The development of organised sport was a feature of Victorian life. Football has its origins in games dating back to ancient times and from the Middle Ages, mass street-games were played in towns and villages on Shrove Tuesday and other festivals. Edward II, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I all enacted laws banning football, due to its extreme violence, but the game survived and from the early 1800s, different forms of it were played in the major public schools. Several factors came together which allowed the game to develop. When students left school, or university, many were keen to continue playing football and they established clubs in the rapidly expanding towns and cities. Working men were given Saturday afternoons off and were looking for ways of using their new leisure time. The expansion of the railways was crucial as it allowed, for the first time, teams and their supporters to travel considerable distances to play one another.

Each school or club developed its own rules and, when they came together, their captains had to agree before the game which ones to use. At Rugby School, William Webb Ellis is famously said to have picked up the ball and run it over the goal-line during a match in 1823. The technique of “running in” to score a “try at goal” was subsequently included in Rugby’s rules in 1845. The Rugby Rules became popular and were spread widely by old-boys. The first clubs playing to them were formed – Guy’s Hospital (1843) is thought to be the first and others soon followed. Other forms of football were developing however, with the kicking style, as practiced at Cambridge University, becoming ever more popular. The need for uniformity became vital and in 1863, a group of London clubs met to draw up a common code. This resulted in the formation of the Football Association, whose rules favoured kicking and dribbling with the ball and banned handling and the more violent features of the Rugby game: including charging, tripping and particularly, shin-hacking. Blackheath and Richmond withdrew from the group and along with some other clubs that preferred a handling game, formed the Rugby Football Union, in 1871. Separate codes for Association and Rugby Football therefore came into being.

The RFU “laws” were based on the Rugby School rules and although some remain more or less the same today, there have been significant changes in how the game is played. In the early days there was less passing and tactics were based on the pack of forwards moving the ball up the field, through foot charges or long-drawn-out scrums and mauls, to gain position to score a goal via a “drop-kick” or a converted “try”. The game was decided in favour of the team scoring the most goals and in the event of a draw other methods of count-back or “minors” were used to decide the winner. Scoring methods gradually evolved and a points system was introduced in 1888-89. Although both sides were required to provide an umpire to control the game, the two captains were the arbiters of all disputes and these were many, sometimes leading to violent arguments and abandoned matches. Independent referees (with whistles) first appeared in 1885-86.

Many of the early clubs were simply teams which formed organically through the efforts of committed individuals. They were often groups of old-boys, or were based on factories, churches and cricket clubs looking for winter activity. These teams often had no assets and came and went, some merging and forming into constituted clubs. In the Midlands, Leamington was one first towns to form a constituted club (in 1876) along with Burton (1870), Lutterworth (1872), Moseley, Northampton, Rugby (all 1873), Coventry, Wolverhampton, Lichfield (all 1874), Edgbaston (c1876), Stratford (c.1877), Nuneaton (1879) and Leicester (1880).

The specific events leading to the formation of a football club in Leamington are not clear, but the circumstances of the town made it a fairly obvious development. It grew from a small village of around 300 people at the start of the 19th century to become a prosperous spa resort, with a population of almost 23,000 by 1881. This expansion and prosperity was due largely to the salt water treatments available which attracted many wealthy visitors and residents. Healthy exercise was advocated by the eminent medical men of the town as an accompaniment to their therapies and various sports and pastimes developed in order to satisfy and entertain the growing population. The local hunt met on six days a week and the Leamington Grand Steeplechase was first run in 1826. There were various local cricket teams from the 1820s onwards and the town also hosted major archery events. Leamington Real Tennis Club was opened in 1846 and the world’s first Lawn Tennis Club was formed in 1872. The railways reached Leamington in 1844, putting the town on the main line from Oxford to Birmingham, with spurs to Rugby and Coventry. The proximity of Rugby and Warwick Schools makes it likely that some of their former pupils and masters lived locally and promoted football in the town. From 1852 until 1902 Leamington College was also a minor public school and it played Rugby Rules as its main winter sport.

