BLACKHEATH ERUGBY t a-: 'vtttt 's' \ffi \w ,,ff L:$ ,fl ni:i |) .fi,P i'1r4 7-9:f, !r. A Living Tradition that reachesto the Blackheath Proprietary School The Founders very Heart of the Game I n 1831 the BlackheathProprietary School -l-h" earlyhistory of BlackheathFootball Club I openedon the cornerof LeeTerrace and Black- I is so muchpart of the developmentof Rugby heathVillage. lts purposewas to educatethe Footballthat it is virtuallyan earlyhistory of the boysof the emergingmiddle classes. Today it is sportitself. the siteof SelwynCourt, a blockof flatsnamed It is appropriatethat the home of the first of afterone of the school'seminent headmasters. the great independentrugby clubs shouldbe Pupils started playingfootball to the Rugby in Blackheathin the southeast of England.lts Schoolrules in about1856. By 1858,old boys ground,on the Roman road from Doverto London, fromthe schoolwere playing rugby on thenearby is partof the ancientborough of Greenwichand heathwith theirfriends and foundedthe Black- lies8 milesfrom the centreof England'scapital heathFootball Club. city. Blackheathis steeped in the history of England.lt is remarkablethat no lessthan four William Burnett Alex Sinclair separateclubs, each the first independentclub The first Captain in the four very differentsports of Golf, Hockey, Athleticsand Rugby Football, were founded in or nearBlackheath. All are stillin existenceand all arestill independent. Roman Origins I t is believedthat the Romansoriginally played I a gameresembling football and that this was carriedon afterthey had left Britain. The popularity Blackheath Proprietary School circa 1845 of the sportgrew considerably over the years but The FoundationYear remainedin forms barely recognisable by modern /\ ttnougnthere has been controversyover standards- contests between towns, villages and /tatne actualyear of foundation,Blackheath is John C. Sinclair R.E. Gower districts- unruly,passionate encounters without recognisedby the chroniclersas the oldestof "Come on the Club" toomany rules, let alone standard ones. all independentrugby football clubs. There is no doubtthat in 1858old boysof the schoolplayed ln the yearsimmediately following the Club's rugbyon theheath and in 1860attempted to form I formation,the game was playedmainly by William Webb Ellis an OldBoys'side called Old Blackheathens. Due teamswith closed membership, such as schools, ln 1823,legend has it, the nowfamous William to lackof numbers,non-Proprietary School play- collegesand teachinghospitals. This caused I WeOnEllis picked up the ball and ran with it ers werealways required to makeup the team, BlackheathF.C. to becomeknown simply as "the "witha finedisregard for the rules"during a foot- andso in 1862the old boyschanged its nameto Club"to distinguishit from the various institutions ballgame at RugbySchool and, in so doing,ef- BlackheathF.C. On February12th 1912 a dinner againstwhich it played.The practicecontinues fectivelyfounded the "carrying"game of Rugby washeld to celebratethe 50th anniversary of this to thisday, with supportersstill cheering for "the Football. event(see opposite). Club"rather than "Blackheath." BlackheathFootball Club and clubsattending the first meeting to forma RugbyFoot ballUnion at the PallMall Restaurant on January26th the formationof the FootballAssociation 1871.Afterthe meeting the newly-electedPresident, A. | | ntil1863 the game of football had been a single Rutter,E.C. Holmes and L.J. Maton, a groupof lawyers, L/ undividedsport. However, there was no stan- weresent away to draftthe "laws"of the game.Of the dardset of rulesand captainshad to agreewhich twentyone clubs which met on thatday, eight were still rulesto playbefore a gamecould start. A meeting surviving100 years later. Those eight held a banquetto of clubswas calledat the Freemasons'Tavernin celebratetheir existence in 1971.Over the yearsBlack- London.The aim was to "establisha codeof rules heathhave provided 17 Presidentsof the R.F.U.Fred for the regulationof the gameof football."Eleven andLennard Stokes of Blackheathare the onlybrothers to haveheld this office. clubs attendedand formed "The Foot- Pioneersof InternationalRugby Wrtmlu by Nlxm of $e Ftmaws Tavm Cl&Xl ball Association". Blackheathwas rep- Itr RULES !\ d.\( hdnn8tu nd.! h Francis .i.tr okh, n!\ I' hrd^t 'rn{il rriln! h dn Jl'Nd J!.i ,1. resentedby BlackhcathFotball Club, 1862. Maule Campbell, .tt who was elected 6drn' Treasurerof the As- t sociation.The Club tuL6 I I rh. rdl$tr r.hild nr rl expectedThe Foot- d,*bd .nJ,.aeh\hr'r<Ltrn !{r' tt \l ll ball Associationto nn! inl $r r-lr d cnri oi rh.lri ihlr h.ord adoptRugby School I nternationalrugby was playedat Blackheath a trr 0 b!il u,Ld, !il i rules, but when it FrancisMaule Campbell 1862 In{' iln 'h.ph i[d" i qr!d !'d'. lwell before the establishmentof England's proposed n qth otrt or budh i !d r rir q was to l8l hh (!o rn(-'\. LrlL u nationalground at Twickenhamin 1910.All the adoptthe Cambridgerules, which precluded car- homecountries played there, together with Aus- ryingthe ball and "hacking,"Campbell objected tralia and the New ZealandMaoris. Blackheath stronglyand withdrewBlackheath from the Asso- The RugbyFootball Union organisedthe firstinternational match. The lead- ciationon December8th 1863. t PY now it was becom- ing Scottishclubs issued a challengefor a 2O- 1.