Rugby Football in Victorian Leamington

Part 3: 1890 to 1898

Part 1: Origins to 1882
Part 2: 1882 to 1890
Part 3: 1890 to 1898

The fixture tables retain the dates, results, scoring notation and abbreviations used in the original account. “For” and “Against” follow the original columns; a dash marks an empty entry.

1890-91 – Town Club Expires

The scoring system was amended as described earlier and gradually results were shown as point totals instead of the detailed scoring. Very little is recorded in the local newspapers this season. Of the games where results are known, these were not very good for Leamington – all but one of 11 lost in fact. It appears that after one good season the club was in trouble again, both on and off the field,

A trial game was arranged for 20th September and the Courier was optimistic about the club’s likely playing strength. At least two early season reserve games were played so players must have been available in good numbers to begin with. However, the opening game was lost heavily by 6 goals and a try at Bromsgrove. The only other results available before Christmas are losses to Handsworth, Coventry reserve teams and Rugby Loco, which was shock defeat against a side which was regarded as well below their level.

There was severe weather from late November until the end of January and very few games were played in the Midlands. No scores are available for this period. The next known result was against Stratford Crusaders on 14th February which resulted in a welcome win. Thereafter, three games were played against Warwick, all of which were lost. The first two of these were arranged as trials for the clubs’ upcoming Midland Counties Cup ties. The Leamington team in the first game was: Mills – A. Dawkes ©, D. Timms, Wiltshire, Ledbrook - Horley, Hutchins – Kerr, R. Canning, Aubrey, Benham, Jeffrey, Bartlett, Smith, Lloyd

Leamington and Warwick both went out in the first round of the Cup – to Burton and Handsworth respectively. In commenting on the Leamington match, Nimrod, the Coventry Evening Telegraph columnist said that “Leamington ought to have made a better show…….and there seems to be small hope of the Royal Borough taking any prominent part in rugby football for some time to come”.

Warwick played their games on a field by Emscote Lawn, made available by their President, George Nelson. Comments made at their annual dinner at the start of the season (and the next season) confirm that there had been a merger between the Warwick Town club and the Buffs, with the latter effectively becoming the senior partner.

On 30th May 1991 the Courier reported that Arthur Dawkes and P.G. Southorn (the honorary secretaries of the Leamington Club) had issued a report and balance sheet for 1890/91 and they had expressed regret that, “owing to circumstances, it had been a most unfortunate season”. With considerable effort the club had managed to meet all its liabilities incurred during the season, but this had necessitated the sale of the club’s property (viz. goalposts and boundary wires and posts). There still remained owing the sum of £11, for rent of the ground for 1889/90. It was stated that if legal action was taken to recover this amount it was understood that all members [both seasons] would be liable to be called upon. Under all these circumstances, the honorary secretaries gave notice that they could not undertake that the club would continue. 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.

Leamington Town 1890-91

Leamington Albions fared better. In their second season, they reached the final of the Coventry & District Junior Cup. Their progress was not without incident however, 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 for poaching players and encouraging professionalism, by their members’ offering jobs to players. Having disposed of Coventry St John’s in the next round, they then gained revenge over Coventry Godiva (the holders) for their semi-final loss the previous season, although good fortune again played its part with the opposition turning up with only 12 players. W.Tims scored all the points with 4 tries, one of which he converted himself. In the final, they met Nuneaton St Mary’s and turned up an hour late for kick-off at The Butts and could have been disqualified, but the match went ahead and after a close first half, the Nuneaton side pulled away to win comfortably by 5 tries to 1. Tims scored the Leamington try, which he converted. The line-up for the final was - 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-

Leamington Albions 1890-91

1891-92: Albions fly the Flag

In 1991, the Association code was booming throughout the country and it was in this season that it began to gain a foothold in Leamington for the first time, although some teams were reported as playing the previous year. 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 half under Association rules – Albions won both! A town club was established, known as Leamington Association Football Club and they commenced their fixtures against Queen’s College Birmingham on 31 October, winning 2-0. They played their games at the Tachbrook Road ground and were based at the Avenue Hotel. The Parish Church and Budbrook Barracks fielded Association teams of a similar standard and such was the growing popularity of the game that lots of other sides were playing locally from this season onwards, including some of the local schools.

