He returned to Newport for invincible 1891/2 season. In 1892/3 only 3 games were lost and he captained Newport in 1893/4 (L3) and 1894/5 (Lost only to Llanelli away 6-8). In 1896 he retired in his 30’s but was persuaded to return and in Jan 1897 he made his 27th appearance for Wales and captained them to victory vs England at Newport (W11-0). Superb all round player / even time sprinter with swerve, side step / kick with either foot. He never ceased to practise to develop his fitness and skills. The outstanding player of his time.

On Easter Monday 1897 Sir John Llewellyn, President of WRU presented him with title deeds of his house – Thornbury, Clytha Park. There is an Arthur Gould Memorial Bed in Royal Gwent : "To the memory of Arthur Gould – Greatest of Rugby Football Players".

Died 2nd Jan 1919 Age 54. Taken ill at work and rushed home. He died of internal haemorrhage and his funeral was reported as the biggest ever seen in Wales – until ca 30yrs later when David Lloyd George died. Buried at St Woolos Cemetery, Newport.

Brother Bob (forward) captained Newport 1886/7 and played 11 times for Wales – 1 as capt vs Scot 1887. Younger brother G H "Bert" (centre) played 3 times for Wales. Harry, Gus and Wyatt were the other 3 brothers to play for Newport. Wyatt captained Newport in 1905/6 and Harry was present in 1st season 1875/6. There was at least one of the 6 brothers in Newport’s team for first 29 seasons and Wyatt played until 1907 but not in 1904/5. Wyatt represented GB (400m hurdles) in Olympics at White City, London in 1908.