Arthur Joseph "Monkey" Gould (10 October 1864 – 2 January 1919) was a Welsh international rugby union player who was most associated as a club player with Newport Rugby Football Club. He won 27 caps for Wales, 18 as captain, and critics consider him the first superstar of Welsh rugby. A talented all-round player and champion sprinter, Gould could side-step and kick expertly with either foot. He never ceased practising to develop his fitness and skills, and on his death was described as "the most accomplished player of his generation".

Following the withdrawal of their regular fullback, Newport RFC first selected Gould in 1882, when he was 18. He was never dropped from the side thereafter and played regularly until he retired in 1898. Gould played for Newport during their "invincible" season of 1891–92, when they did not lose a match, and scored a record 37 tries in Newport's 24-game 1893–94 season, a club record that still stands. Gould frequently travelled due to his job as a public contractor, and consequently turned out for a number of other sides during his career, including the clubs Richmond and London Welsh, and the county side Middlesex.

Gould was first selected for Wales in 1885 when he played at fullback against England. He was awarded the captaincy in 1889, by which time he was playing at centre, and led Wales to their first Home Nations Championship and Triple Crown titles in 1893; that tournament's match against England established Gould as a great player and captain. By the time Gould retired he was the most capped Welsh centre, a record he held until 1980, with 25 caps in the position. He ended his international career against England on 9 January 1897. The game, played in front of 17,000 supporters at Rodney Parade, was Gould's 18th as Wales captain – a record eventually broken by Ieuan Evans in 1994.

Towards the end of his career, Gould was at the centre of a controversy known as the "Gould affair" that saw Wales withdraw from international rugby for a year. The controversy centred on the support of the Welsh Football Union (WFU) for a testimonial for Gould on his retirement. The English Rugby Football Union and International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) argued that the testimonial constituted professionalism – which they claimed breached the sport's by-laws. The WFU withdrew from the IRFB in protest, rejoining a year later under the IRFB-imposed condition that Gould would not represent Wales again. He worked as a brewery representative after retiring from rugby, and died of an internal haemorrhage in 1919 at the age of 54.

Family and early years Arthur Joseph Gould was born into a sporting family in Newport, Wales, on 10 October 1864 to Joseph and Elizabeth. His father, from Oxford, England, moved to Newport to find work, setting up his own brass foundry business. Joseph was also an ardent sportsman, playing for the local cricket team.

Gould's five brothers were all notable rugby players and athletes. His brother Bob was a forward who played 136 times for Newport Rugby Football Club, whom he captained in the 1886–87 season. Bob was also capped 11 times for Wales between 1882 and 1887, and captained his country once, versus Scotland in 1887. A younger brother, Bert, was a centre who played three times for Wales – he appeared with Gould in the Welsh team that won the Triple Crown for the first time in 1893. His other brothers – Harry, Gus and Wyatt – all played rugby for Newport. Wyatt captained Newport in 1905–06, and Harry played for them in their inaugural season of 1875–76. For the first 29 seasons of its existence, Newport RFC always had at least one of the Gould brothers in the team. Wyatt played for the club until 1907; he also ran the 400 m hurdles for Great Britain in the 1908 Summer Olympics.

The young Gould often climbed trees, and thus acquired the childhood nickname "Monkey", which was soon contracted by most to "Monk". Like his brother Wyatt, he was a keen athlete and made £1,000 during his years as a rugby player by entering track and field meets. A county champion sprinter and hurdler, Gould finished third in the Amateur Athletic Association 120-yard hurdles in 1887 and 1893.

Rugby career

Club and county history

At the age of 14 Gould captained the Newport Junior team, and later played a few games for the Third XV. Gould was drafted into the First XV – the senior team – as a fullback at the age of 18. On 18 November 1882 Newport had a home fixture against Weston-super-Mare at Rodney Parade. The Newport groundsman, John Butcher, had been sent by the club to collect the regular fullback who had not appeared for the game. Gould, who was returning from a youth match, saw Butcher outside the missing fullback's home and approached the groundsman to discover that the player was at a funeral. Butcher offered Gould the position instead, and then the groundsman successfully persuaded the club captain to play him. Gould ran in two of his team's three tries after disregarding the instructions of his captain, Charlie Newman, who kept shouting for Gould to "Kick, kick!" After this, he was not dropped by Newport until his retirement in 1898.