With Leamington Town Rugby Club going to the wall after only two seasons, it fell on Leamington Albions to fly the Rugby Rules flag. The Albions were essentially a team of “working men” and their fixtures were modest by comparison with the former town club. Leamington was now on the Coventry & District junior circuit, rather the first-class Midlands circuit as in the past. The annual meeting of the club was held in their club room at the Warwick Arms, Regent Street, on Tuesday 1st September 1891. Mr J. Haynes (past captain) presided. The following officers were elected – F. Godfrey as captain, with A. Cromer as his deputy. The Hon. Secretary was F. Hudson (of Chandos Street) and the Committee comprised Messrs Mann, L. de Cani, J. Cooper, J. Clarke and A. Cromer.

The Albions scored 60 points over the season and conceded the same number, many of these at the start of the campaign, when they were struggling to field their best side. One or more results appear to be missing but of those that are known they won 7, drew 2 and lost 5. They opened with a 15-0 defeat against Warwick and lost to them again a few weeks later by a solitary try. In the other local derbies, they defeated Avon Rovers and drew with Southam. They appear to have been somewhat nomadic in that several home venues are referred to including, Lillington Road, the Old Cricket Field on Adelaide Road and the Junior College ground. The last of these grounds was used for the second round tie in the Junior Cup, when they entertained Coventry Lord Street. The game was lost by a try to a penalty goal in a game in which they were said to be “chiselled [cheated] rather than beaten” and the referee was castigated for his bias against the home side. Albion made an appeal against the result but it was rejected.

Little other rugby was reported. Warwick drew with Stratford in November and lost to Avon Rovers in November. They lost easily to Old Edwardians in round 2 of the Midland Counties Cup in March.

Warwick Excelsior were also active and Leamington St Mary’s played Kenilworth Albion twice in January, both sides winning once. This is the first reference found for a regular Kenilworth team.

Leamington Albions 1891-92

The Albions’ annual dinner took place on 29th April 1893 at the Warwick Arms. Councillor Norris presided and among those present were Messrs. Duckett, J.T. Hobbs, Scurr (snr) Godfrey, Harris, G. Tims, J. deCani, Bartlett, Bradford, Clulee, J. Tims, Robins, Bull, H. Dawkes and others. It was reported that during the past year the club had increased its membership, due to an influx from the defunct Town side and receipts had been £10.19s 10d, including; £3.8s from honorary members’ subscriptions; £2.7s from players’ subscriptions; £4.14s 4d gate money; and a half-guinea donation. There was a balance of £3. 7s 10d.

1892-93: Albions win Cup

The annual meeting of the Albions was held at the Warwick Arms on 26 July 1892, prior to its fourth season. Councillor Norris, the club President, was in charge and J. Tims was elected captain, with G.H. Tims his deputy. The committee comprised Messrs J Clarke, F. Gomer, P. Robbins, W. Mills and J. Cooper. Messrs J. deCani and F. Bartlett were re-elected as Hon Secretary and Treasurer respectively. At a special meeting on 23 August, it was agreed that the club should attempt to use the Tachbrook Road ground near to the Windmill Inn for the coming season but this did not appear to happen. They began the season on the Old Cricket Field, Adelaide Road and later played on Avenue Road. Their failure to secure the Tachbrook Road ground was probably due to the association team, now known as Leamington Town FC, taking it over.

The season began for the Albions with a game against Stratford Crusaders. 300 people attended, with the gate takings going towards the Warneford Hospital appeal fund. The Albions went down narrowly by 2 tries to a goal and a try. In their next game they drew with their closest local rivals, Leamington St Mary’s. After that the team got into its stride and lost only two more games during the season – to Rugby and by a disputed try against Stratford Athletic.

