PONTYPOOL RFC have returned to using their original crest to mark the season-long celebration of the club's 150th anniversary.

Pooler have revived the badge that was associated with the club when they were in their pomp when Ray Prosser was at the helm and Charlie Faulkner, Graham Price and Bobby Windsor were in the front row.

The crest can be traced back to 1901 following the merger of 'Pontymoile Whitestars' and 'Pontypool Thursdays' in a meeting at Pontypool Town Hall, which resulted in the club being renamed Pontypool RFC.

It appeared on the red, white and black hooped jerseys for the first time in 1983 – when Pooler won the National Cup – but was replaced by the outgoing badge in 1991.

However, the decision has been made to return to the original emblem as Pontypool attempt to return to the Principality Premiership after two WRU National Championship triumphs on the spin.

Price is thrilled that Pooler will be wearing the same badge as he wore on his chest when taking on the touring All Blacks in 1989.

The legendary prop said: "I am delighted that the club has chosen to reintroduce the original crest and I consider it to be the perfect way to honour such an incredible milestone in the club's history.

"I have so many fond memories of representing the club all those years ago and the original crest was very much a symbol of the success we enjoyed throughout the eighties.

"The original crest was present for so many memorable occasions, but the two that stand out as the most significant was our National Cup victory against Swansea in 1983 and when we hosted the 'All Blacks' at Pontypool Park in 1989.

" The whole town literally turned out for the occasion that day and it was a real demonstration of the pride people felt towards Pontypool.

"I know that our diehard supporters who followed the club during this proud era will be particularly thrilled to see the original crest make its rightful return after all these years.

"Everything the crest represents in terms of our fearsome reputation for winning matches with grit and togetherness is being exuded so excellently by our current team and there is so much positivity surrounding the club at the moment.

"The club is well placed to achieve its objective of gaining promotion back to the Principality Premiership and knowing that they will continue this journey with the original crest fills me with an enormous amount of pride."

Pooler's rugby journey began in 1868 when the club originally known as Pontypool FC was formed.

Thirteen years later they joined 10 other clubs in forming the Welsh Rugby Union and Pontyool have won 43 major titles.

"We are so incredibly proud of our history at Pooler and as the club's 150th anniversary drew ever closer, we felt there was no better way to pay homage to the past by bringing back a true icon of Pontypool rugby," said chief executive officer, Ben Jeffreys.

"When we began mapping out the process for executing this rebrand successfully, we discovered so many historical artefacts of what the club has achieved – particularly throughout the eighties – and the original club crest was ever-present throughout it all.

"The rebrand is the culmination of over five months of painstaking attention to detail and we hope that the finished product demonstrates our deep-rooted respect for the contributions made by those who served the club so well before us.

"So many people have played their part in establishing Pontypool RFC as one of the great clubs in Welsh rugby history and we view re-introduction of the original crest as a celebration of the positive impact the club has made throughout the last 150 years."

Pooler will launch a special commemorative playing jersey ahead of their first pre-season friendly in August.