The earliest local non-school game, so far traced, was between 20 gentlemen of Leamington and 14 of Kenilworth in 1859, which was won by Kenilworth despite their fewer numbers. A series of Association Rules games was played between Leamington and Warwick in 1871 and in November that year Leamington Cricket Club attempted to form a “Foot-Ball Club” to play under Rugby Rules. Kenilworth Cricket Club took a similar step in 1875. It is not clear what happened to these teams and the only game that has been traced was against Allesley Park School, in Leamington, in March 1872. The home team won, due mainly to the play of a Mr. Lyon[s], who was said to be worth “five or six men” and was ‘as fast as a deer’. It is not much more than speculation, but he might well have been Arthur Lyons, who played in the first ever international Rugby Football match, against Scotland in 1871. Arthur has a mention in Wikipedia which says that he was from Merseyside, attended Rugby School and then Oxford University, He was born in August 1851, so his age would be about right; he was a three-quarter which matches the description of his play and he may well have had contacts in Leamington - Old Rugbeians provided 10 of the England team (of 20) Including Arthur. It was his only cap

Arthur Lyons — possible identity discussed in the text

In March 1875 a match was played under Association rules between a local side called the Gingeriferas and Coventry Wanderers and in 1875/76 an embryonic Leamington town side began playing under Rugby Rules against local opposition. In November 1875, they played Whitnash Cricket & Football Club, with Whitnash coming out on top.

1876-79: Leamington Rovers formed

A meeting was held at the Manor House Hotel on 19th August 1876 to form a permanent football club in the town, to be known as Leamington Rovers. It was intended that, besides playing both Rugby and Association rules, the club should also play hockey and other games, but apart from a few Association matches early on this does not appear to have happened. The colours adopted were red and white striped jerseys (with a Skull and Crossbones emblem) and white knickers. Home games were to be played on the Leam Terrace East cricket field, indicated on an 1881 map.

Leam Terrace East cricket field on the 1881 map

The initial membership was around 40 strong and prominent amongst them was a group of keen all-round sportsmen including: W.K. Young, who became Treasurer and Secretary, Frank Glover (editor of the Leamington Courier) John Beck (local publisher) William “Bodger” Gascoyne (builder) Charles Standbridge (bootmaker) and George Gill (Lloyds Bank). By far the most significant character was nineteen-year-old, H.C. “Hal” King, who was the driving force behind the formation of the club and was its captain and star player. He had recently moved to the town from Marlborough School to take up articles with Field & Co. (Solicitors). His colleague Harry Field had played for Oxford in the 1873 Varsity match.

In the 1876-77 season, opponents included Edgbaston Crusaders, Rugby Crusaders, Stratford, Banbury and Coventry, but clubs were still thin on the ground and many of the games were against university and school sides, including Leamington College. Overall, the Rovers lost only 3 of 21 matches played. Their record dipped slightly in 1877-78, due mainly to the loss of some of the initial players. The closing match of the season was drawn against Coventry, when the following side played in front of some 600 spectators at Leam Terrace – H.T. Rutherford - H.C. King, W. Bell - G. Gill, E. Wheeler - C.D. Curry, Hawkins, W. Howard, T. Winterton, C. Standbridge, W. Gascoyne, F. Glover, Thornley, W.R. Branson, Hodkinson.

Rovers changed to black shirts in 1878-79 which may have been an attempt at camouflage, as the highlight of the season was a night game against Edgbaston Crusaders in December, played under electric lighting, in a field near to the Greyhound Inn at Emscote. Two Seimens “dynom-electric” machines were used, powered by a portable engine. A large crowd gathered to see the new-fangled technology, but unfortunately the engine failed twice and the game had to be abandoned at half-time with Leamington leading. There was then a long mid-winter freeze, but when things got going again, Rovers hit good form with wins over Edgbaston and St John’s College, Oxford and overall won 10 of 14 games. Harry Field and C.D. Curry played well in the three-quarters and Harry Wheildon became a long-term addition to the forwards. He had the reputation of being a particularly robust player and was always ready to back up an argument with a “display of fisticuffs”. Although only into its third season, the club was already signaling financial problems with the majority of its members failing to pay their annual subscription of 5 shillings (25p in today’s money). This would prove to be an issue that would come to haunt the Rovers later on.

