St Barts and The Royal London RFC ("Royal Hospitals") is the name given to the modern amalgam of two formerly distinct hospital rugby clubs each with a long history, having both been founded in the 1860s. The side is notable for its history, its longevity in the world of rugby, its once time dominance of the oldest competition in rugby, the
United Hospitals Cup
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.
History
In 1874 the United Hospitals RFC instituted a cup competition, the United ...
, as well as having produced a number of international players.
History
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:
Royal London Hospital Rugby
The London Hospital Football Club formed in 1865. Using the Morpeth Lodge as their headquarters they played their first home matches on
Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to:
Places Australia
* Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales
* Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse
* Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...
in East
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. 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
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.
History
In 1874 the United Hospitals RFC instituted a cup competition, the United ...
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. The London was a highly regarded team on the metropolitan club circuit, playing, outside of the other hospitals, such opposition as
London Welsh
London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, ...
,
Old Leysians
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
* Old, Baranya, Hungary
* Old, Northamptonshire, England
*Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, ...
Wasps
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. T ...
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
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and even more illustrious opposition was added to their fixture list including Rosslyn Park and the
Royal Indian Engineering College
The Royal Indian Engineering College (or RIEC) was a British college of Civil Engineering run by the India Office to train civil engineers for service in the Indian Public Works Department. It was located on the Cooper's Hill estate, near Egham, ...
. 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. 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
London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, ...
Wasps
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. T ...
.
Barts Hospital Rugby
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
Edward Llewellyn TreharneHarris (1997), pg 22. (22 March 1862 – 29 December 1904) Scrum.com was a Welsh . When the league system was introduced, Barts were placed slightly higher than the London, into the Middlesex 2.
1995 onwards – post-merger
The teams from
Royal London Hospital
The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and Tower Hamlets and spe ...
and
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.
History
Early history
Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (died ...
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
, mottoeng = With united powers
, established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College
, type = Public researc ...
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.
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.
Team Colours
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.Club's Official site – History of BLRFC
Competition
The team competes every year in the
United Hospitals Cup
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.
History
In 1874 the United Hospitals RFC instituted a cup competition, the United ...
with the other London Medical Schools,
RUMS
Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Phili ...
,
Imperial Medics RFC
Imperial Medicals Rugby Club ("Imperial Medics") 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 ...
Royal Veterinary College
, mottoeng = Confront disease at onset
, established = (became a constituent part of University of London in 1949)
, endowment = £10.5 million (2021)
, budget = £106.0 million (20 ...
. 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
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
National may refer to:
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* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
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
, mottoeng = With united powers
, established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College
, type = Public researc ...
.
Internationals
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'')
Alan Adams
Alan Augustus Adams (8 May 1883 – 28 July 1963) was a New Zealand-born sportsman who played international rugby union for England. He also played first-class cricket for Otago and was a rugby selector for the New Zealand national rugby union ...
''(1910)''
* Bill Stewart ''(1913–14)''
''former players capped whilst playing for other clubs
* Bruce Thomson ''(1953)''
*
David Burcher
David Howard Burcher (born 26 October 1950) is a former Wales international rugby union player. He was capped four times for Wales in 1977 and that same year he toured New Zealand with the British & Irish Lions
The British & Irish Lions is ...
''(1977)''
* Hugh Condon ''(1984)''
St Bartholomew's
* Leonard Tosswill ''(1902)''
* Beriah Melbourne Gwynne Thomas''(1919–24)''
* Andy Dun ''(1984)''
''former players capped whilst playing for other clubs
*
Edward Treharne
Edward Llewellyn TreharneHarris (1997), pg 22. (22 March 1862 – 29 December 1904) Scrum.com was a Welsh ''(1881–83)''
* Howard Marshall ''(1891–93)''
Barts & The London RFC
* Laurence Gardner (2015)
Honours
London Hospital
*
Eastern Counties 5
Eastern Counties 5 was an English level 13 Rugby Union league with teams from Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk taking part. Promoted teams used to move up to Eastern Counties 4 and relegation was to Eastern Counties 6 until that divi ...
champions: 1988–89
*
Eastern Counties 4
Eastern Counties 4 was an English level 12 Rugby Union league that was divided into two regional divisions - north and south - with teams from Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex taking part. Promoted teams used to move up to the relevan ...
champions: 1989–90
Royal Hospitals
* Middlesex 4 champions: 1995–96