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Like other schools In the early 19th century Rugby School
played a form of football. The famous action of William Webb Ellis, who, in 1823, ran
with the ball in hand, stimulated football at Rugby to develop into a game
which mixed handling with kicking.
As such It was considered to be unique and it became known as Rugby
football when old Rugbeians introduced it to other places and
institutions.
The foundation date from which the Rugby Football Club’s anniversary years
have been counted has always been assumed to be 1873. This was the year
when the Club affiliated to the Rugby Football Union but the Rugby
Crusaders, which became the Rugby Football Club in 1877, was, according to
an entry in the Football Annual of that year, officially formed in 1867.
This does not mean that the game was not played in the town prior to that
date but if it was it would presumably have been on an “ad hoc” basis with
no formal formation of a club.
No known documents exist which prove a connection between the Rugby
Football Club and Rugby School but it would be surprising if there was not
one in the early days of the game. Most young men have an interest in
sport and it is highly likely that some of the locals would have observed
the type of football which was being played by the school up to and after
1846, when the book of rules was sanctioned by the Big School Levee and
printed in the town.
There is one piece of evidence, which is very suggestive of a link with
the Club and School and that is the rampant red lion emblem. All the Rugby
School Houses have their emblems and the red lion is that of Town House,
the one to which local boys were allocated. This has always been the
emblem of the Rugby Football Club and, like the boys of Town House it was
also to be seen on a white football jersey. If Rugby School’s senior boys
had anything to do with the origins of a local club Town House boys would
seem to be the most likely candidates and they would probably have been
wearing their House jerseys; school masters may also have been involved,
as was the case in later years. On three occasions in the next 125 years
Rugby School masters would notably re-vitalise the local club.
In the years up to 1877/8 the fixture list was often only partially
fulfilled when games were cancelled due to a lack of players on one side
or the other. From 1883/4 up to the outbreak of the First World War
between 20 and 28 games were played each season by which time only
inclement weather would prevent a game taking place. Current well-known
local clubs who provided early opposition were Moseley, Coventry,
Leicester and Northampton. All but Moseley were beatable in the early days
though it was not long before the others became much stronger. Warrington,
which defected with the Northern Union in 1895, was the first club played
against that was not “local” and several meetings ensued between 1887 and
1895: Rochdale Hornets, another “league” club also played one game against
the Lions in Rugby in 1887/8.
The club’s performance on the field varied from season to season according
to the playing strength and the quality of the fixture list. The influence
of Rugby School was felt in the mid 1890s when L J Percival, son of the
Head Master of the time and already an England International, took over
the captaincy of the Lions and attracted some equally good players into
the side, including Scottish International H T S Gedge. This revival did
not last longer than a couple of seasons and it was not until 1910/11 that
the team once again achieved a run of good results, including the first
win at Moseley in 40 years, but this was to be frustrated by the 1914/18
war. Two players were killed in the war and three others were unable to
play again due to injury or ill health.
Rugby
football, which had been stopped during the war, re-started in 1919 and
the Lions opened the season with a match against Rugby School, winning
11-9: annual matches against the School had begun around the time of
Percival’s captaincy in 1894. Among Rugby’s new players was J H
Bruce-Lockhart, a Scottish International who was a master at Rugby School.
From the following season until the Second World War in 1939 the number of
games played increased to between 30 and 40 per season. During this period
most of the London Hospitals and many of the London `old boys´ clubs
joined the fixture list. In 1924 the Midland Counties Union was replaced
by separate County Unions. The Lions 1st XV never won the Midland Cup but
their 2nd XV won the Midland Junior Cup for a record
ten times between 1890 and 1919.
Another outstanding International player who already had eight caps for
England, G S Conway, joined the Rugby School teaching staff in 1922 and
had an immediate effect on the team’s performance. Like Percival he
attracted good players and the Lions benefited from the services of
England Internationals M S Bradby and H J Kittermaster: both of whom were
connected with Rugby School. Conway was capped eleven times while playing
for the Lions and also played in the England/Wales v Scotland/Ireland
Centenary game on Rugby School Close in 1923.
