The Mid-Rhondda Athletic Ground was officially opened on Easter Monday, 1903. Built by the Mid-Rhondda Athletic Company at a cost of £3,000, it was the home of Rhondda's first rugby league side, Mid-Rhondda Rugby League Football Club from 1908. The ground became the famous home of Mid-Rhondda FC in 1912 after the rugby league club made the switch to association football. Whilst still a rugby league venue, the ground hosted the first rugby league international between England and Wales on 7 April 1908. Improvements to the ground after the switch to football included a new stand, gymnasium and press box in 1920. Following the demise of Mid-Rhondda in the mid-1920s, the ground lay unused until the Rhondda Urban District Council municipalised it in 1933. They levelled off the banks of the cycle track with a view to using the ground as a more general play area. Plans were put forward for the provision of tennis courts but these were shelved in order to meet the financial restrictions of the 1930s.