1879-83: Midland Counties Success

After leading the club from its start, Hal King announced his resignation and Harry Field replaced him as captain in 1879-80. The Rovers began with their first fixture against Moseley. It might have been their last as the game was abandoned with 20 minutes to go, following an incident of questionable sportsmanship between the players. Leamington were awarded the game - their only win against the Birmingham side. A victory over Coventry followed and in what was a successful season, Rovers suffered only three recorded defeats - to Rugby (twice) and to Banbury.

After playing in some of the early season games, King left the club and moved to India. His last act for the Rovers was to help form the Midland Counties Union in September 1879. This became the constituent body for Midland clubs until 1914, when separate county bodies began to form and split away. The first Midland Counties representative game was against Yorkshire, in February 1880 and featured King, E. Field and C.D. Curry. In addition, G.Gill, A.S. Browne, H. Rawlinson, H. Bellot, R.Bullock, A Miller, McGawley, Green, LRichardson, and Thomas were all capped for the Midlands in the following seasons.

In 1880-81 there were autumn losses to Moseley, Edgbaston Crusaders and Rugby, but wins followed against Burton, Dudley, Banbury, Rugby and Coventry (twice). The line-up for the first Coventry game was: Mulliner – Pritchard, Crabb, S.D. Crawford, - G. Gill, H. Bellot – C. Standbridge, W. Gascoyne, Wheal, Power, Browne, A.S. Wheildon, Smith, P. Winterton, Howard. Of the known scores, Rovers won 13, drew 1 and lost 5.

George Gill was captain for 1881-82 and the main event of the season was the introduction of the Midland Counties Cup, to be competed for by all the clubs in the Midland Union. Rovers overcame Wolverhampton and Edgbaston Crusaders, which took them into a semi-final at Rushden where they inflicted on their hosts their only defeat of the season. The final was played at the Athletic Ground in Coventry, against Moseley. The Birmingham side was also unbeaten and remained so after a one-sided game which they won by 3 goals and 3 tries to nil. Leamington lined up as follows: A.S. Brown - McGawley, Bullock, L. Richardson, H. Bellot – Pritchard, G. Gill – Harding, T. Winterton, C. Smith, W.H. Rawlinson, C. Standbridge, Leaver, and Green. Overall, of the games reported there were 10 wins and 1 draw, to 6 defeats. There were two games against the newly formed Leicester club, losing in November, but turning the tables on them on Boxing Day.

The number of local teams was beginning to grow. The 10th Warwickshire Rifle Volunteer Corps formed a club in 1978-79 and played for several seasons (in effect they were an off-shoot of the Rovers). In 1880-81 a team comprising employees of Nelson Dale & Co at Emscote (called The Buffs) played against the White Star Club. Warwick Excelsior played Stratford Town. Southam played their first game in November 1881 when they entertained Leamington Gas Works. They also played Leamington Britons and the Volunteers. The Warwick club appears to have been formed during this season and they played Rovers for the first time in February 1882.

1882-83 was a season of disputes. Against Rugby, their captain and two of his players left the field in protest over a difference of opinion about whether to award them a try. In the Midlands Counties Cup at Kettering a crowd of nearly 1,000 people created an intimidating atmosphere and although Leamington were well on top for most of the game Kettering kicked a drop goal, to give them victory. The validity of this win was disputed by Leamington and the Midland Union decided that the game should be replayed at a neutral venue. Kettering refused and Leamington went through to the next round on a walk-over. It was a short-lived reprieve as Rovers perished in the mud at Burton, who went on to defeat Moseley in the final.

Dr. Alfred Miller (pictured) joined the Rovers, having been appointed as Assistant [and later Chief] Medical Superintendent of the Warwickshire Lunatic Asylum at Hatton. A forward, he was capped 3 times by Ireland, his third appearance being against England, at Manchester, on 5 February 1883. This was the first year of the Home International Championship. Although credited as a Kingstown [Dublin] player, he was fairly regular in the Rovers team during the season and is therefore claimed as Leamington’s first international footballer.

Dr Alfred Miller

The season’s record was in debit for the first time with very few highlights. Derby games were played at home and away against Warwick and Southam, with honours even in both cases. Rivalry between the Rovers and Warwick developed quickly, with some adverse press reports, but notwithstanding the acrimony between the two clubs, on Boxing Day, teams representing Leamington and Warwick, based on bona-fide residency, met for a challenge match. The first such game had been played in 1880 and it was repeated in 1882 and for several years thereafter, usually ending in a draw or a win for Leamington.