Conway departed in 1925 but his influence remained and, apart from some
occasional lapses, this period was the most successful in the Club’s
history up to this time: crowds of between 2000 and 4000 were not unusual.
1930/31 was probably the best season when Northampton were beaten 8-6 at
Franklins Gardens, the first win there for 40 years and the last, except
for 1939-45 wartime games, up until the present. As with 1914 the
prospects for Rugby were looking very good in 1939. Other notable players
in this period were, E E Haselmere, H J Davies, J H Treen, N C Marr, J
Livingston, H E W Smith, C A Pridmore, E P R Bates and S C Elliott.
Rugby clubs continued to play games during World War Two but the absence of
key players on active service weakened the teams put out so it was not until
1945/6 that things began to return to normal. The Lions did not start as
well as they had finished in 1939 and team performance deteriorated into the
mid 1950s when, yet again a Rugby School master came to the rescue. This was
T K Vivian who had played for Harlequins and Cornwall. The Lions already had
some useful players and Vivian managed to get the team to gel into something
quite formidable. The 1955/56 season still remains the best ever in the
Club’s history with only five games lost out of 36. Leicester were beaten at
Welford Road for the first time since 1892. It was not to last though and in
the next season 13 games were lost: Vivian was forced to retire through
injury in 1957.
S J `Stan´ Purdy was the first local boy to win an international cap while
playing for the Lions when he lined up against Scotland in 1962. 1964/5
stands out as the next “good” season when only 9 games were lost out of 41
and the Lions beat Bedford at home for the first time since 1912/13. R D `Danny´Hearn,
who in 1967 was seriously injured in a West Midlands v New Zealand game,
played for Rugby this season before moving on to Bedford. The annual matches
played against Rugby School were discontinued after this season, as they
were no longer competitive.
The cycle of performance by the 1st XV continued into the 1970s,
sinking early and then improving again to peak one season after the
Centenary, which was deemed to be 1972/73. The Centenary season produced a
number of special matches including a Sevens Competition, an RFU President’s
International XV and a Rugby School Head Master’s XV (played on the Rugby
School Close). In 1973/74 the Lions lost only 8 games out of 36. The team
had a formidable back row in the form of N Malik, R Piggott and T A Cowell,
which was selected en bloc for the Warwickshire side. A home win and an away
draw against a very strong Coventry side was the gem of the season. The very
next season began a decline in the Lions’ fortunes, which lasted until the
latter part of the 1980s. B
Seaton, J R G Slack, F J Webb, K W Taylor, E Gilchrist, R Pointon, R Pebody
and S Thomas were also notable players during this period.
League competition in rugby union had been talked about for some time but in
1986 it was apparent that this change to the structure of the season was
imminent. Led by new Chairman David Rees the committee saw this, as an
opportunity to restore the playing fortunes of the Club and set about
attracting players to Rugby who they considered would be able to achieve
their aim. The ex England and Coventry hooker, Steve Brain, was the corner
stone on which the new team was built. The National Leagues were launched in
1987/88 and Rugby found themselves in Division 4 North, one division lower
than expected. By 1990/91 the Club had finished as Division 2 champions to
gain promotion to the elite Division 1. Rugby Lions had demonstrated what
good players could do with team spirit, commitment and confidence. Eddie
Saunders, who joined the Lions from Coventry in 1987, was one of the most
consistent contributors to this success, scoring a record 39 tries for a
season in 1987/88 and breaking the all time try scoring record with 139
between 1987/88 and 1990/91.
