Kenya Harlequin F.C.

Last updated
Kenya Harlequin F.C.
Kenya Harlequins badge.png
Full nameKenya Harlequin Football Club
Union Kenya Rugby Football Union
Nickname(s)Quins, Kenya Quins
Founded1951
Location Nairobi, Kenya
Region Nairobi
Ground(s) RFUEA Ground (Capacity: 6,000)
Chairman Flag of Kenya.svg Mike Harry Lucas
Coach(es) Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Antoine Plasman
Captain(s) Flag of Kenya.svg Patrice Agunda
League(s) Kenya Cup
2017/20185th
Kit left arm blackshoulders.png
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body quinshome.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm blackshoulders.png
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks long.svg
Team kit

Kenya Harlequin Football Club, (Harlequins or Quins for short) is a Kenyan rugby union club that competes in the Kenya Cup, the top level of Kenyan rugby. The club motto "Nunquam Dormio" is Latin, meaning I never sleep.

Contents

History

There was an earlier Harlequins R.F.C. in Nairobi which was formed in 1923 when the Nairobi District team decided, because it had become too powerful, to split and create two clubs, Harlequins RFC and Nondescripts RFC. It seems likely that the two names were chosen either in concert or one as a tongue-in-cheek response to the other as nondescript means lacking distinctive or interesting features or characteristics whilst harlequins are associated with bright colors and striking patterns. Nondescripts RFC is still in existence, but this first Harlequin club lasted up to 1945. Photos exist of Harlequins playing against the Prince of Wales School during the war years. The current Harlequin F.C. did not (contrary to popular belief) rise phoenix-like from the ashes of the first, though it is logical to assume that it provided the inspiration for the name. [1] [2]

Formation of the Club

The Kenya Harlequin F.C. was formed when, in 1951, a group of enthusiasts decided that there were enough players in and around the capital to allow the formation of another team; teams already in existence in the capital at this time included Nondescripts RFC, Old Cambrians RFC, the Nairobi Railway Club RFC, Kenya Civil Service RFC, Kenya Police RFC, Nairobi Garrison RFC and Royal Air Force RFC. The idea was put forward by Peter Barron (later to become the club's first honorary secretary) and Ben Cook. The idea was received by Mr. D. M. Goldstein (then honorary secretary to the RFU-K) and Mr. John Parry. The club was formed in 1952 and immediately sought affiliation with the London Harlequin F.C. in England. The committee contacted the London club to ask whether Harlequin badges could be sewn onto the shirts; however, due to a misunderstanding only one badge was sent, which was sewn to the captain's shirt for the first game.

Affiliation

The affiliation gives the club the right to wear the London club colors (namely: - light blue, magenta, chocolate, French grey, reversed on the back, sleeves light green and black reversed, white shorts and dark stockings with the club colors in diamonds around the tops), the honor extending not only to the playing kit, but to all uses of colors and insignia including the blazer badge, tie and honors caps. This honor had only been granted to three other clubs prior to this, Pretoria Harlequins (South Africa, founded in 1906), Melbourne Harlequins (Australia, founded in 1928, affiliated 1948 [3] and Hamilton Harlequins (New Zealand founded in 1938). [4]

Though the Hobart Harlequins (Tasmania, Australia) were formed in 1934 they did not seek affiliation until much later, [5] making them the fifth member of the group. The sixth sister club was the Dallas Harlequins (Texas, United States) who were formed in 1971 but not granted affiliation until 1983. [6] In 2004 the Future Hope Harlequins RFC of Kolkata, India were welcomed into the family [7] and the latest club that has been brought into the fold is the Abu Dhabi Harlequins in 2008; [8] Etihad being the mutual sponsor of this and the London club, were instrumental in bringing about the latter connection.

Beginnings

The Kenya Harlequins won their very first match which was played in April 1952 against the Nairobi Railway Club RFC; they completed their first full competitive season that same year and by 1953 there were enough playing members for the club to field two teams. The club won the Nakuru Sevens in 1953 and its first Nairobi District Championship (NDC) in 1954; by the 1954 season the club had defeated at least once every club they had met and had traveled a total of 2,130 miles that year to fulfill their fixtures. The club's record for the 1954 season is as follows:

TeamPlayedWonDrawnLostForAgainst
First XV1393125142
'A' XV970215148
TOTAL22163340290

The club shared the NDC title in 1955, 1956 and 1958 they won the Enterprise Cup in 1955 and 1957 and were runners up the intervening year. By 1960 they had made two visits to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and had toured Uganda. Much of this early success was due to Hugh Steel, John Tanner and Owen Wheeler (a Scottish trialist with two English county caps).

