Barnes Rugby Football Club (formerly Harrodians Rugby Football Club) is a

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 it ...

club based in

Barnes, London Barnes () is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. It takes up the extreme north-east of the borough, and as such is the closest part of the borough to central London. It is centred west south ...

. The club currently play in the fourth tier of the English league system,

National League 2 East National League 2 East is a new rugby union league at level four in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in London, South East England and East of England. The remainder of England is covered b ...

, following an increase of fourth tier leagues from two to three.

History

The club's website states that it was established in Barnes in the 1920s. For many years the club played at the Harrodian Club before moving to its

Barn Elms Barn Elms is an open space in Barnes in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, located on the northerly loop of the River Thames between Barnes and Fulham. The WWT London Wetland Centre (105 acres of what were once reservoirs) li ...

location in 1987 when the grounds were sold to form a school. Barnes RFC first XV has been promoted eight times since being positioned in Surrey Division Three in 1987. The club changed its name from Harrodians to Barnes at the beginning of the 1992–93 season.

Claim of continuity with Barnes Football Club

In 2002, the club's website claimed continuity with

Barnes Football Club __NOTOC__ Barnes Football Club is an association football club in Barnes, London. The club had great importance in the development of the game in the nineteenth century and was the first team ever to win a match in the FA Cup. History Origins ...

, stating that " r earliest recorded match was November 1862 versus Richmond, played at Barn Elms. We won that match and the replay that followed. For many years we played as Harrodians RFC before moving to our Barn Elms location in 1987." In 2005, this claim was amplified in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' by BBC sports presenter

John Inverdale John Inverdale (born 27 September 1957) is an English broadcaster who works for both the BBC and ITV. During his radio career, he has presented coverage of many major sporting events including the Olympic Games, Wimbledon, the Grand Nationa ...

. Inverdale, who stated that he was " r reasons that I'm not altogether clear about, ... one of a number of vice-presidents" of Barnes RFC, wrote that "in 1839, according to the club records, Barnes RFC were born, playing fixtures against a whole mish-mash of teams of which no match results have been kept." In 2008, the rugby club's website weakened this claim, stating only that "Barnes Rugby Club is a club with a rich history and was established in Barnes in the 1920s. Although there are indeed possibilities that our earliest recorded match was in November 1862 versus Richmond and played at Barn Elms, it is from the 1920s that our true history is clear." As of 2018, similar wording remains on the current version of the rugby club's website.

Honours

* Surrey 3 champions: 1987–88 *

Surrey 2 Counties 2 Surrey is a level 8 English Rugby Union League. It is made up of teams predominantly from Surrey and south-west London. Teams play home and away matches from September through to April. Promoted teams move up to Counties 1 Surrey/S ...

champions (2): 1988–89, 1992–93 *

Surrey 1 Surrey 1 is a level 9 English Rugby Union League. It is made up of teams predominantly from Surrey and south-west London. Teams play home and away matches from September through to April. Promoted teams move up to London 3 South West with the ...

champions: 1995–96 * London 2 (south-east v south-west) promotion play-off winner: 2002–03 * London Division 2 South champions: 2004–05 * National League 3 (south-east v south-west) promotion play-off winners (2): 2008–09, 2014–15 *

London & South East Premier Regional 1 South East (up until 2022-23 known as London & South East Premier and up until 2016-17 known as National League 3 London & South East) is a level five league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. ...

champions (2): 2010–11, 2017–18

Current standings

Notes

References

External links

* {{coord, 51, 28, 30, N, 0, 14, 13, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Clubs and societies in London Rugby union teams in England Rugby clubs established in 1920 Rugby union clubs in London Sport in Barnes, London Sport in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames 1920 establishments in England