The club decided to enter the Junior Cup again and after a bye in the first round, they defeated Stratford Crusaders at the end of February and then played away at Southam in the semi-final. Southam had eliminated Leamington St Mary’s in the previous round. Although the Leamington side were strong favourites, it was Southam who dominated the first half. Albions began to exert more control in the second period but the game went into extra time with no score on the board. It was decided when J. Tims sprinted down left wing and touched down between the posts. The final was played against Coventry St Thomas’, from Earlsdon, at The Butts cricket ground, on 15th April and two first half tries settled the game in favour of the Albions, in what was described as one of “ the finest games witnessed in the three-spired city for many years”. 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

Leamington Albions 1892-93

At its annual dinner on 3rd May, the club celebrated its cup success and its general progress. The playing record for the season was 13 wins, 2 draws and only 3 defeats, with a points’ difference of 81-22. It was hoped that the club could move forward from this level. The Courier made the suggestion that the Albions might try to enlist the services of the Rev. A. Gray, Clapin and E.M. Jones, all of whom played for Coventry and Sellicks, the captain of Devon. They were all Leamington men who it was thought might prefer to assist their town in preference to outsiders and if their services could be obtained, the Midland Counties Cup ought to be within their grasp.

However, despite the Albion’s success, things were not looking that good for the Rugby code in the area. Leamington St. Mary’s, who had been competitive at the start of the season, had “fallen to pieces” and the other clubs in the town were thought unlikely to continue. This can be regarded as the season when Association football became the dominant code in Leamington, as was happening throughout the country. New clubs were forming very rapidly and some such as Leamington Parish Church converted from Rugby to Association rules. Leamington Town FC, in its first season, won the inaugural Midland Daily Telegraph Cup, beating Rudge United from Coventry in the final. In the quarter-final, played in Leamington, they attracted a massive 3,000 crowd to see them defeat Singer Reserves, a level of support the rugby code could only dream of.

1893-94: Albions keep the Cup

The Albions had a new captain in P. Robbins and they played their home games at Leam Terrace East. The season began with a local derby against Leamington St Mary’s which was won easily by 2 goals and 3 tries to nil and up to Christmas, 5 games were won and 3 lost, with 1 draw. The reward for winning the Junior Cup was a Boxing Day fixture against a Coventry & District Select XV. The report of the game suggests that most of the play was confined within the Albions’ 25-yard line, but the game was won by a try from G. Tims, early in the second half. The sides were

ALBIONS: F Bull – Astill, Wise, Gomer, Robbins © - Pignutt, Hawley – Dean, Friend, Cashmore, Batchelor, Wright, Barnett, Tims, Hutchings. COV & DISTRICT: Butlin (Rugby Loco) Grant (Southam) Standley, Elcross (Strat. Crus.) Bullimore (Avon Rov.) Bradshaw (Anc. For) Evetts (Southam) Mansell (Avon Rov) Pratt (Southam) Rowen, Aitken (Kenilworth) Waddington (Earlsdon) Spraggett, Minell (Long Itch) Ivens (Albions)

In their defence of the Cup: after a first round bye, Nuneaton 2nd XV were defeated and the Albions were then drawn away at Warwick Ancient Foresters, in what proved to be a controversial tie. The game was lost by 5 points to 0, but the Albions appealed against the inclusion of five of the Foresters’ players, who had appeared for Warwick Town in the Midland Counties Cup the previous year, which made them ineligible. The appeal was upheld and the game was replayed two weeks later. This time the Albions won by 1 try to nil. After easing past Rugby Loco in the semis, the final opponents were Southam, who were becoming their biggest local rivals. The match was played at The Butts in Coventry on 14th April and it was a stalemate, with neither side able to trouble the scorer in normal or in extra time. It was therefore replayed the following week and again there was no score after 80 minutes. 20 minutes of extra time was played and although there were chances for both sides it looked like being another stalemate, until Gomer ran on to a pass from Dawkes and scored the winning try with three minutes to go. The Cup was therefore retained. 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].