The photograph below is from the 1882-83 season. [Note the round ball – the shape and size of the ball varied, depending on the pig’s bladder used and was not standardised until 1892]. The picture includes a number of regulars who had been with the Rovers from the early days, some of whom are mentioned earlier. Of the others - J. Harding was a Cheltenham College man; S Ruddock attended Leamington College, as did Hugh Bellot, who became a leading academic and international lawyer; Teddy Ivens was a baker and well-regarded boxer; J. Mitchell was a lawyer; the Wayte family (Alline and sons John and Benjamin) owned the Forage Stores in Regent Street; and Tom Proctor was at the Bath Hotel. Roger Bullock was a doctor from Warwick and his brother Arthur also played. W.H. Pratt was a cashier at Lloyds Bank, churchwarden of St Albans and sometimes acted as a referee.

Leamington Rovers, 1882–83

Leamington Rovers 1882-83 S. Ruddock, J. Randall, C. Standbridge, R. Bullock, Wayte (jnr), H.H. Bellot –

W.J. Pratt (umpire) E. Ivens, Wayte (sen), G. Gill (cap), F. Harding, F. Proctor – F. Glover, W. Gascoyne,

J. Hatwood, J. Mitchell

1883-86: South Warwickshire Merger

After the bickering of the previous season, it was something of a surprise that the Leamington and Warwick clubs merged in 1883-84 and became South Warwickshire Rovers, the idea being to maximize their joint potential and acknowledge that they were drawing in players from further afield. Dr. A.E. Bullock, of Warwick, was elected as President and George Gill was Captain. Broad stripes in magenta and chocolate were adopted as the club colours. The first game for the combined club was a draw at home to Burton and the line-up (14 a-side) was - Richardson – R. Bullock, L. Bullock, C. Ricketts – G. Gill, Dene – Aitcheson, Godson, Hunt, Wheildon, Jackson, Burridge, Gascoyne, Glover.

The Rovers then drew Moseley in the Midland Counties Cup with the result following the familiar pattern for this fixture with another heavy defeat, in front of 1,500 people at Leam Terrace. Results were reasonable up to Christmas, including a win against Coventry, but in the New Year they declined and the season ended with a number of cancellations. The highlight was a prestige fixture in February against Middlesex Wanderers, a mid-week invitation side. The take on the gate was a meagre £3.40 and with expenses amounting to £3, the profit shared between the two sides was 20p each. The visitors’ rail fares from London exceeded £7, so they made a considerable loss - but they did win the game.

The merger was not a success and after only one season the Warwick club re-formed in 1884-85, leaving the Rovers to continue as a Leamington side again, with liabilities of £30. Rovers defeated Kidderminster Choir and Stoke in the opening rounds of the Midland Counties Cup and in the semi-final the main Kidderminster side was beaten. Their final opponents were Moseley, in a repeat of the first final three years earlier. A special train was laid on to Coventry and around 4,000 spectators turned up to watch another one-sided affair with Moseley scoring four goals and a try. The Rovers’ line-up was: Bryan – Gwatkin, R. Bullock © Richardson, Ricketts – Gill, Ivens – Wheildon, Gascoyne, Standbridge, Southorn, Thomas, Randall, Barnacle and Brough. A second Cup Final appearance suggests it was a successful season, but the overall results hint otherwise as the opposition played was not always the best.

Elsewhere in the area, the Leamington Crusaders became the second side in the town playing regularly and winning most of their games, defeating - Emscote Rovers, Southam, Birmingham Swifts, Heathfield, Rugby Albion, Moseley Woodstock, Hillfield Rovers, Warwick Excelsior and Coventry St. Osburg’s. Other clubs played at least one game, including: Cubbington Crusaders, Leamington Victoria and Holy Trinity Church.

In 1885-86, no results are recorded for the Rovers before Christmas. The first indication of what was going on came early in 1886 when the Courier reported that the club had split up as it had run out of funds. These were generally tough times, but the paper was critical of some of the members who seemed to have taken the attitude that they had the right to play, but would not pay their dues, a problem that had dogged the club from its start. Another view expressed in its columns was that some of the poorer members found it difficult to pay for their kit and train fares to games as well as to “lose their time” at work when on pay of only £1.50 per week. The team came back together in March and played against newly formed Leamington St John’s and then Warwick, in the Midland Counties Cup, when they lost to their former partners.