For the Club to remain in the top flight the Lions needed some outstanding
talent to be added to the existing squad but it did not materialise. In
spite of this the Club performed creditably, beating Quins at Rugby and
obtaining a draw at Welford Road, so avoiding relegation in 1991/92. It
could not last, however, and Rugby was relegated at the end of the following
season. The following season was no better and 1994/95 saw Rugby back in
Division 3. Things had gone wrong off the field as well and the Club found
itself in debt. This was due to the inability to service loans on the new
clubhouse built to coincide with the Club’s Division 1 status. This was the
second time a clubhouse had impoverished the Club as it had to sell the
first “new” clubhouse (built in 1974 to replace the original which was burnt
down in 1973) in 1984. Notable players were, D Bishop, R Pell, I Heywood, C
Howard, M Ellis, M Fleetwood, P Bowman, T Revan, M Mapletoft, M Palmer
The old Club ceased to exist and a new one, Rugby Lions Football Club, was
formed with an entirely new committee. The RFU accepted that the new club
could fulfil the Division 3 fixtures of the old club and the end of the
season saw the Lions finish in fourth place. Financial stability was
achieved and repurchase of the clubhouse, which had been repossessed by the
RFU, was set in train. 1995/6 saw Rugby finish in third place and promoted
to an enlarged Division 2.
In 1996 the game finally ceased to be solely amateur and the International
Board accepted that a player could be directly paid for playing. In many
cases this regularised what had been happening covertly for many years.
Sponsors had been permitted since the early days of the leagues, Rugby had
Blands and then Rugby Cement who was still the main sponsor, but their
financial input should not previously have found its way into players’
pockets. In 1996/97 clubs could attract finance by a variety of means and,
in effect, buy players. The Lions were badly placed for this and the lack of
additional finance and a determination not to get into debt again was the
main reason for a poor season’s performance. Some new players were
introduced but the team seemed to lack a driving force and relegation was
once again their fate.
For 1997/98 Lions were in the Jewson sponsored National Division 1. In
addition to Rugby Cement’s continued sponsorship, Rugby Lions had financial
support from Leamington Spa based nationally known catering company
Elizabeth The Chef whose Chairman, David Owen became Chairman of the Rugby
Lions FC. A number of new players were signed in addition to ex New Zealand
All Black International Andy Earl who was player/coach and Geoff Davies, a
former Bridgend coach, who became Coaching and Playing Co-ordinator. Rugby
finished the season in fourth place and because of a readjustment of
division sizes were promoted to The Allied Dunbar sponsored Premier Division
2. Both Lions
sponsors remained on board in 1998/99. Andy Earl departed but the Welsh
players brought in by Geoff Davies and Samoan international To’o Vaega
remained. However, the Lions rarely demonstrated their true potential and
the situation was latterly made worse by Geoff Davies’ poor health. Rugby
finished in eleventh place. Some of the contracted players took part in an
innovative coaching programme for local schoolchildren.
In 1999/2000 Elisabeth The Chef, no longer associated with David Owen who
remained as Lions’ Chairman, discontinued their sponsorship, as also did
Rugby Cement. The consequent drop in funding occasioned trimming in all
areas. Ex Rugby Lions player, Mal Malik who had replaced Mike Adnitt as
Chief Executive and new Coach Richard Kinsey (brought in as a player the
previous season) worked hard on building a new team of predominantly younger
players but the results did not come. Ultimately Ex Welsh international Paul
Turner, who had been a notable success at Sale, was brought in as
player/coach to replace Kinsey. Some additional players were signed in the
new year but despite a strong finish relegation was not avoided...Paul
Turner remained as coach and with a mixture of old and new players managed
to blend them into a team that was able to secure second place in National
Division 2 at the end of 2000/01 and return the club to National Division
One. Rugby’s hoped for top six
place in 2001/02 was not forthcoming, largely due to an early large injury
list, and Paul Turner’s departure to Gloucester RFC at the end of September
only made things more difficult. At one time the threat of relegation was
all too close, but after a row of six lost games, an away win at Otley made
things safe and the Lions finished in tenth place.
During 2001/02 Eddie Saunders collected six tries in just nine appearances
to bring his club total to 250 and his league total to 103 to equal
Birmingham’s Nick Baxter who was first to get the magic 100 a few weeks
earlier. In 2000/01, Eddie overtook Chris Howard’s highest cumulative
scoring record of 1029 extending it, by the end of 2001/02 to 1111. This is
a remarkable achievement in that all his points have come from tries.
David Owen continues to support the club financially and together with CE,
Mal Malik they have kept the club competitive and financially sound.
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Sept 04