| Full name | Addison Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Union | RFU | |
| Founded | 1869 [1] | |
| Disbanded | 1875 [1] | |
| Location | Kensington, Shepherd's Bush England | |
| Ground(s) | Wormwood Scrubs | |
| ||
Addison was a 19th-century football club that played football by the rugby football codes. It is notable for being one of the twenty-one founding members of the Rugby Football Union.
Addison was established in 1869 with about fifty members. It fielded two teams of twenty aside for rugby matches. The derivation of the club's name is due to the club's origins in the part of Kensington to the west of Holland Park where the streets are named after the politician Joseph Addison. The team's colours were blue and black. [1]
On 26 January 1871, they sent representation to a meeting of twenty-one London and suburban football clubs that followed Rugby School rules (Wasps were invited by failed to attend) assembled at the Pall Mall Restaurant in Regent Street. E.C. Holmes, captain of the Richmond Club assumed the presidency. It was resolved unanimously that the formation of a Rugby Football Society was desirable and thus the Rugby Football Union was formed. A president, a secretary and treasurer, and a committee of thirteen were elected, to whom was entrusted the drawing-up of the laws of the game upon the basis of the code in use at Rugby School. Although Addison was considered prominent enough to have been invited, they did not gain any of the thirteen places on the original committee. [2]
The club originally played its football at the Red House Farm in the present Little Wormwood Scrubs. In 1872 they moved to the Rifle Pavilion (so called due to the rifle ranges on Wormwood Scrubs), on the corner of North Pole Road and Wood Lane. The club's final moved in 1874 was to Shepherd's Bush Green. [1]
The club disbanded in 1875 after just six seasons. [1]
Despite their apparent prominence, the club produced no international players.
Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs, is an open space in Old Oak Common located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the borough, at 67 hectares, and one of the largest areas of common in London. The eastern part, known as Little Wormwood Scrubs, is cut off by Scrubs Lane and the West London line railway. It has been an open public space since the Wormwood Scrubs Act 1879.
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Founding Clubs of the RFU | ||
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