Wanderers Football Club is a senior

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club based in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, playing in Division 2B of the All-Ireland League. It is one of the oldest rugby clubs in

,''The Ireland Rugby Miscellany'' (2007): Ciaran Cronin however its exact date of foundation is open to question. In 1860 a team by the name of Wanderers played against

Dublin University The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...

. However the current team gives its foundation date as 1870. While the link between the two teams is unclear, they both seem to have been founded by former Dublin University players. In 1879 Wanderers were among the founding members of the

Irish Rugby Football Union The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ...

. They have also regularly provided international players for

, including five captains. In

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, Ronnie Dawson also went on to captain the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

. They have also provided one captain each for both

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Since 1880 Wanderers have shared

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...

with

Lansdowne Football Club Lansdowne Football Club, also sometimes referred to as Lansdowne Rugby Football Club, is a rugby union team based in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1872 by Henry Dunlop as the ''Irish Champion Athletic Club''. Its senior team currently plays ...

, with each club having their own clubhouse at opposite ends of the ground. However, since 1974 the ground itself has been owned by the IRFU.

Notable players

Ireland

At least 87 Wanderers players have represented

. These include the following: *

Ned Byrne Edward Michael Joseph "Ned" Byrne (born 14 September 1948)
Scrum.com is a former Irish people, Irish sportsperson. He play ...

* Padraig Kenny *

Thomas Crean Major Dr. Thomas Joseph Crean, (19 April 1873 – 25 March 1923) was an Irish rugby union player, British Army soldier and physician, doctor. During the Second Boer War, while serving with the Imperial Light Horse, he was awarded the Victoria ...

* Ronnie Dawson * Tony Ensor * Kevin Flynn * Mike Gibson * Bob Graves *

Gary Halpin Gary Halpin (14 February 1966 – 23 February 2021) was an Irish rugby union international player and champion hammer thrower. He played as a prop for Wanderers F.C., Leinster, London Irish, Harlequins and Ireland. He was noted for scoring a try ...

* Frederick Harvey * Robert Johnston *

Ronnie Kavanagh James Ronald "Ronnie" Kavanagh (1931 – 13 July 2021) was an Irish rugby union player. He played in the back row for Wanderers, Leinster and Ireland. Career Kavanagh first came to prominence as a student at Blackrock College when he captain ...

* Phil Matthews *

Robbie McGrath Robbie McGrath (born 18 July 1951) is a former Irish international rugby union player. His playing position was as scrum-half. McGrath played schools rugby for Newbridge College before joining Wanderers Football Club. McGrath was capped 17 ...

Paul McNaughton Paul Peter Patrick McNaughton (18 November 1952 – November 2022) was an Irish rugby union, soccer and GAA player during the 1970s and 1980s. He was also manager of the Irish Rugby Team, a position he held from 2008 to 2011. He played rugby ...

* Andy Mulligan * Paul Murray *

Bethel Solomons Bethel Albert Herbert Solomons (27 February 1885 – 11 September 1965),Goodwin, p377 born into a prominent Jewish family, was an Irish medical doctor and an international rugby player for Ireland and supporter of the 1916 Rising. Early life B ...

Mark Sugden Mark Sugden (11 February 1902 – 21 January 1990) was an Irish rugby union player and rugby author. An outstanding scrum half in the late 1920s and early 30s, he was captain in the 1931 season when Ireland beat England for the third successive ...

* Kelvin Leahy * Joseph Wallace *

Freddie McLennan Freddie McLennan (born 8 February 1951) is a former Irish rugby union international player, playing for Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland on the left wing. McLennan was educated at Newbridge College and played schools rugby for them. ...

British and Irish Lions

As well as representing

, several Wanderers players have also represented the

. These include: *

Andrew Clinch Andrew Daniel Clinch MD JP (28 November 1867 – 1 February 1937),Andrew Clinch player profile

:
1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wil ...
*
Thomas Crean Major Dr. Thomas Joseph Crean, (19 April 1873 – 25 March 1923) was an Irish rugby union player, British Army soldier and physician, doctor. During the Second Boer War, while serving with the Imperial Light Horse, he was awarded the Victoria ...
:
1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wil ...
* Robert Johnston:
1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wil ...
* Robertson Smyth: 1903 * Joseph Wallace: 1903 * James Wallace: 1903 * Paul Murray:
1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...
* Bob Graves:
1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...
* Ronnie Dawson:
1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
* Andy Mulligan:
1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
* Mike Gibson:
1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
, 1968,
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...
,
1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
,
1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

Other internationals
* Pat Howard *
Andrew Slack Andrew Gerard Slack (born 24 September 1955 in Brisbane) is an Australian former state and national representative rugby union player who captained the Wallabies in 19 Test matches in between 1984 and 1987. His 133 appearances for Queensland bet ...
* Jack Gregory *
Bob Gemmill Bob Gemmill (20 February 1930 – 25 December 2014) was a Scotland international rugby union player who played for Glasgow HSFP and Glasgow District at provincial level. Rugby Union career Amateur career He played for Glasgow HSFP and won t ...
*
Peter Dalton Young Peter Young (1927–2002) was a rugby union international who represented England national rugby union team, England from 1954 to 1955. He also captained his country. Early life Peter Young was born on 9 November 1927 in Bristol. Rugby union ...

Ireland coaches
* Ronnie Dawson *
Roly Meates T. W. Roland "Roly" Meates (1937/1938 – 5 July 2023) was an Ireland national rugby union team coach and chairman of the Irish Rugby Football Union board of selectors. Roly Meates studied dentistry at Trinity College Dublin, where he played as a ...
* Gerry Murphy

Victoria Cross
Three former Wanderers players and
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
internationals have also been awarded the
Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
. Crean and Johnston served with the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
during the
Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
while Harvey served with the
Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...
during the
First World War 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 ...
. *
Thomas Crean Major Dr. Thomas Joseph Crean, (19 April 1873 – 25 March 1923) was an Irish rugby union player, British Army soldier and physician, doctor. During the Second Boer War, while serving with the Imperial Light Horse, he was awarded the Victoria ...
* Frederick Harvey * Robert Johnston

Honours
* Leinster Senior League **''Winners'': 1885, 1888, 1894 1906, 1911, 1947, 1954, 1959, 1973, 1978, 1982, 1984, 1990: 13 * Leinster Senior Cup **''Winners'': 1973, 1976, 1979, 1985, 1990 : 5 * Leinster Club Senior League Shield **''Winners'': 2014-15: 1 *
Metropolitan Cup The Ron Massey Cup (formerly known as the Bundaberg Red Cup and Jim Beam Cup) is a semi-professional development level rugby league competition in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, run jointly by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) and th ...
**''Winners'': 1924, 1954, 1986, 1987, 1992: 5

References

External links

Wanderers FC Rugby
{{Irish Rugby Football Union Founding Members Rugby clubs established in 1870 Irish rugby union teams Rugby union clubs in Dublin (city) 1870 establishments in Ireland Senior Irish rugby clubs (Leinster)