In 1961, Harlequin FC of London undertook a tour of East Africa in conjunction with Pretoria Harlequins from South Africa, as guests of the Kenya Harlequin F.C. and the Rugby Football Union of East Africa; winning five games and drawing one. This was the first time that three sister clubs of the Harlequin family all played each other in a coordinated series of matches and at 19 days it was the longest overseas tour undertaken by a British club up to that time. [9]

Recent Outgoing Tours

Kenya Harlequin undertook a tour of the UK and Ireland in 1986 and three tours to South Africa in 1996, 1999 and 2001 as guests of Pretoria Harlequins. Zimbabwe and Uganda were the destinations in 2003 while the under 21 side has visited Tanzania on an annual basis since 2002, hosted by the Dar es Salaam Leopards RFC.

Honors

Current squad

Name15's Honors7's Honors
Peter AbuogaFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya Flag of Kenya.svg  Shujaa
Edwin AchayoFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Isaac AdimoFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Leon AdongoFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Patrice AgundaFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya Flag of Kenya.svg  Shujaa
David AmbunyaFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Willy Ambaka Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Sidney AshioyaFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Felix Ayange Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Naftali BondoFlag of Kenya.svg  Shujaa
James KangetheFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Joe KangetheFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Daniel KiptooFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Wilson KopondoFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
David MogereFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Tony MutaiFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Joel NgangaFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Vincent OngeraFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Allan OnyangoFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya Flag of Kenya.svg  Shujaa
Chris OduorFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 'A'
Victor OduorFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Jared OwinyoFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Kevin Okeyo
Leroy Anyembe
Max TheuriFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Victor SudiFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Allan OmukaFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya

Related Research Articles

Harlequin is a comic servant character.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harlequin F.C.</span> English rugby union club, based in Twickenham

Harlequins is a professional rugby union club that plays in Premiership Rugby, the top level of English rugby union. Their home ground is the Twickenham Stoop, located in Twickenham, south-west London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenya Rugby Union</span> Governing body for rugby union in Kenya

Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) is the governing body for rugby union in Kenya. It was founded in 1970 and is affiliated to Rugby Africa and the international governing body World Rugby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenya national rugby union team</span>

The Kenya national rugby union team is also known as the Simbas . Kenya competes in the Africa Cup and is ranked thirty-fourth in the World Rugby Rankings as of January 2023. Kenya is yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby union in Kenya</span>

Rugby union in Kenya is a popular sport, in particular due to the success of the Kenya national rugby sevens team in the rugby sevens format, and tournaments such as the Safari Sevens, which has been growing yearly, and now includes numerous international teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenya Cup</span>

The Kenya Cup is the top tier club rugby union competition in Kenya organized by the Kenya Rugby Union. For the 2019-2020 season, twelve teams are divided into two pools of six, Each team plays home and away against each team in its pool and once against each team in the other pool. The top six teams in the single-table format qualify for the playoff finals: the top two teams secure a home semi-final. The other four teams are paired into two knock-out games: the winners of the two games each play one of the two top-ranked teams. The winners of the two semi-final fixtures play in the final to determine the overall winner(the top-ranked team before the playoffs hosts the final).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nakuru RFC</span> Rugby team

Nakuru Rugby Football Club also known as 'Wanyore' is a Kenyan rugby club based in Nakuru. It has played for several years in the Kenya Cup and Eric Shirley Shield leagues run by the Kenya Rugby Football Union. Nakuru RFC operates and trains at the Nakuru Athletic Club Grounds in Nakuru. They play at the 2,000-capacity Nakuru Stadium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Africa rugby union team</span> Rugby team

Established in 1950, The East Africa rugby union team is a multi-national rugby union team drawing players from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, though the vast majority of these came from Kenya which has traditionally been the strongest rugby playing nation in the region. The team has played against incoming international, representative and club touring sides and it conducted seven tours between 1954 and 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impala Saracens</span> Rugby team

Impala Saracens is a Kenyan rugby club based at the Impala Club. The club competes in the Kenya Cup as well as the Enterprise Cup. The club is based and trains at their ground on Ngong Road, adjacent to the RFUEA Ground, and also has an association football division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RFUEA Ground</span> Rugby union stadium in Kenya

The RFUEA Ground is a rugby union stadium located on the Ngong Road in Nairobi, Kenya. It was purpose built to be the home of the national team and to serve as the headquarters of the Rugby Football Union of Kenya (RFUK). Coincidentally, the RFUEA ground has another parallel with Twickenham Stadium in the United Kingdom in that it also serves as the home ground for the Kenya Harlequin Football Club, just as their sister club the London Harlequins once played at Twickenham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby Football Union of East Africa</span>

