RUGBY CLUBS

Blackheath F.C.

Blackheath s population grew markedly in the 1820s. Blackheath Proprietary School was founded in 1830 to provide a public school quality of education to local boys. The football team Old Blackheatheans F.C. was formed by former pupils in 1858. Initially, the side played on Blackheath Common. However, because of crowd behaviour it moved to Richardson's Field. The club accepted men who had been to other schools. There was a distinct element of former Rugbeians. In 1883 Rectory Field became its home ground.

C.B. Fry (1872-1956) was regarded as being the greatest all-round sportsman of his era. He played for the club

In 2016 Blackheath's training ground at Well Hall in Eltham became the club's home ground.

Website: https://blackhearugby.co.uk

Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club

Ealing F.C. played its first match on Ealing Common in 1869. In 1896 the investment banker Leopold de Rothschild (1845-1917) became the club's first president. He lived Gunnersbury Park, a substantial mansion that lies to the south of Ealing.

Over the years, Ealing has had numerous home grounds in West London. Legally, it is constituted as a mutual society.

Ealing were champions in the 2021-22 R.F.U. Championship. However, the club was denied promotion to Premiership Rugby because its home ground was regarded as having insufficient capacity.

Website: https://www.ealingtrailfinders.com

Harlequins F.C.

Hampstead Football Club was founded in 1866. However, the following its membership split into separate two clubs, the departing group becoming Wasps. These developed a strong rivalry with one another. Four years later Hampstead changed its name to Harlequins.

In 1877 Battersea Park-based Flamingoes F.C. disbanded. A number of its players joined Harlequins. In 1906 the Rugby Football Union invited the club to use the new Twickenham Stadium as its home ground.

In 1963 a fourteen-acre, former athletics ground that was also in Twickenham was acquired as a training ground. Subsequently, it was developed into the club's new home which was initially known as the Stoop Memorial Ground. Adrian Dura Stoop (1883-1957) was the Old Rugbeian son of a Dutchman who was a senior figure in the Shell oil company. He played for the club 182 times over the years 1901-1939 and won fifteen England caps. In 2005 the facility was renamed The Twickenham Stoop.

Website: https://www.quins.co.uk

London Irish R.F.C.

London Irish was founded in 1898 by Irishmen who were living in London.

In 1931 the club bought eleven acres in Sunbury-on-Thames. During the Second World War the ground was used to grow crops on. The club used Blackheath's Rectory Field home as an alternative. It returned in 1959.

In 1999 London Irish played at Harlequin's Stoop Memorial Stadium. Neither Richmond nor London Scottish had flourished in the new professional. Their professional aspects were merged into the club. The following year London Irish moved to the Madejski Stadium in Reading. In 2014 London Irish opened a 63-acre Hazlewood Centre training facility at Hazlewood in Sunbury. In 2020 it started using Brentford F.C.'s Gtech Community Stadium.

Website: https://www.london-irish.com https://www.hazelwood-centre.co.uk

London Scottish R.F.C.

Three members of the South London-based Scottish side St Andrew's Rovers F.C. decided that they wished to establish their own club. The idea was welcomed by members of the London Scottish Regiment. In 1878 a meeting was convened at the Scottish-run The Queen's Head (a.k.a. MacKay's Tavern) at No. 3 Water Lane, Blackfriars. The club s first home ground was Blackheath Common. Soon afterwards, it Richmond Cricket Club's Old Deer Park ground. In 1894 Richmond Athletic Ground became its home.

Following the start of the First World War in 1914, all of the club's 60 players enlisted. Fifteen of them survived the conflict. Of these, only one turned out for the side again. Mick Imlah's (1956-2009) poem London Scottish (2008) commemorated what had happened.¹

In 1996 London Scottish followed London Irish and London Welsh in opening itself to non-exile players. The club did not flourish in the first years of the new professional era. Its professional aspect, together that of Richmond, was merged into London Irish three years. It then started to rebuild itself from its amateur side.

¹. At the time of publication, the poet had motor neurone disease.

Website: https://londonscottish.com

London Welsh R.F.C.

London Welsh (Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was founded in 1885 by Welshmen who were living in London. The club had a peripatetic history during the first half of its existence. In 1957 it started playing at the Old Deer Park, Richmond. The 1960s were its peak era.

In 2012 London Welsh started playing its home games at Oxford United Stadium. Three years later it returned to the Park. In 2017 the club was disbanded.

Richmond F.C.

Richmond F.C. was founded in 1861. Despite not being a member of the Football Association, it fielded one of the sides that played in the first-ever football match to played under Football Association Rules.

In 1878 Richmond staged the first rugby fixture to be played under floodlights.

Historically, the club did not have a No. 13 jersey.

In 1996 Richmond was acquired by Ashley Levett, a Monaco-based metals trader. He made it the first U.K. club to operate on a professional. The club did not flourish in the new environment. Its professional aspect, together that of London Scottish, was merged into London Irish three years later. It then started to rebuild itself from its amateur side.

Website: https://www.richmondfc.co.uk

Rosslyn Park F.C.

In 1879 Charles Hoyer Millar proposed to a group of friends who played cricket in the grounds of Rosslyn House in Hampstead that they should form a rugby team as a means of keeping together during the winter. They set up Rosslyn Park Football Club. Its initial home ground was in South End Green. Subsequently, the team migrated to Gospel Oak, Acton, and the Old Deer Park in Richmond.

During the 1880s Rosslyn Park played its fixtures against first-rank team's second XVs. During the following decade its sometimes played the first XVs. In 1892 it beat Stade Fran ais in Paris thereby becoming the first English to play any international match. In 1909 Blackheath agreed to play regular home and away fixtures against the club. This marked its admission into the sport's front rank.

The annual Rosslyn Park Schools Seven Tournament was launched in 1939. In 1956 Rosslyn Park moved its home ground to Roehampton.

Website: https://rosslynpark.co.uk https://www.rpns7.co.uk

Saracens Rugby Club

Saracens was founded in 1876 by former pupils of the Philological School in Marylebone (later Marylebone Grammar School. The club name was chosen as a mark of respect to the Middle Eastern warriors of the 12C^th.¹ It played at various sites in and around Southgate.

In 1997 Saracens started playing at Vicarage Road, the home ground of the soccer side Watford Town. In 2012 the side moved to the Copthall Stadium in Hendon.

¹. One of the club's nicknames was to be the Fez Boys.

Website: https://saracens.com

Wasps R.F.C.

Hampstead Football Club was founded in 1866. However, the following its membership split into what became Wasps and Harlequins. The former was formally established at a meeting that convened at The Eton & Middlesex Tavern. The club's initial home was off the Finchley Road. It had a strong rivalry with Harlequins.

In 1871 Wasps should have been one of the founder members of the Rugby Football Union. However, its representative failed to make it to the meeting.

In 1923 Wasps moved its home ground to Repton Avenue.

In 1996 Wasps started playing its fixtures Loftus Road, the Shepherds Bush home of Queen's Park Rangers F.C.. Six years later the club left London, moving first to High Wycombe and then Coventry.

Website: https://www.wasps.co.uk

David Backhouse 2024