GOULD, ARTHUR JOSEPH (1864-1919), Rugby footballer

Born at Newport, Monmouthshire, 10 October 1864. One of a family of athletes and footballers, he was in first class football from 1882 till 1898, playing his first game for Newport, as a fullback, at the age of sixteen. He played in the Newport XV for three seasons as a full-back, and it was in that position he got his first ' cap ' for Wales. But it was as a centre three-quarter that he became famous. Between 1885 and 1897 he represented Wales on twenty-seven occasions.

Gould was gifted with tremendous speed and was always a prolific scorer and, for some time, held the record with forty-four tries in one season against the principal Welsh clubs. He played for Newport during the greatest part of his career, but he had also played for Richmond (1886-7) and Middlesex (1887-8). In his day Gould was also one of the greatest runners in Wales. He died 2 January 1919; to perpetuate his memory a memorial bed was endowed at the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport.

He had an elder brother ROBERT GOULD (1864? - 1932), a Rugby forward who played for Newport from 1879 to 1889, and represented Wales on eleven occasions between 1882 and 1887; he died 29 December 1932.

Sources

• W. J. T. Collins, Rugby Recollections (1948), 9-10
• The Times, 3 January 1919
• Western Mail, 3 January 1919

Further reading

• Carolyn Hitt, Arthur Gould, the first true celebrity face of Welsh rugby, Western Mail, 5 January 2019
• Wikipedia Article: Arthur Gould (rugby union)

Additional Links

• VIAF: 305410748
• Wikidata: Q1403116

Published date: 1959