Under rugby union rules, players were not even allowed to accept trivial monies such as travelling expenses, or be found guilt of professionalism and suspended, or more likely banned from the sport for life.

[3] Rees made three claims in the local press, firstly that all players at his former club were receiving hidden wages, secondly that Aberdare had received a payment of £15 from rivals Treorchy to throw a crucial League match,[4] and finally that Merthyr Alexandria had demanded a payment of £7 5s to bring his team to play Aberdare.

The reason for the leniency shown to Merthyr is thought to have been connected to the club's apparent move to the professional Northern code.

[1] Although the motion was heavily defeated, the week after the AGM it was reported that fixtures had been arranged, players signed and guarantors found for a new 'professional rugby club' in the town.

It was therefore believed the WRU did not suspend or punish Merthyr Alexandria to prevent the squad converting to the newly formed league team.

In similar circumstances the Northern Union chose another venue where professional sympathies lay, this time Tonypandy in the Rhondda Valley.

The sixth and final Welsh team, Barry, joined at the same time, and they played their first match in September, against Treherbert.

The new clubs faced hostility from the rugby union scene, class prejudice and the rise of a more popular professional game, association football.

Between the six clubs competing only one Welsh rugby union international was signed to their books, and that was Merthyr's Dai "Tarw" Jones.

[12] The Northern Union also showed little support in helping the new clubs cope with the challenges of professionalism, and few questions were asked about the background of the people running each business.

[5] By 1910, Merthyr's administration was described as shambolic with no one appearing to be running the club; while financially it was reliant on unsecured loans that helped precipitate its rapid demise.

One commentator stated, 'if the game there [South Wales] cannot be made self-supporting, clubs in the north should not be taxed to make good its weakness.

'[12] When Tom Thomas failed to settle in Wigan, his club placed a hefty £60 fee on his head to transfer back to Wales.

[5] Merthyr raised the fee with great difficulty, and although it made good business sense for Wigan to get the best price for a player of little future use to them, it was the sort of short-sightedness that damaged the sport in Wales.

[13] The first Welsh League tournament was contested between Aberdare, Barry, Ebbw Vale, Merthyr Tydfil, Mid-Rhondda and Treherbert.