Middlesex Rugby Football Union

Middlesex Rugby
Sport Rugby union
Founded 15 November 1879
President Michael Barnes (Pinner & Grammarians)
Website www.middlesexrugby.com

Middlesex Rugby is the governing body for rugby union in Middlesex, England; Middlesex is a historic county of England that has since been divided up and shared between Greater London, Surrey and Hertfordshire though the appellation is still in use when referring to sport, businesses and postal address in the area. Middlesex RFU was originally created as the Middlesex County Rugby Club but within six years was being referred to as the Middlesex County Rugby Football Union and is now known simply as Middlesex Rugby.

History

FR Adams Esq of Richmond F.C. called a meeting at the Bedford Hotel at which a resolution was passed bringing the club into being. He served as the Club and Union's first president until 1883 being succeeded by E. Temple Gurdon (also of Richmond F.C.).

Middlesex Sevens

The world famous Middlesex Sevens were organised by Dr. Russell-Cargill and the Middlesex Hon. Secretary CS Bongard, the first tournament taking place according to one source[1] in 1925 and others[2] in 1926. This was the first seven-a-side rugby festival in England. The first tournament took place at Twickenham in aid of Middlesex hospital was won by Harlequins.

Union officials

Past Presidents

Asterisk denotes President of the R.F.U.
Two asterisks denotes member of the International Rugby Board

Honorary Secretaries

  • 1879 - 1880 HP Gardner
  • 1881 - 1881 HL Ashmore
  • 1881 - 1882 A Ward
  • 1882 - 1886 FW Collins
  • 1886 - 1889 JH Roberts
  • 1889 - 1892 HL Ashmore
  • 1892 - 1913 RC Hodgson
  • 1913 - 1920 JC Jenkins
  • 1920 - 1923 RH Haxell
  • 1923 - 1946 CS Bongard
  • 1946 - 1950 Sir W Ramsey
  • 1950 - 1957 Cyril Gadney
  • 1957 - 1959 JRC Matthews
  • 1959 - 1970 Barry Boyden
  • 1970 - 1972 CH Brandon
  • 1972 - 1979 Mike Christie
  • 1979 - 1986 Derek Mann
  • 1986 - 1996 Graeme Cattermole
  • 1996 - 2004 David Hiles
  • 2004 - 2010 Brian East

Honorary Treasurers

  • 1879 - 1880 HP Gardner
  • 1880 - 1881 HL Ashmore
  • 1881 - 1882 A Ward
  • 1882 - 1886 FW Collins
  • 1886 - 1889 JH Roberts
  • 1889 - 1902 HL Ashmore
  • 1902 - 1904 RJ Hodgson
  • 1904 - 1919 JN Hill
  • 1919 - 1928 JL Bongard
  • 1928 - 1946 JL Bongard & H.J Brewer
  • 1946 - 1948 HJ Brewer & A.G Watson
  • 1948 - 1955 AG Watson
  • 1955 - 1959 Albert Agar
  • 1959 - 1961 JM Grammer
  • 1961 - 1976 WMD Lewis
  • 1976 - 1991 AT White
  • 1991 - 2001 Keith King
  • 2001 - 2004 Michael Barnes

Members who were Presidents of the RFU

  • 1890 - 1892 ET Gurton
  • 1896 - 1898 RW Whalley
  • 1920 - 1922 E Prescott
  • 1950 - 1951 Sir Wavell Wakefield
  • 1954 - 1955 WC Ramsay
  • 1962 - 1963 CH Gadney
  • 1974 - 1975 KH Chapman
  • 1984 - 1985 AE Agar
  • 1991 - 1992 Sir Peter Yarranton

County side

Rugby kit (blue and white thin hooped jersey; black shorts; and black socks).
Original kit
Rugby kit (blue jersey and shorts; black socks).
Current kit

Middlesex County Rugby Union was originally created as a rugby club and as such fulfilled fixtures for six years before becoming the Union for clubs within the county. After becoming a union the club continued to operate selecting players from its constituent clubs to play representative matches for the county and to go on tours.

Very early in its history, Middlesex played Surrey under floodlights at the Old Deer Park. This is possibly the first rugby match played under floodlights as electric light had only just been invented. A floodlit game was the ideal opportunity to try out the new technology although the game was not a great success by all accounts.[3]

On 24 October 1905, Middlesex played the touring South African side at Richmond for their ninth match. The Springboks won 9 - 0, their narrowest score so far in the tour; a penalty by Douglas Morkel and try by Brink made the half time score 6 - 0 whilst in the second half the only points came from a try by Loubser. Middlesex fielded a cosmopolitan team including Jim Louwrens the South African College scrum half of 1901, three Welshmen who were also later to play for Wales (Harding, Jenkins & Williams) and the Scottish international Geddes. The match referee was Cartwright.

On 2 September 1964 Staines RFC played a Middlesex XV on the occasion of the opening of their new ground, "The Reeves".