1886-89: The Saints March In

The disbandment of the Rovers appears to have brought the curtain down on the careers of several of its original stalwarts, such as Gascoyne and Standbridge, but those that continued, including Arthur Dawkes, H. Southorn, William Barnacle and Harry Wheildon, joined the St John’s Church club which had been formed in September 1885. Barnacle was its first captain and Dawkes took over in the second season. They were to become the Spa’s main side over the next few years, albeit against a lower level of opposition than the Rovers had been used to. Not many games are recorded in 1885-86 but in 1886-87 the Saints lost narrowly to Coventry Albion in the Coventry Junior Challenge Cup and they also entered the Midland Counties Cup under the Rovers’ name, but lost heavily to Rugby, who went on to reach the final. The team in an early season game against Stratford was: A. Bird – F. Fessey, A. Dawkes, H. Smith H. Dutton, - W. Astill, H. Fessey – W. Bird, W. Durham, H. Humphriss, J. Morris, Parsons, R. Southorn H. Wheildon, W. White.

Arthur Dawkes continued to lead the club in 1887-88 and 7 wins and 1 draw from 11 games were achieved, including a victory over Warwick and an early season double over Southam. Moseley Harlequins were beaten, when again playing as South Warwickshire Rovers in the Midlands Cup, but they went out narrowly against Dudley in the next round. St Johns were outstanding in 1888-89, losing only one game - to Moseley in the Midland Counties Cup, after knocking out Warwick in the first round.

The number of teams playing locally continued to increase. St Pauls, the Parish Church, Hillside Rovers and Whitnash played in Leamington. The Buffs merged with Warwick and Avon Rovers, Emscote White Stars and St Nicholas all played in the town. In addition to Southam, Napton Rovers and Long Itchington played in the villages.

1889-90: Town Club revives then expires!

In 1889-90, four years on from the demise of the Rovers, a new Leamington Town club was formed. Built on the outstanding success of St John’s, this was seen as the way forward in re-establishing Leamington as a force in the game. J. Hincks was elected as President with Arthur Dawkes as captain. The new club was to play its games on the Tachbrook Road ground. They opened against the Rovers’ old nemesis, Moseley, with the usual result, but the new club played well until Christmas, scoring wins over Edgbaston Crusaders, Queens College (Birmingham), Wolverhampton and Lincoln College (Oxford). Results were more patchy in the new year but Nottingham were beaten in the first round of the Midland Counties Cup before going out to Stourbridge in the next round with the following side: Passman - Gibbs, A. Dawkes ©, H. Dawkes, Fessey – Horley, Hutchins – Edelmann, White, Canning, Kerr, Watson, Powell, Jeffries, Wheildon

With 12 wins against 7 losses this was a fairly successful first season on the field, but all did not appear to be well off it. The Courier referred to a succession of poor attendances which meant the club was finding it hard to cover its costs and it had to put out a plea for some generous people to come forward to help it survive.

A pre-season trial game in 1890-91 suggested that the new club could be optimistic about its playing strength and at least two reserve games were played early in the season, but after losing the first two senior matches, against Rugby and Bromsgrove, few fixtures are reported and during severe weather from late November until February, no scores are available. Stratford Crusaders were beaten in mid-February, the only recorded win during the season. Thereafter, three games were played against Warwick, all of which were lost and in the Midland Counties Cup, they went out to Handsworth at the first hurdle. At the end of May, Arthur Dawkes and P.G. Southorn (the honorary secretaries) issued a report and balance sheet and expressed regret that, although the club had covered its costs during the last campaign, it had had to sell all its assets and still owed £11 for the rent of the ground in 1889-90. They anticipated that the club would be unable to continue any longer. It appears that no-one came forward to rescue the situation and so, having sold the family silver and still being in debt, the club folded after only two seasons.