Leamington Albions 1893-94

The other feature of the second half of the season was the playing of a number of friendly games on Monday afternoons against quality visiting sides. The additional games were against 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 the Pendleton game being on Easter Bank Holiday. It may be that Monday was the early closing day for shops which would have released some of the players to play and spectators to attend. It was not expected that Albions would win any of these matches and this proved to be the case, but it was thought that the fixtures would help what was a young side to gain experience and improve the status of the club. The extra games adversely affected the overall results, but of those recorded, 11 games were won, 9 lost and 4 drawn. Nothing was heard of St Mary’s after the early part of the season but within the district the Warwick town club, Avon Rovers and the Foresters were all operating, along with Kenilworth Albion and the village sides such as Southam and the two Itchington’s. The Albions were the only club of note in Leamington.

1894-95: New LRFC planned

The Albions suffered a dip in form this season. An even record was achieved, but the opposition was not always the strongest and included the second teams of Stratford and Rugby and the Coventry third team. Against Coventry Hertford’s they were four men short and at Warwick Ancient Foresters they turned up with a weak team and the sides had to be mixed together to ensure a good game. The results are not all recorded after Christmas and some games were frozen off, but of those that are known, 7 were won and 8 lost with 4 draws. They reached the third round of the Coventry Junior Cup before going out to Bedworth by 1 try to nil, in extra time, and were thereby deprived of a hat-trick of trophies. Their early season line-up against Nuneaton was: Harris - Astill, Wise, Robbins © Tims – Hawley, Taber – Wright, Barnett, Benning, Hayes, Compton, Cotterill, Grey

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, gaining revenge over the Albions for their defeat in the Junior Cup final the year before and reaching the semi-final this time, before losing to Rugby Loco in a replay. Loco beat Warwick Avon Rovers in the final, after Rovers had put out Bedworth, the conquerors of the Albions.

In December 1894, a meeting of interested parties was held with a view to re-establishing a Leamington town club, based on the thought that the better players living in the area might prefer to play for Leamington, rather than travel to Coventry, or Birmingham. Messrs Fell and Robins, representing Leamington Albions, pointed out that their club was not intending to continue beyond the current season and unless the new club was formed, their best players would go over to the Association code. They thought the majority of the Albions’ players would join the new venture and help to make it a success. The meeting decided unanimously that the new club should be formed. Mr H.M. Clarke was appointed as Secretary and Mr Fell as Treasurer with a representative Committee. Initial planning commenced and a second meeting was held, at the Clarendon Hotel, on 21 February 1895 to formalise the arrangements. E.M. Jones presided and there was a good attendance. The club rules were passed and Mr Clarke reported a strong list of vice-presidents. The Earl of Warwick had been invited to become President and it was anticipated that he would accept. Fixtures had already been arranged for 1895-96, with Edgbaston Crusaders, Handsworth, Nuneaton, Stratford, Rugby and Bromsgrove promising dates. Coventry and Old Edwardians had offered fixtures against their reserves, but the club could not see its way to accepting them at the time.

This was the second attempt to get Leamington back into the big time after the demise of the Rovers in 1885 and a taste of what the town had been missing was given on 6th April, when erstwhile rivals Coventry and Moseley played in the final of the Midlands Counties Cup on the Portobello Ground at Emscote, the home of Warwick United AFC. Moseley won by a drop goal and a try to nil

Leamington Albions 1894-95

1895-96: First season for LRFC

The annual general meeting of the new Leamington Rugby Club was held at the Clarendon Hotel on 7th September 1895, with Mr A.C. Jones presiding. The Earl of Warwick was elected as President, with the Hon. Alfred Lyttelton MP, Mr F.A. Newdigate MP and Mr M.P. Lucas as Vice-Presidents. M.H. Clarke continued as Secretary with Mr Stevens as Treasurer. The following were elected to serve on the Committee – Messrs Astill, Wise, Brown, Gill, E. Gaussen, and V. Jepson. At a further meeting on 23rd September, 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 the Coventry club and was named by the Courier as one of the players the Albions should try to attract, after their cup success in 1893. Another player on that wish-list was Sellick, who was elected as vice-captain, although he does not appear to have played. The Albions wound-up as expected [their Old Warwick Road ground taken over by the Association Club] and great things were promised through the amalgamation of the town’s gentlemen players with the mainly working men of the Albions.