As rugby was then an exclusively amateur sport, Gould and his brother Bob travelled Britain working as public works contractors. During this time he entered open athletic meets and played for various English rugby teams including the Southampton Trojans, and from 1887 was a regular member of the London side Richmond. In 1885 Gould was invited to play for the newly formed Welsh exiles team London Welsh. London Scottish F.C. had been founded for Scottish players working or studying in the city, but until this time a London club for Welsh players had not existed. The side's first game, a trial match, was played on 21 October 1885 at Putney, and three days later the first team played London Scottish at the Saracens' Palmerston Road ground in Walthamstow. Gould played at half-back, and was joined in the team by Martyn Jordan, Thomas Judson, Rowley Thomas, Charles Taylor and T. Williams – all past or future Welsh internationals. During the 1885–86 season London Welsh were invited to form a combined "exiles" team with London Scottish, to face a London XV in a charity match at The Oval. Gould was one of six Welsh players selected to play in front of a crowd of 8,000 that included the Prince of Wales.

+Gould's scoring record at Newport 1891–97 Season Tries Drop goals Points1891–923171211892–9337 4 1271893–94178831894–95151 491895–96175 711896–9779 57 In the 1885–86 season he was moved up to play as a threequarter for Newport. As he was frequently travelling and playing in England between 1885 and 1890, Gould was not a regular member of the team. After playing just a handful games during the three seasons preceding it, in the 1889–90 season he managed 15 games for the club – scoring ten tries and five dropped goals.

In June 1890 Gould left Britain to complete a works contract in the West Indies, but returned to Newport in time for the 1891–92 season. Newport were unbeaten throughout that campaign, which was later dubbed their "invincible" season. Gould captained Newport between 1893–94, when the team lost only three games, and in the 1894–95 season, in which the club lost only to Llanelli. During his first period as captain, 1893–94, Gould scored 37 tries in 24 games, a club record that still stands as of 2013. Although records before 1886 are incomplete, Newport RFC acknowledge Gould's scoring record at the club between the 1882–83 and 1898–99 seasons as 159 tries, 66 conversions, 61 dropped goals and a single penalty, over 231 appearances.

Gould also turned out for the Middlesex county side, and was a mainstay during their "invincible" season of 1887–88. He also played for them against the New Zealand Native team in 1888. The match, hosted by the Earl of Sheffield, was an invitation only event. The Middlesex side won 9–0, and scored three tries in the match, the second one resulting from a smart pass by Gould. In addition to Gould, the Middlesex backline of the time regularly fielded a number of English and Scottish internationals – this earned the side the sarcastic nickname "the Imperial team".

International career

1885–89 Gould was first capped for Wales against England in the opening game of the 1885 Home Nations Championship. He joined his brother Bob in the side, and played at fullback, his preferred position at the time. Played under the captaincy of Newport teammate Charlie Newman, this was Wales' eighth-ever international and fourth encounter with England. The Welsh lost by a goal and a try to a goal and four tries. Wing Martyn Jordan of London Welsh scored both Welsh tries, with one successfully converted into a goal. Some accounts award the conversion to Charles Taylor, though it is now generally credited to Gould. Gould was selected for the second game of the tournament, an away draw to Scotland, in which both teams played a pair of brothers; George and Richard Maitland for Scotland, and Arthur and Bob Gould for Wales.

By 1886 the four threequarter system had spread throughout Wales. First instituted by Cardiff RFC in 1884, the system was designed to allow Cardiff centres Frank Hancock and Tom Williams to play at the same time, and involved dropping the ninth forward to include a second centre. Newport were reluctant to adopt this style of play, mainly due to Gould's excellent kicking and covering abilities, which allowed the club to continue with the advantage of the extra forward.

For the 1885–86 season Gould switched from fullback at Newport to the centre position; this tactic was adopted by Wales and Gould replaced Cardiff's Hancock at centre for their first match of the 1886 Home Nations Championship against England. The match resulted in a Welsh loss. In Wales' next game, against Scotland, Wales became the first country to trial the four threequarter system. They did this by bringing back Hancock as captain and having him play at centre alongside Gould. The experiment was a tactical disaster – the eight Welsh forwards struggled against the nine Scottish forwards. Hancock duly regrouped the team at half-time and readopted the standard formation, bringing Harry Bowen from fullback into the pack, and pushing Gould from centre into Bowen's vacant position. Wales lost by two goals to nil, the system was deemed a failure and Hancock never represented Wales again. The whole affair had a negative effect on Gould, who initially disliked the strategy, stating that he was "prejudiced against the four three-quarters." Gould even went as far as persuading the Welsh selectors to revert to the old formation. The next time Wales trialled the system was in the 1888 encounter with the touring New Zealand Natives, a match in which Gould was unavailable to play.