1891-95: Albions Fly the Flag

Leamington Albions were formed in 1889-90 and they soon established themselves as the town’s second side. In 1890-91 they reached the final of the Coventry & District Junior Cup, although their progress was not without incident, as they were well beaten by Coventry Excelsior in the first round, only to be reinstated as a result of the Coventry club being expelled from the RFU for professionalism. In the semi-final they put out Coventry Godiva (the holders) with their star player W. Tims scoring all the points with 4 tries. In the final the following side was comfortably defeated by Nuneaton St Mary’s - W Bachelor, J Tims, F Godfrey, F Wright, A Wise - J Haynes (captain) E Bull – GH Tims, J Harris, F Hudson, J Mason, L De Cani, P Robins, G Kenning, R Batty.

With the Town club going to the wall after only two seasons, it fell to the Albions to fly the Rugby flag from 1891-92 onwards and they gained an influx of players from the former town side. The Albions were essentially a team of “working men” and their fixtures were modest by comparison with the town club. J. Haynes handed over the captaincy to F. Godfrey and they won slightly more than they lost. They appear to have been somewhat nomadic in that several home venues are referred to, including: Lillington Road, the Old Cricket Field (Adelaide Road) and the Junior College ground in Avenue Road.

In their fourth season, 1892-93, J. Tims was the captain and G.H. Tims his deputy. With 13 wins and only two defeats, this was the peak of their success. In the Junior Cup they defeated Stratford Crusaders and Southam, before taking on Coventry St. Thomas’(Earlsdon) in the final, at The Butts cricket ground. Two first half tries settled the game in favour of the Albions and the Cup was won for the first time. The line-up for the final is not known but the following were selected for their previous match: F. Gomer - H. Dawkes, J. Tims ©, A. Wiltshire, A. Wise – W. Bull, W. Pignutt – G.H. Tims, W. Batty, W. Batchelor, Cashmore, A. Wright, C. Dean, Friend C. Clarke.

P Robbins was the new captain in 1893-94 and Albions played their home games at Leam Terrace East. The reward for winning the Junior Cup was a Boxing Day fixture against a Coventry & District Select XV and although most of the play was confined within the Albions’ 25 yard line, the game was won by a try from G. Tims early in the second half. In their defence of the Cup they again reached the final, this time coming up against Southam. The match was played at The Butts in Coventry and was a stalemate, with neither side able to trouble the scorer in normal or extra time. It was therefore replayed the following week and again there was no score after 80 minutes and it looked like being another stalemate until Gomer ran on to a pass from Dawkes and scored the winning try with three minutes of extra time to go. The winning team was - F Bull – Astill, Dawkes, Gomer, Walters – Bull, Hutchings – Robbins, Tims, Wright, Dean, Cashmore, Hawley, Ledbrooke, Barnett [Pignutt, Batchelor and Friend played in the first final].

A feature of the second half of this season was the playing of a number of friendly games on Monday afternoons against quality visiting sides: these being Newport Reserves and Abergavenny from Wales and Pendleton from Manchester. It is not clear why games were played on Mondays in mid-winter, other than it was an opportunity to improve the status of the club and it may have been an early closing day for shops which would have released some of the players to play and spectators to attend. These extra games adversely affected the overall results, but of those recorded, 11 games were won, 9 lost and 3 drawn.

The Albions suffered a dip in 1894-95 and although an even record was achieved, the opposition was not always the strongest and they failed to retain the Cup, going out narrowly to Bedworth in the third round. The Coventry and District Junior Association introduced a new league format this season which included a Leamington division. The Albions did not enter, but Southam, Kenilworth Albions, Warwick Ancient Foresters, Warwick Avon Rovers, Long Itchington and Bishops Itchington all did and Southam finished on top, winning all of their games. Southam were probably the best junior side in the area this season. Kenilworth Albions are noted as playing in 1893-94 and this is the first reference to a club existing in that town.

