Monday 22 February 2010

The history of Twickenham - Rugby

Twickenham RFC is one of the places that can trace its roots all the way back to the beginning of rugby. The clubs heritage goes back as far as 1867 when the members of Wellesley House were playing rugby football against their rivals, Richmond. Here in this article we shall look briefly at the history behind Twickenham rugby and how it has become the big prestigious club we know today.

In 1873 the Twickenham Football Club's members consisted of memberships from the older men that had played in the Wellesley House academy which had closed at this point. The fixture with Richmond was continued and an exciting advert appeared shortly after in the local press, advertising for boys under seventeen, 'the son's to gentleman only' to form a boy's football club.

Reports in the press began to emerge about Twickenham rugby sides, known as Twickenham 'Proper' and Twickenham 'Seconds' and the 'Lightweights' who were all playing to rugby rules. Reports of these matches continued to appear within the press until 1884, where they suddenly stopped. The Twickenham rugby tradition was to be then carried on by the Young Man's Friendly Society toward the end of the decade. The team known as Twickenham FC played at least two games in 1889 under this new name.

The records for rugby then are patchy until 1893 when a meeting for local footballers was held in a local pub near Twickenham Green. The point of this meeting was to re-form the Twickenham football club, clarifying which rules were to be followed, association or rugby. The vote was that rugby football rules were to be followed on the pitch. The decision to then wear black jerseys with a white TFC was also then agreed. A photograph of this very team still exists today and is Twickenham's oldest artefact of the rugby club. The next year the team's colours were changed to red and black, which they remain today.

At the turn of the century the team had become good enough to play most of the senior clubs and were offering players for the Middlesex team. Originally they all played on Twickenham Green before the magnificent stadium we know today. Watching Twickenham rugby is an experience that every rugby fan should try at some point in their life. Twickenham hosts a range of hospitality packages and stadium tours are available for those that want to find out that little bit more about this historic club.

Dominic Donaldson is an expert in sport.
Find out more about Twickenham Rugby and how the services available can offer hospitality packages at this prestigous rugby club.

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