St. Andrew's Rovers FC was a 19th-century

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

club. It was formed by people of Scottish origin living in London, and is notable for being both one of the earliest football clubs (of any code) and also for its part in the formation of

London Scottish FC London Scottish Football Club is a rugby union club in England. The club is a member of both the Rugby Football Union and the Scottish Rugby Union. The club is currently playing in the RFU Championship. The club share the Athletic Ground wit ...

History

St. Andrew's Rovers was established in 1869 with about forty members. It fielded two teams of twenty a side for rugby matches. The derivation of the club's name comes from the town of

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

, Scotland. According to the St Andrews Gazette and the St Andrews Citizen the club was formed in 1870 by former members of St Andrews University RFC and Madras College RFC working in London.Harry Smith, ''Golf Isn't The Only Game You Know - The Story of Madras College FP RFC'', p6 The fact that the club changed at the "Edinborough Castle" public house and Nunhead Lane may be indicative of the fact the men who founded the club used that particular establishment and therefore the association with St Andrew and Edinburgh. It certainly sported a St Andrew's Flag badge.Dick Tyson, ''London's Oldest Rugby Clubs'', p96 (JJG Publishing), 2008 The team's colours were blue jerseys with a white cross of St. Andrew and club initials on the breast, blue stockings and white knickerbockers. These were adopted from St Andrews University RFC colours. The first captain of the club was R H Traill, a former pupil of

Madras College Madras College, often referred to as Madras, is a Scottish comprehensive secondary school located in St Andrews, Fife. It educates over 1,400 pupils aged between 11 and 18 and was founded in 1833 by the Rev. Dr Andrew Bell. History Madras ...

. Despite its early foundation, the club was not one of the twenty-one London and suburban football clubs that assembled at the

Pall Mall Restaurant The Pall Mall Restaurant was a hostelry situated at Number 1 Cockspur Street, Westminster, London, just off Pall Mall and near Trafalgar Square. The site was subsequently the offices of the White Star Line, and was then occupied by a Tex Mex rest ...

Cockspur Street Cockspur Street is a short street in the City of Westminster, London, within which a very short part of Trafalgar Square links Charing Cross to Pall Mall/Pall Mall East at the point where that road changes name, opposite the traffic exit from ...

to found the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

. The club got off to a false start when they turned up for their first game against Brixton who insisted on playing association rules. A return match under Rugby rules was arranged for the following week but Brixton did not turn up. The club played its football at

Peckham Rye Peckham Rye is an open space and road in the London Borough of Southwark in London, England. The roughly triangular open space lies to the south of Peckham town centre. It is managed by Southwark Council and consists of two contiguous areas, wit ...

.Charles Dickens, ''Dictionary of London: An Unconventional Handbook'' 1879, p103 It was not affiliated to the

or the

Scottish Football Union The Scottish Football Union was a football league competition that existed from 1906 till the outbreak of the First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global confl ...

, because at this time neither body was in existence.

Foundation of London Scottish and disbandment

The club disbanded in 1878 after just ten seasons. Early that year three Scottish members of the team decided to break away to form their own club for Scots. These men, George Grant, Neil Macglashan and Robert Arnot attracted a number of responses to a circular they sent out. The London Scottish Regiment in particular were very warm to the idea. Very soon after, on 10 April 1878, London Scottish were formed. They had a sizeable fixture list and played some of the leading clubs of the time immediately, such as

Ravenscourt Park Football Club Ravenscourt Park was a short lived 19th century English rugby union club that was notable for being one of the twenty-one founding members of the Rugby Football Union, as well as supplying a number of international players for the sport's early in ...

and

Queen's House Football Club Queen's House was a 19th-century rugby football club that was notable for being one of the twenty-one founding members of the Rugby Football Union, as well as producing a number of international players in the sport's early international fixtures ...

. They also played St Andrew's Rovers that season. St Andrew's, who had lost the core of their best players lost twice to London Scottish and folded at the end of the season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Andrews Rovers FC Rugby union teams in England Rugby clubs established in 1869 Rugby union clubs in London Defunct rugby union teams in England Anglo-Scots Defunct rugby union clubs in Scotland Rugby union teams in Scotland 1869 establishments in England Sports clubs disestablished in 1878 1878 disestablishments in England Rugby union clubs disestablished in 1878