English County championship

The Middlesex team that played the 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team on 22 October 1888
Middlesex appearances in English County Championship Finals
Year Winners Opponents Score Venue
1893 Yorkshire Cumberland, Devon, Middlesex
1905 Durham County Middlesex 9 - 8 West Hartlepool
1929 Middlesex Lancashire 8 - 8 Twickenham
8 - 9 St Anthony's Road ground, Blundellsands
1951 East Midlands Middlesex 10 - 0 Northampton
1952 Middlesex Lancashire 9 - 6 Twickenham
1954 Middlesex Lancashire 6 - 24 St Anthony's Road ground, Blundellsands
1955 Lancashire Middlesex 8 - 14 Twickenham
1956 Middlesex Devon 13 - 9 Twickenham
1966 Middlesex Lancashire 0 - 6 St Anthony's Road ground, Blundellsands
1968 Middlesex Warwickshire 9 - 6 Twickenham
1976 Gloucestershire Middlesex 9 - 24 Athletic Ground, Richmond
1977 Lancashire Middlesex 17 - 6 St Anthony's Road ground, Blundellsands
1979 Middlesex Northumberland 19 - 6 Twickenham
1985 Middlesex Notts, Lincs & Derby 12 - 9 Twickenham
1987 Yorkshire Middlesex 22 - 11 Twickenham
1990 Lancashire Middlesex 32 - 9 Twickenham

1968 tour of East Africa

Middlesex were the English county champions for the sixth time in 1968, having defeated Warwickshire in the final (tries by Brian Stoneman and Sandy Hinshelwood helped them to their 9-6 win at Twickenham).[4] At least ten of the players that had participated in the final went on the tour in July of that year. Middlesex played a total of seven matches on a tour that lasted a little over two weeks, two games being played in Uganda and five in Kenya. The tourists won all seven matches comfortably and reported that the standard of rugby in the region had dropped noticeably since some members of the touring party had last played there. It was generally felt that the East African sides lacked stamina and tactical nous;[5] the latter is understandable as the opportunities for playing high level rugby in the region were limited, though the former is surprising as much of the region is at altitude and it would be expected that the visitors would suffer more than the hosts.

The Middlesex tour party consisted of 70 members though the minority of these were players, the majority were officials and non-playing members who were travelling as supporters. Amongst the players, at least three had previously toured East Africa; Patrick Orr (twice, with Anti-Assassins in 1965 and Richmond F. C. in 1963), Chris Ralston (with Richmond F. C. in 1963) and Brian Stoneman (twice, with Richmond F. C. and Combined (Oxford and Cambridge) Universities, both in 1963).[1]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Matches and Results[5]
Date Opposition Location Result Score
1968-07-06  Uganda Kampala won 5 - 47
1968-07-08 Uganda Invitation XV Entebbe won 0 - 32
1968-07-10 West Kenya Province Eldoret won 3 - 57
1968-07-13 Central Province Nairobi won 6 - 35
1968-07-14 Scorpions RFC RFUEA Ground, Nairobi won 0 - 47
1968-07-17 Coast Invitation XV Mombasa won 0 - 16
1968-07-20  East Africa RFUEA Ground, Nairobi won 0 - 28

Middlesex scored 262 points in seven matches, an average of more than 37 per game. In total they conceded only 14 points. They scored 61 tries, 32 conversions, three penalty-goals and two dropped-goals. Top scorer was Gordon MacDonald (45 points, all from goal-kicking), Ricky Parsons was second highest scorer (33 points, from 5 tries, the rest from goal-kicking), Mike Alder was third (31 points from 6 tries, the rest from goal-kicking). Top try scorers were Tim Rutter and Robin Jolliffe (7 each), Mike Alder and Roger Weaver (6 each). Francis Mann was the outstanding player of the tour.[5]

The tour had been organised by the Middlesex Hon. Secretary Barry Boyden, his assistant Cyril Brandon and the RFUEA's appointed Tour Chairman Bernard Nicholls. As with all rugby tours to East Africa in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, it would not have been possible without the hosting arrangements offered by the rugby fraternity in Kenya and Uganda; in order to cut down on costs, members of the tour party were welcomed into the homes of the hosts and provided for in a manner that was acclaimed by those that were lucky enough to have toured the region.[6] Hence the frequency with which first time tourists rapidly made certain they returned a second or third time.

Notable players

[9]

See also

Within Wikipedia

Photos on the web

References

  1. 1 2 Programme of Middlesex RFU tour of East Africa. Rugby Football Union of East Africa. 1968.
  2. ↑ "The First Middlesex Sevens". The Rugby History Society. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  3. ↑ "Middlesex RFU: History". Middlesex RFU. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  4. ↑ "ESPN Scrum". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 Cherry, Rupert (1968). "262 points in 7 matches". Rugby World. Rugby World (September): 39.
  6. ↑ Booth, Michael (1969). "Bill Hartley - 22 tries in seven tour matches". Rugby World. Rugby World (August): 32.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Archive, The Barbarians". Barbarian FC. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "The British & Irish Lions :". The British Lions. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
  9. ↑
    • David Cooke Captain of Winning County side in 1985, Harlequins and England
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