With a population of over 8 million people, it’s no surprise that London is home to some of the world’s biggest sport teams. They have twelve professional football clubs who are members of the top four English leagues, one professional Basketball team, four professional ice hockey teams, and most importantly for this article; thirteen rugby clubs that are professional or amateur..
Let’s take a look at the history of six of these remarkable teams and their origins in this article.
The London teams that compete in the Premiership:
Harlequins
Founded: 1866
Location: Twickenham, London, England
Ground: Twickenham Stoop (capacity – 14,800)
Harlequins, a prominent rugby union club, compete in the Gallagher Premiership and are arguably the most famous club profile for visiting tourists. Fans of this club, which is based at Twickenham Stoop, a rugby ground in Hampstead in South West London, call them ‘Quins.’
Over the last 156 years, the Quins have accomplished a lot, making their name in 2001 when they became the first British rugby union team to win the European Shield.
In 1866, the Harlequins were created as part of Hampstead Football Club. The following year, the club played its first official rugby union match but the Harlequin Football Club changed their name from Hampstead four years later in 1870, when members from outside Hampstead were taken in.
The split among the members after the club name changed to ‘Harlequins‘ resulted in half of them staying with the Harlequins and the other half forming a new team known as Wasps. The famous quartered shirts of the club were derived at the same meeting, replacing the black and gold colours still worn by Wasps today.
Prior to 1909, Harlequins didn’t have playing grounds, and they played matches at no less than fifteen different locations, including Twickenham stadium in 1906, where the Rugby Union headquarters were located, until three years later, when the club finally made it their permanent home.
London Irish
Founded: 1898
Location: Brentford, London, England
Ground: Gtech Community Stadium (capacity – 17,250)
London Irish is a professional rugby union club that plays in the Premier League, the highest tier of English rugby. The purpose of founding London Scottish and London Welsh in 1898 was to give Irishmen living in London the opportunity to play rugby with their countrymen.
In 1886, London Irish was the last club to be established in England, following London Scottish (1878) and London Welsh (1885). Working and studying exiles from the home countries formed the club.
London Irish play at the Gtech Brentford Community Stadium in West London, starting in 2020–21. Brentford F.C. owns the stadium, and they play their home games there as well. Before 2020, The club played for 20 seasons at the Madejski Stadium in Reading between 2000 and March 2020 when the 2019-20 season was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
London Irish has only won one major trophy since the professional era began in August 1995, when they won the Powergen Cup by defeating Northampton 38-7 at Twickenham.
Saracens
Founded: 1878
Location: Hendon, Greater London, England
Ground: StoneX Stadium (capacity – 10,500)
Saracens Rugby Club is a North London-based English professional rugby union club. Premiership Rugby, the highest level of English rugby, is where they will be competing in the 2022-23 season.
The team’s name is said to refer to the “endurance, enthusiasm, and Saladin’s 12th-century desert warriors’ sense of invincibility. Their local rivals being called the “Crusaders” may also have been a factor. The club’s emblem having a Crescent and Star may have been a nod to Tunisia’s flag and the club’s home kit feature the colours red and black.
The club has been based around Southgate in the London Borough of Enfield since 1876 and they have played their home games at Copthall Stadium in Hendon since 2012 (StoneX Stadium for sponsorship reasons). Prior to this, for 15 years they played at Vicarage Road in Watford.
Saracens have won 10 major trophies including winning the European Champions Cup 3 times in 2016, 2017 and 2019. They are also 5-time winners of the English Premiership and they’ve won the domestic cup twice in 1998 and 2015.
Greater London teams that compete in the RFU Championship:
There are only three clubs in the championship since London Welsh dissolved in 2017.
Ealing Trailfinders
Founded: 1871
Location: West Ealing, Ealing, London, England
Ground: Trailfinders Sports Ground (capacity – 4,000)
The Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club West London-based professional rugby union club and they compete in dark green and white jerseys.
Ealing Football Club (RU) was founded in 1869 before the Rugby Football Union was formed in 1871. The team played its first match on Ealing Common. Regular encounters against London Irish, Harlequins, Richmond, and Wasps in the early years resulted in a 75% winning percentage for a long time.
The club changed locations several times between 1894 and 1958: Hanger Lane, West Middlesex Polo Club, Gunnersbury Park, Drayton Green, Syon Lane and Horsenden Hill.
Ealing Trailfinders flourished and won prior to the early 1990s, but their player base dried up and they were relegated from London 1 senior league in 1996. In response, the team established youth and minis sections and moved to Trailfinders Sports Club (south of the A40 at the upper end of West Ealing) in 1999 where they still currently play at.
London Scottish
Founded: 1878
Location: Richmond, London, England
Ground: Richmond Athletic Ground (capacity 4,500)
London Scottish is an English rugby union club. The club is a member of both the Rugby Football Union and the Scottish Rugby Union. Currently, the club competes in the RFU Championship.
In 1878, three Scottish members chose leave the St. Andrew’s Rovers FC to form a new club for the Scots. A considerable number of individuals were enticed when George Grant, Neil Macglashan, and Robert Arnot distributed a circular, including the London Scottish Regiment.
On 10 April 1878, London Scottish Football Club was established at The Queen’s Head in Water Lane, Blackfriars, London (now known as Mackay’s Tavern), where they initially played on Blackheath Common before moving to the Richmond Athletic Ground in Surrey.
The London Scottish club was the first of the “Exiles” rugby teams to be established, and the last of the main three – London Irish and London Welsh – to become “open” in 1996. The club turned professional in 1996 and in the 1998-99 season, they made their only appearance in the English Premiership. The team managed to finished 12th out of 14th that season which would have kept of them in the league but they fell into administration at the end of the season.
The club have been semi-professional club since the 2020-2021 season due to the reduction in funding from the RFU.
Richmond
Founded: 1861
Location: Richmond, London, England
Ground: Athletic Ground, Richmond (Capacity – 4,500)
The Richmond Club is a rugby union team based in Richmond, London. It is one of the oldest sports clubs (of any sort). It is also one of the founding members of the Rugby Football Union.
Richmond play their home matches at the Athletic Ground, which adjoins Royal Mid Surrey Golf Club. A temporary stand was once erected on the north side of the pitch. Later on in the professional era, Richmond’s 1st team occupied the Madejski Stadium, Reading, where they played until bankruptcy. London Irish later occupied the stadium, and it was one of the first instances of London rugby clubs playing in a football stadium.
The Richmond club holds a significant place in the history of association football, as it participated in the first ever association football match on 19 December 1863, against the Barnes Club, although it was not affiliated with the Football Association.
The club hosted the first floodlight match in 1878 and they played in the inaugural match at Twickenham Stadium (home of English rugby) in 1909.
You can check all the rugby union scores easily online and buy tickets to see games on the official club websites.
