Full name | United Hospitals Rugby Football Club | |
---|---|---|
Union | Middlesex RFU | |
Nickname(s) | UH | |
Founded | 1867 | |
Location | London, England | |
President | Martin Griffiths | |
Captain(s) | Aadil Ali | |
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The United Hospitals Rugby Football Club represents the five medical schools in London, each of whom have their own distinct rugby clubs but from whom are picked a select fifteen to compete for UHRFC. The club exists to encourage and facilitate rugby at these institutions. It hosts the United Hospitals Cup, the oldest rugby cup competition in the world. [1]
In 1871 the Rugby Football Union was formed, the first such organisation for rugby football in the world. However, rugby itself had been slowly but steadily evolving for a number of decades before that point since its inception in the 1820s. The game, with a variety of interpretations over the rules employed, had become popular in many of the public schools of the British Isles and this had extended to the universities as well. The established medical schools of the time were no exception and among the students within these schools was a desire to continue playing the sport of their school days. The medical schools of London had rugby clubs that were among the earliest founded, with Guy's Hospital said to have the oldest rugby club in the world having been founded in 1843. [2] With the rise of more clubs there was an expansion in the number of matches played and in 1867 the United Hospitals RFC was formed, which brought together on an invitational basis, representatives of the various London hospitals for matches against established teams, such as Cambridge University. They played an annual game against the Dublin Hospitals from the late 19th century until the 1980s. [3]
In 1874 the United Hospitals instituted the oldest cup competition in the game of rugby, the United Hospitals Challenge Cup, also known as the Inter-Hospital Challenge Cup, and is the oldest cup competition in the game of rugby. The first final was played on Wednesday 3 March 1875 at The Oval between Guy's Hospital and St George's Hospital with Guy's winning by 1 Goal (a converted try) and 1 try to 2 tries. With the exception of breaks for the two world wars of the twentieth century, the United Hospitals Challenge Cup has been played for without interruption since that first final.
The status and quality of the individual medical schools teams has varied considerably since their individual inception dates. Since the United Hospitals FC was formed, the institutions that are represented by the member teams have been through considerable change, and hand-in-hand with these changes in the institutions have been changes in the teams that represent them. Thus, the Royal London Hospital RFC (formed in 1864) and the Barts Hospital RFC (formed in 1866) in 1996 formed Royal Hospitals RFC [4] when the institutions merged. Similar stories sit behind the mergers of University College Hospital RFC, Middlesex Hospital RFC and Royal Free Hospital RFC in 1998 to form RUMS RFC, St Mary's Hospital RFC and Charing Cross & Westminster Hospitals RFC to form Imperial Medicals RFC in 1997, and Guy's Hospital FC, St Thomas' Hospital RFC and Guy's and St. Thomas' RFC to form Guy's, Kings and St. Thomas' Rugby Football Club that is now recognised as King's College London Medical School. The exception to the tide of mergers and renaming is St George’s RFC which is still a stand-alone institution, although it has moved premises.
Some of these teams were once in the very top level of English rugby with Guy's in particular being potentially the best club in England for parts of the 1920s and 30s. In recent years the demographic changes within the schools have resulted in an overall decline in the number of rugby players and the advent of the league system within rugby union reflected a perceived decline in the quality of rugby played. The United Hospitals Team itself has been reflective of the quality within its constituent parts. Currently, Royal Hospitals RFC and RUMS RFC are the highest ranked rugby union sides of the six schools, playing in BUCS 1A. All teams play in the BUCS leagues at varying levels.
After being proposed for membership in 2008, [5] The Royal Veterinary College joined the United Hospitals in 2009.
Unfortunately due to the rise of the individual school clubs and the commitment to their respective leagues, the UH team has declined over recent years and is no longer the force it once was, but still has a place in London rugby.
In December 2013, Sydney University Football Club played UH RFC as part of their 150th Anniversary Tour to the UK. Sydney University are the oldest rugby club outside of the UK, and were touring the UK playing clubs older than themselves. UH, which has as one of its components Guy's Hospital RFC, the oldest club in the world (founded 1843), played the tourists at Blackheath's ground. A mammoth turn out from all UH clubs made it a large event, and though the tourists won convincingly, it was a spectacle showing UH is by no means ready to roll over.
The United Hospitals also host a cup for the 2nd and 3rd XVs of its member teams, as well as a United Hospital Cup Sevens tournament. In addition there is a United Hospitals Plate.
GKT School of Medical Education is the medical school of King's College London. The school has campuses at three institutions, Guy's Hospital (Southwark), King's College Hospital and St Thomas' Hospital (Lambeth) in London – with the initial of each hospital making up the acronymous name of the school. The school in its current guise was formed following a merger with the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals on 1 August 1998. As of 2023, the medical school is ranked 5th best in the UK for clinical medicine by U.S. News & World Report, and 10th best worldwide by Times Higher Education.
St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, together with Guy's Hospital, Evelina London Children's Hospital, Royal Brompton Hospital and other sites. It is also a member of King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre, and is one of three sites used by King's College London GKT School of Medical Education.
The oldest football clubs trace their origins to the mid-19th century, a period when football evolved from being a casual pastime to an organised mainstream sport.