-tt! lJing apparent that a-sidegame againstEngland under the Rugby In this way the greatdivide between soccer and a al7,Y was needto SchoolRules, and it wasthe Club which accepted place F.C. there a agree rugbytook and Blackheath carriedon a commonset of rules the challenge.The game took place in Edinburgh playingto its own rules,which had beenprinted g for the game of Rugby on 27thMarch 1871 and Englandlost by the only in 1862.The soccer clubs developed in theirown sT.,,f,.,' Football.A letter dated goal.The captainof this firstever Englishinter- way andtwo verydifferent games emerged. o8b December 24th 1870. nationalside was FrederickStokes of Blackheath The Clubcontinued to playto its own set of rules I signedby B.H. Burnsof andthere were three other Blackheath players in 'wffi basedon the Rugbycode until the formationof i@ Blackheathand E.H.Ash the team.Although international players are now The RugbyFootball Union. Although Blackheath qF'I of Richmond,was sentto selectedfrom the fully professional "Premiership," "hacking" years the presswhich argued for the creationof the EnglandCounties XV has al- retained for three after the & foundingof The FootballAssociation, it was finally qffd an agreedset of rules.lt lowedplayers from NationalDivisions One and discontinuedin December1866 when a game wasno surprise,therefore, Two to achieveinternational honours and the to find that Blackheath RectoryField is againable to host international againstRichmond had to be abandoned. wasone of the twentyone rugbyfixtures. ThePrincess of WalesPublic House in the 1970s ,ffi[og02ffioof0off ffinion. RECTO1Y BLACXHEATH. -PIELD, ENGLAND V. IRELAND. $tudry, P.bmrt I, t89,[. Xlol{t t p.n. J,ft,, Ilc.ic G,A.f,oF t.Ll.fFoarc+, LEfrh ' Eil&: ' Lt q&tbb! l.*l|tlot tr.ln J,t .l|! ' t lro.Ato rhrr' f.!!.d 1.g.n t.** r.qy'n t.r*' -=Jraid-. Llsr c?.l@t J.LI'lL J.lr{r o.vq.li r.r.{p* rlcn.. r".r.roft;t,ot"r t t ?.1,ffi. "-'*r' r.8b o lm.*.w, Lt,r t,.h t o.t{bc " ".uPotr_, a w. lackheathfirst playedtheir matcheson the open heath oppositethe Princess of Wales pub, which servedas both headquartersand changingrooms. lt was often the practicein those days for spectatorsto invade the pitch and, during a very competitivegame againstRichmond in'1877, the match had to be abandoned when a number of spectators,as well as players,were injured.Shortly after this the Club moved to a private ground called Richardson'sField. Despite moving grounds,Blackheath continued to use the pub until 1886even thoughit meantthat playershad to walk a mile or so to the ground.After the match they walked back The England team which played Scotland in 1871 to the pub where a dozen tin basinswere providedfor washing.The Blackheathv Richmondfixture is the oldest continuingmeeting of two rugby clubs in the world. Thiswas first played on January2nd 1864. A homeof their own - Richardson'sField l\ /lembers of the Richardsonfamily are still associatedwith BlackheathF.C. I V Itoday. The family had close ties with the ProprietarySchool and the Club so it was understandablethat Mr Richardsonshould allow his field to be rented for games. The ground was on the north side of the Old Dover Road approximately where the A102 road is today. lt was on this pitch that Englandfirst met Wales in February1881. England won by sevengoals, one drop goal and six tries to nil. FourBlackheath players were in the sidewhich was captainedby FrederickStokes. Blackheath'sfirst Welsh club fixtureagainst Newportwas played in Novemberin 1879,and is the oldestAngloWelsh fixture. The Oxfordv CambridgeVarsity match England v lreland at the Rectory Field was also playedhere and continuedto be playedon the new groundat the Rectory March151890 Fielduntil it movedto the Queen'sClub in 1887. The Blackheath team of 1880-81 3 The Rectory Field The Street Family Rec- I n thewinter of 1882/83Richardson's Field was The Streetfamily looked after the I sold and so the Club had to look for a new tory Fieldfrom 1886until 1959when Bert Street retired.The photo below ground.Lennard Stokes knew the Rev.Swainson was taken in front of the pavilion in of St. Luke'sChurch in Charltonand asked him if 1905 and shows (left) Charlie Street the Clubcould play on thefield next to the rectory (1887-1 965), his son Len (1882-'t 918), in CharltonRoad. The Club's first opponents at the who was killed in VUW1,George, the Q ince1883, the Rectory Field in SouthEast Lon- just first groundsman (1854-1928),his newground, as theyhad been at Richardson'swifeLouisa (b.1854), daughters Nellie Bert (b.1920), son of s)don hasbeen the home of BlacfheathF.C. The was the last Field,were Guy'sHospital in an openingmatch (b.1874)and Violet(1896-1984), who Charlie, mainpavilion was built in 1886and the ground has groundsmanin the fam- seenseveral changes over the years.