Up until about 1890, football in Leamington meant Rugby Rules and there are very few references to the Association code. Association football was booming throughout the country however and in the new decade it began to gain a foothold in the town. The first club is thought to have been formed by St Paul’s Church and one of their early games was a fixture against the Albions, in which one half was played under Rugby rules and the other under Association rules – the Albions won both! A town club was established in 1890-91, known as Leamington Association Football Club and they played their games at the Tachbrook Road ground. The Parish Church and Budbrook Barracks also fielded Association teams of a similar standard and such was the growing popularity of the game that lots of other sides began playing locally from this season onwards, including some of the schools. By 1892-93, Association became the dominant code in the town, with new clubs forming very rapidly and some, like the Parish Church, converting from Rugby. Leamington AFC became Leamington Town FC and in its first season, won the inaugural Midland Daily Telegraph Cup, beating Rudge United from Coventry in the final. In the quarter-final, they attracted a 3,000 crowd to see them beat Singer Reserves, a level of support the Rugby code could only dream of.

The Rugby game was now in a sad state and by 1893-94 Leamington St Mary’s had ceased to operate, leaving the Albions as the only club of note in the town, although Warwick, Avon Rovers and the Foresters were still going, along with Kenilworth Albion and the village sides such as Southam and the two Itchingtons.

1895-97: Last Try for LRFC

In February 1895 the Courier reported the meeting of a new Leamington Rugby Football Club, held at the Clarendon Hotel. The Albions wound-up in favour of the new town club and great things were promised through the “amalgamation of the town’s gentlemen players with the mainly working men from the Albions”. At the first AGM, in September, the Earl of Warwick was elected as President and it was decided that the club should play in Sage Green jerseys with White collars, which it was thought would look “very pretty”. Home games were to be played on the Old Warwick Road. E.M. Jones was elected as captain. He was a master at Leamington College and had played for Coventry RFC.

Things went badly from the start of 1895-96 with a narrow loss in the opening game against old rivals Edgbaston Crusaders and although Handsworth were then beaten, there was only one more win before Christmas - against a very inexperienced Leamington College side. The losing streak continued into the new year and although Oadby were defeated in the first round of the Midland Counties Cup, Rugby proved too strong at the next stage. The team for the Oadby game was: Horley – Gaussen, Bennett, Airey, Williams – Dakeyne, Barnett – Jones, T Jones, Rivington, Harper, R. Barnett, Forbes, Batchelor, Wright

The 1896-97 season opened with the visit of Nuneaton and, as a sign of things to come, Leamington could only turn out thirteen players and were hammered 43-3. Narrow defeats against Handsworth and Stoneygate suggested things might be stabilising, but after conceding 8 tries in a heavy defeat at Rugby it was all downhill from there with a succession of big losses leading up to Christmas. Only two results are recorded for the second half of the season – defeats by Stratford and Camp Hill Old Edwardians in round one of the Midland Counties Cup in March, when only the following 13 players turned up at home: Jones – Gaussen, Lamplough, P. Fell – H.P. Fell, Ryves – Field, Flood, Vernon, Barnett, Galloway, Clarke, Colley.

The only positive notes were that F.G. Rivington played twice for the Midland Counties (against Gloucestershire and Kent) the first Leamington player to be so-honoured since the days of the Rovers, and Owen Lloyd-Evans won a Blue for Cambridge University. Both were ex-Warwick schoolboys. No other sides in Leamington or Warwick are recorded as being in action this season. Southam continued to play regularly and strongly, winning the Coventry Junior Cup for the first timeby defeating Coventry Albions 6-5 in the final.

1897-98, the third season for the Leamington club, started late, with a visit to Handsworth where they played 3 men short. The following week, Stoneygate of Leicester visited Old Warwick Road and played in front of a crowd said to have comprised “three reporters, two spectators and a dog” and won thanks to an early score. Bromsgrove were due to be the next opponents but the Worcestershire club was dissolved and the match was cancelled. Moseley Harlequins were to visit on 6 November, but Leamington couldn’t raise a team and the local press suggested that, as their existence as a club was now fitful, they had better “chuck it”. This appears to have been what happened as although other fixtures were planned, no further results are recorded. Nothing is known about whether the Club was formally wound-up. The Stoneygate game appears to be the last one played in Leamington in the Victorian era and the side was - TS Evans – H Lamplough, EA Gaussen, P Fell, JT Williams – WL Ryves, FH Davis – Flood, D Legge, Chattaway, JH Burnside, Clarke, R Barnett, C Barnett, Forbes.

Rovers, Saints and Albions - a full history of Rugby Football

in Leamington in Victorian times, is

available from info@leamingtonrugby.co.uk