Guy's, Kings and St. Thomas' Rugby Football Club ("GKT") is the name given to the modern amalgam of three formerly distinct hospital rugby clubs each with a long history, having all been founded in the nineteenth century. The teams from Guy's Hospital and St Thomas' Hospital were the first to merge following the union of their respective Medical Departments. When King's College Hospital also merged in 1999 the King's College Hospital Rugby Football Club opted to remain separate and in so doing became an open rugby club that no longer represented the Hospital Medics. GKT is notable for having been part of the twenty-one founding members of the Rugby Football Union, and across its joint history has produced many international players.
St Mary's Hospital Medical School was the youngest of the constituent medical schools of Imperial College School of Medicine, founded in 1854 as part of the new hospital in Paddington. During its existence in the 1980s and 1990s, it was the most popular medical school in the country, with an application to place ratio of 27:1 in 1996.
Rugby Québec is the popular name of the Fédération de Rugby du Québec which is the provincial governing body for the sport of rugby union in the Canadian province of Québec. The Fédération de Rugby du Québec is affiliated with the Canadian Rugby Union.
William David Doherty, M.A., M.Ch., F.R.C.S., known as George Doherty was a medical superintendent of Guy's Hospital, London, and a former captain of the Ireland national rugby union team.
Royal Free, University College and Middlesex Medical Students RFC is the rugby union club for UCL Medical School, which is part of the University of London. The rugby club is commonly referred to by its shortened name of RUMS RFC or RUMS Rugby. The club is registered with the RFU and plays in the traditional colours of the medical school: blue, yellow and black.
King's College Hospital RFC is an open rugby union club founded in the 19th century as a football club whose representatives were made up of medics from King's College Hospital. In its original form it was one of the twenty-one founding members of the Rugby Football Union, and produced a number of international players in the sport's early international fixtures. The merging of King's College Hospital medical department in 1999 with the already merged Guy's Hospital and St Thomas' Hospital led to the creation of Guy's, Kings and St. Thomas' Rugby Football Club, an amalgam of three formerly distinct hospital rugby clubs each with a long history. King's College Hospital Rugby Football Club opted to remain a separate entity in so doing became an open rugby club that no longer represented the Hospital medics.
St. George's Hospital Medical School RFC is one of the oldest rugby clubs in the world having been founded in 1863. The side is notable for its long history, its participation in the oldest competition in rugby, the United Hospitals Cup, as well as having produced a large number of international players, especially in the sport of rugby's formative years.
Imperial Medicals Rugby Club is the name given to the rugby union team of Imperial College School of Medicine Students' Union, a modern amalgam of three formerly distinct hospital rugby clubs each with a long history, having all been founded in the nineteenth century. The teams from Charing Cross Hospital and Westminster Hospital were the first to merge in 1984 following the union of their respective Medical Departments. When St Mary's Hospital, London also merged in 1997 the team was strengthened by one of the two most successful hospital sides in London. Imperial Medics is notable for its recent dominance of the oldest competition in rugby, the United Hospitals Cup, as well as its history and the joint history of its constituent elements which have produced a large number of international players.
Barts and The London Rugby Football Club, also known as the Royal Hospitals Rugby Football Club, is the rugby club of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. They have held the United Hospitals Cup, the oldest rugby cup competition in the world, for 3 years (2022–2024).
The United Hospitals Challenge Cup is contested by the six medical schools in London and is most notable for being the oldest rugby cup competition in the world.
Imperial College School of Medicine Students' Union (ICSMSU) is the students' union of the Imperial College School of Medicine. It is charged with representing and advocating for the educational, pastoral, social and extracurricular needs of all the undergraduate students within the Faculty of Medicine of Imperial College London, and is a constituent union of Imperial College Union.
Middlesex Rugby is the governing body for rugby union in Middlesex, England; Middlesex is a historic county of England that covers areas in the ceremonial counties of Greater London, Surrey and Hertfordshire. The historic county is still in use when referring to sport, and some businesses in the area. Middlesex RFU was originally created as the Middlesex County Rugby Club but within six years was being referred to as the Middlesex County Rugby Football Union and is now known simply as Middlesex Rugby.
St Bartholomew's and The Royal London Hospitals FC ("SBLHFC") are the football club of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, having been formed from the merger of two formerly distinct hospital football clubs each with a long history.
The United Hospitals Athletics Club is a historic athletics club that used to host the annual United Hospitals athletics competition. Since the disbanding of the club, London Universities and Colleges Athletics has organised the competition within the LUCA Indoor Championships. The competition has been held since 1867.
The United Hospitals' Lawn Tennis Club is the combined lawn tennis club of the five medical schools in London. The constituent medical schools collaboratively form a Men's and Ladies team which competes at a high standard against various organizations. The club plays annual matches against the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge. Additional opponents who have been played against include the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force, the British Army, the London School of Economics, University College London and the Queen's Club. The individual medical schools also compete against one another in a tournament taking place over the summer. There is also a one-day mixed doubles tournament in the winter with individual pairs from each medical school competing against one another. Finally, there is the annual President's match, whereby the President chooses a team of alumni to play against a team chosen from the student body by the Men's and Women's captains. This match takes place at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
A timeline of the Imperial College School of Medicine, the medical school of Imperial College London.
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