As the club reached its 50th birthday it published, NEWPORT ATHLETIC CLUB The Record of half a Century 1875-1925, which was compiled from various sources and edited by W. J. Townsend Collins, who was popularly known as Dromio. The book was printed and produced by Sims and Son.
The Foreword to the book, reproduced below, set the scene for the establishment of the club as then understood, and was followed by chapters relating to the various sports that were undertaken at Newport Athletic Club.
FOREWORD
FROM what root grew that wide-spreading tree which to-day we call Newport Athletic Club? That was a question which had to be answered before there could be a Jubilee celebration. If a story has to be told, where shall we begin? The Club encourages and caters for running, gymnastics, bowls, hockey, cricket, football, lawn-tennis, and cycling, to place them in their probable order of antiquity; there are records which show that cricket and football were practised at Newport before 1870; and no doubt bowls and the ancient game of tennis had been played at Newport from the earliest times. But this is the history of Newport Athletic Club, not of athletics in Newport. And when the question of a Jubilee celebration was discussed tne difficulty was to decide what was the real starting point of the Club - the root from which it sprang, the beginning of its active corporate life. Two points were clearly established: football of a kind was played at Newport in the sixties; and the Cricket Club, which became a section of the Athletic Club, was in existence before 1874-5. An effort has been made to trace the earliest history of cricket in Newport. So far as we have been able to find, the earliest record of a cricket match played by Newport is that given in The Monmouthshire Merlin for July 23, 1836, when Newport played Pontypool at Ragland and were beaten. It is evident from the report that actual clubs were in existence in both Newport and Pontypool; even earlier there was a Monmouthshire Club, and we find in the same paper for August 28, 1830, a record of a victory by the Monmouthshire Club over Clifton. Clearly there was a Monmouthshire Cricket Club, for they were summoned to a meeting at Ragland for May 5, 1831. From a record in the possession of Newport Free Library it appears that there was a Newport club in existence in 1854, for, though the record is that of 1856, the accounts show that during the previous season the Club had paid the rent of their field for 1854 and the cost of a scoring book for the same season. Obviously, therefore, Newport cricket dates back to 1836 or earlier. Newport Cricket Club came to grief about 1867, and the Victoria Club was founded. They played on the Marshes, and later took the old name, but it has been impossible to obtain the exact date when this change was made. It is claimed by some that the Victoria Club became Newport Cricket Club before the meeting at which the Football Club was founded in September, 1874. There is a newspaper record of a meeting held in May, 1874, at which it was decided to hold athletic sports, but there is no reference in the report to either cricket or football, though some who were present say that it was decided to include both. The old cricketers regarded themselves as the founders of the Athletic Club. The one certain and material point is that the Football Club and the Cricket Club were independent organisations, and that a time came when they amalgamated to form the Athletic Club. The Cricket Clubs continuous life may have begun earlier than the Football Clubs; but whatever the cricket history of Newport may be, Newport Athletic Club in fact became what it is because of the success of Newport Rugby football - the increasing popularity of the Rugby game and the strength of the club which fostered it led to the absorption of the older cricket club and the realisation of the ideal of a club to encourage and provide for all branches of amateur athletics.
So, at a meeting held early in 1925, it was decided to regard the founding of Newport Rugby Football Club as the beginning of Newport Athletic Club, and at the same time it was decided to regard the match between Newport and Cardiff played on April 4 as the Jubilee match of the Newport Club. Therefore, this Jubilee Record of Newport Athletic Club deals with the fifty years between April, 1875, and the end of April, 1925.
The book concluded with a note on The Acquisition of the Ground:
It has been recorded that Newport Athletic Ground began with the laying out of a portion of Oliver's Nursery between Rodney Parade and the old Rope Walk. In course of time the Salt Pool beyond {the old brick pond) was filled, and the football ground was constructed. Then in the early 'nineties the Ballast Bank was levelled and the cricket ground was made. In turn the gymnasium and the old offices, the various stands, the cricket pavilions, the bowls pavilion, and the new offices were erected; and the whole was held on lease, at a mere recognition rent, from the Tredegar Estate. But the Club recognised how important it was that possession of the ground should be assured, and in January, 1923, they agreed to purchase the freehold of the whole of the Club premises at the extremely moderate price of £7,026 12s. od. The purchase was completed in June, and so the Club own 15½ acres in the very heart of the town and all the buildings which have been erected for Club purposes. In 1923 also new entrance gates were erected as a Club War Memorial, with the names of the members of the Club who died in the war set out on bronze plates on the pillars. The contract for the new grand-stand of reinforced concrete and steel was let to an old footballer and bowls captain, Mr. F. C. Parfitt. Seating accommodation was provided for 2,150, covered accommodation was provided on terracing in front of the grand-stand for 4,000 people, and certain other works so increased the accommodation of the ground that it was estimated that there would be ample room for over 20,000 spectators. The stand was fomally opened on the occasion of the match with Cardiff on October 6, 1923 ; and that the original estimate of the capacity of the ground was a moderate one was proved when 28,000 people witnessed the match between Newport and New Zealand on October 2, 1924.