The Rugby Football Union of East Africa (RFUEA) is an umbrella union for the Kenya Rugby Football Union, Tanzania Rugby Football Union and Uganda Rugby Football Union. It owes its existence to the fact that, prior to independence, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda were either a protectorate or mandate of the British Empire. It now has little to do with the direct administration of the modern game but it continues to exist in order to promote and support the game in the three countries, to facilitate club competition between the three unions and to administer the RFUEA Ground and the East Africa rugby union team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bamburi Rugby Super Series</span>

The Bamburi Super Series was an East African Rugby union competition with eight teams in total, five teams from Kenya two from Uganda and one from Tanzania (Twigas) that is currently defunct. It is closely based on the Super Rugby competition in the southern hemisphere. Games take place at the RFUEA Ground in Nairobi (Kenya), Friedkin Recreation Centre in Arusha (Tanzania) and the Kyadondo Grounds, Kampala (Uganda). Rhinos have won the most titles with four wins, and are the only team to have defended a title when they beat the Cheetahs 25-5 in the 2010 final.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homeboyz RFC</span> African rugby club in Nairobi, Kenya

Homeboyz Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Nairobi, Kenya, that competes in the Kenya Cup, Eric Shirley Shield, Enterprise Cup and Mwamba Cup. Formed in 2009, Homeboyz also has a women's team that competes in the Kenya Rugby Football Union women's league every year. Both the men's and women's teams also compete in the Kenya National Sevens Circuit that happens annually. Their main home ground is Jamhuri Park.

The Eric Shirley Shield is a rugby union tournament in the Kenyan domestic league. It was founded in 1962 as a second tier competition to the Nairobi District Championship

KCB Rugby Club is a rugby union team based in Nairobi, Kenya. It was formed in 1989 after the disbanding of Kenya Breweries RFC when their main sponsor, Kenya Breweries, pulled out. That year they joined the Kenya Cup. Their first match was against Impala RFC, whom they beat 96–6. In 1994 the team was relegated to the Eric Shirley Shield, however by 1996 they had regained their position in Kenya's top rugby league. The club now has a 2nd XV team which has performed well, winning the Mwamba Cup, and Eric Shirley Shield several times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enterprise Cup</span>

The Enterprise Cup is an annual rugby union competition in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, though the competition frequently has the appearance of being an all-Kenyan affair as the majority of rugby clubs in the African Great Lakes region are based in this one country and frequently clubs in Tanzania and Uganda are unable to take part due to financial constraints. The original cup was donated by sailors from HMS Enterprise, who had toured British East Africa in 1928. The only years in which the competition has not been played is between 1940–1946 due to World War II and in 1987 because an international rugby competition was held on RFUEA Ground as part of the All Africa Games.

Rugby union in East Africa is almost entirely an amateur sport. It has been played in the three East African nations for more than a century; the first recorded match taking place in 1909, though it was almost certainly being played for several years prior to this. There are many club and school teams, the oldest of which were established in Colonial times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenya National Sevens Circuit</span>

First played in 1999,The Kenya National Sevens Circuit is an annual series of rugby sevens tournaments run by the Kenya Rugby Union in conjunction with host clubs featuring teams from across the country. Teams compete for the National Sevens Circuit title by accumulating points based on their finishing position in each tournament. The season’s circuit currently comprises 6 tournaments in 6 cities and towns across Kenya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kisumu RFC</span> Rugby team

Kisumu Rugby Football Club is a Kenyan rugby union club based in Kisumu. Also known as Lakeside RFC, for the 2015–16 season the club competes in the Nationwide League.

The Nationwide League is a domestic Kenyan rugby union competition. Full members of the Kenya Rugby Union that do not participate in the top tier Kenya Cup are entitled to participate in the league. It operates in a system of promotion and relegation with the Kenya Cup. Matches are played on Saturday afternoons, usually before fixtures in the Kenya Cup.

References

  1. Campbell (1960) pp92-93
  2. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-04. Retrieved 2016-02-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Baxter, Mark (2006). Quins Down Under 1928-2004. The Harlequin Club, Inc.
  4. "ComeAllWithin.co.uk - Overseas Relations".
  5. "harlequins.com.au". www.harlequins.com.au. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-09-08. Retrieved 2006-08-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "ComeAllWithin.co.uk - Future Hope Harlequins". www.rugbynetwork.net. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-05-22. Retrieved 2010-07-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. Harlequin F.C
  1. https://www.quins.co.ke/