 | ||
| Union | Middlesex RFU | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1996 through merger of two older sides Constituent elements: 1865 – The Royal London Hospital FC 1866 – St. Bartholomew's Hospital FC [1] | |
| Location | Chislehurst, London, England | |
| Ground(s) | Perry Street (Capacity: 500) | |
| Chairman | Fin Rossiter | |
| President | Sir Nicholas Wright | |
| ||
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.
The history of Barts and the London Rugby Club or Royal Hospitals RFC is the combined history of two older sides, and their joint history from the point of merger:
The London Hospital Football Club formed in 1865. Using the Morpeth Lodge as their headquarters they played their first home matches on Victoria Park in East London. They adopted the first of their three strips, that of black jerseys with a cross on a red shield on the breast. This was quickly changed to blue and white hoops. Their first success in the United Hospitals Cup came at the expense of St Bartholomew's in 1884 when they won by two goals and two touchdowns to one goal and one touchdown. This occurred three years after the latter had utterly outplayed them in the same fixture. [1] The London was a highly regarded team on the metropolitan club circuit, playing, outside of the other hospitals, such opposition as London Welsh, Old Leysians, Saracens F.C. and Wasps amongst others by 1894. Soon after this they changed their strip to the once famous blue and white chequered pattern for which they were known for close to a century. The London made the final of the Hospitals Cup fourteen times in sixteen years leading up to World War I and even more illustrious opposition was added to their fixture list including Rosslyn Park and the Royal Indian Engineering College. So good were the London during this period that from their ranks they could boast four internationals. Like many teams of the period, the London was deeply affected by losses sustained in the Great War but recovered reasonably quickly such that by the 1930s they were taking a number of notable scalps once again. [1] The period after World War 2 saw the arrival of Mike Floyer whose incredible devotion to the club, for which he played for many years and also served as president. In his honour an annual fixture between current students of the medical school and old boys is played, known as the Mike Floyer Memorial Day match. When the league system was introduced in the 1987/88 season, London were placed in the Eastern Counties 5, despite a fixture list that included the likes of London Welsh, Rosslyn Park and Wasps. [1]
St Bartholomew's Hospital team formed in 1866. They won the first of their nine Hospital's Cups in 1881 against the team they would later merge with. They won by a very large margin. They were quickly established as a London club and provided international representation as early as 1881 in the form of Welsh forward Edward Treharne. When the league system was introduced, Barts were placed slightly higher than the London, into the Middlesex 2. [1]
The teams from Royal London Hospital and St Bartholomew's Hospital merged in 1995 following the union of St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College and the London Hospital Medical College with Queen Mary and Westfield College, now known as Queen Mary, University of London to form St Bartholomew's and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry. The two Medical Schools who were once arch rivals were to come together to try to provide the highest quality Medical Education. Likewise, Barts and the London Rugby Club or Royal Hospitals RFC was formed. BLRFC until 2001 played their matches at Hale End (The London's Old Ground) and have since played at Chislehurst (Bart's Old Ground) which is now known as The Queen Mary University of London ground. [1] In 2012, Royal Hospitals RFC won the United Hospitals Cup, the oldest cup competition in rugby, and defended their title in 2013. In the 2013–14 season, with a record of only one loss, they were promoted to the Southern Premiership 1b league of BUCS for the first time. In 2017, Royal Hospitals RFC won the United Hospitals Cup again with a tense 14–10 victory against Imperial Medicals at Ealing Trailfinders RFC. That season, they went undefeated to gain promotion to BUCS South Western 1a. Despite making the United Hospitals Cup final a further two times over the next three years, Royal Hospitals were unable to regain the Cup, until a spirited performance in 2022 saw them take the Cup home with a 22–12 victory over GKT. The victory was all the more impressive given Royal Hospitals had been trailing for 72 minutes of the match, before two tries in the dying minutes ensured a comeback win.
The current colours are an amalgamation of the two clubs. Barts used to play in black and white hoops (their second strip) whereas the London had settled on blue and white chequers at the beginning of the twentieth century. The club's 1st XV therefore play in black and white chequers, one of a few in the country to play in such chequered shirts. The 2nd XV play in blue and black hoops. [2]
The team competes every year in the United Hospitals Cup with the other London Medical Schools, RUMS, Imperial Medics RFC, GKT & St Georges as well as Royal Veterinary College. The cup is the oldest rugby cup competition in the world. The trophy has been won by The Royal London on 11 occasions (the last in 1986) and by Barts 9 times (the last in 1977). Royal Hospitals RFC are the current UH cup champions for the second year in a row. This season they beat St. Georges Hospital Medical School RFC in the final and Imperial College Medical School RFC the previous year. Club's Official site – History of BLRFC
| Hospital Team | First Competed | Last Competed | Current Status | Wins | Total Wins including constituent elements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 1874 | 1995 | Part of Royal Hospitals RFC | 11 | 11 [2] |
| St Bart’s | 1875 | 1995 | Part of Royal Hospitals RFC | 9 | 9 [2] |
| Royal Hospitals RFC | 1996 | present | Active | 5 | 25 |
In 2008 they won the UH 7-a-side tournament, beating Imperial Medics in the final. They also compete in the British University and College Sports (BUCS) Leagues. They finished in 1st place of the BUCS Southeastern 2B Division at the end of the 2009–10 season followed by third in BUCS Southeastern 1A in 2010. As well as this they compete in the National Association of Medics' Sports 7-a-side tournament and placed 2nd, narrowly losing to Nottingham Medics in the final in 2009.
Since the merge of Barts and the London Medical School with Queen Mary, University of London, the rugby club has also participated in the Merger Cup.
Over the years the club and its predecessor clubs have fostered in total seven international players who have played for their countries whilst being members of the hospital sides.(source for below [1] )
Hugh Monteith (1905)
Alexander Palmer (1909) Alan Adams (1910) Bill Stewart (1913–14)former players capped whilst playing for other clubs'
Bruce Thomson (1953)
David Burcher (1977)
Hugh Condon (1984) Leonard Tosswill (1902) Beriah Melbourne Gwynne Thomas (1919–24) Andy Dun (1984)former players capped whilst playing for other clubs'
Edward Treharne (1881–83) Howard Marshall (1891–93)
Laurence Gardner (2015)London Hospital
Royal Hospitals
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.
Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, commonly known as Barts or BL, is a medical and dental school in London, England. The school is part of Queen Mary University of London, a constituent college of the federal University of London, and the United Hospitals. It was formed in 1995 by the merger of the London Hospital Medical College and the Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital.
St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust.
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.
Edward Llewellyn Treharne was a Welsh rugby union forward who played club rugby for Pontypridd and Cardiff, and international rugby for Wales. He was a member of the first Wales international team that played England in 1881. At the time of the game he was still a student at Cowbridge, and later became a medical student at St Bartholomew's Hospital.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Thomas Cook’s amateur Rugby Football Club was founded in 1910 as part of a wider sports club established by the company in 1897, with the ground at Ravensbourne in Kent.
The first club president was Frank Henry Cook, who had played his rugby at Mill Hill School.
It ceased playing during both World Wars, and like many ‘house’ rugby clubs it no longer exists. At its most popular the club ran two XV's until it closed in 1966. During its lifetime the club played against well over 100 different clubs in London and the South East.
It also established a regular Easter tour to the Netherlands in 1958 playing RC Hilversum. which helped to promote Dutch rugby during the 1960s. The original tour fixture was filmed for Dutch cinemas and television in front of crowd of over 2,600 at the AGOVV Apeldoorn stadium in Apeldoorn.
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.
University of Birmingham Medical School RFC (UBMSRFC), 'The Birmingham Medics' is an English Rugby Union club based in Birmingham who play in both the National Medical Schools Cup and the West Midlands Reserve Team League.
King's College London Boat Club is the rowing club of King's College London based on the Tideway of the River Thames next to Chiswick Bridge, based at Tideway Scullers School boathouse, Dan Mason Drive, Chiswick, London.