The opening game was against the formidable Edgbaston Crusaders and a with a lot of last-minute changes it was feared that Leamington would be unable to make a fight of it, but expertly marshalled by E.M. Jones they went down only to an unlucky try in the last minute. Handsworth were beaten in the second game and there followed home and away fixtures against both Leamington College and Warwick School. The Warwick scholars had the slight edge, drawing the first game and winning the second, but the College were very inexperienced and were beaten easily both times. The team for the first Warwick game was: T. Saul – F.H. Thelwell, J.T. Williams, Wise – A. Barnett, F. Pullen – H.M. Caunter, A. Duschense, R. Barnett, G. Tims, W. Batchelor, C. Dean, E.M. Jones, Harper. F.G. Rivington and A.E. Gaussen, who were also Leamington players, turned out for the school. The club was to become very dependent on students.

Wins were hard to come by through the autumn and into the second half of the season and although some draws were obtained, most games were lost and the only victories were against Stratford (in one of three derby games against them) and St John’s College, Oxford. In the Midland Counties Cup, Oadby were the first-round opponents in mid-March and Leamington went through with a comfortable win by a goal and a try to nil. In the next round they drew Rugby at home. Despite fielding a number of reserves, Leamington had the edge in the backs but didn’t take their chances and the opportunity to cause an upset was lost as they went down by 21-3. The team for the Oadby game was: Horley – Gaussen, Bennett, Airey, Williams – Dakeyne, Barnett – Jones, T Jones, Rivington, Harper, R. Barnett, Forbes, Batchelor, Wright.

Leamington RFC 1895-96

There may be a few games missing but most of the Leamington results are recorded and of these there were 6 wins, 3 draws and 14 losses. It was a disappointing start. Southam had another good season finishing runners up in the Coventry & District Junior league, losing only to the winners: Bedworth. They had another good run in the Junior Cup, losing to Rugby Loco in a replayed semi-final.

In August 1895, 22 clubs seceded from the RFU and formed the independent Northern Football Union, over the issue of amateurism and their wish to make “broken time” payments to players for loss of earnings. This in time became the Rugby League and another different code of football. The effect on the RFU was catastrophic as its membership slumped from 481 clubs in 1893 to 242 in 1903. It took until 1925 to get back to the 1895 level of affiliation and the England side suffered accordingly. Whether this affected Midlands clubs and Leamington in particular, is not clear.

1896-97: All Lost

The second season of the new LRFC opened with the visit of Nuneaton at the end of September, and as a sign of things to come, Leamington could only turn out 13 players and were beaten 43-3. Narrow defeats against Handsworth and Stoneygate suggested things might be stabilising, but after conceding 8 tries in a 38-3 defeat at Rugby it was all downhill from there with a succession of big losses leading up to Christmas. Only three results are recorded for the second half of the season – a 23-7 loss to Wolverhampton in mid-January and after a month of inactivity, a 14-0 loss to Stratford in February. The final game was a 23-3 defeat by Camp Hill Old Edwardians in round one of the Midland Counties Cup in March. Only 13 players turned up at home and Leamington were without Rivington, their best forward. Camp Hill scored 4 goals and a try to one try by Gaussen. The team was: Jones – Gaussen, Lamplough, P. Fell – H.P. Fell, Ryves – Field, Flood, Vernon, Barnett, Galloway, Clarke, Colley

Leamington RFC 1896/97

The known results for the season are - 15 games played and 15 defeats. The only positive events 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 O. Lloyd-Evans won a Blue for Cambridge. Both were ex-Warwick schoolboys. No other sides in Leamington or Warwick are recorded as being in action this season. Southam continued to play, beating Napton in the first round of the Coventry Junior Cup and going on to lift the trophy for the first time by defeating Coventry Albions 6-5 in the final. The winning Southam team (as selected) was: Redgraves – J. Grant, Bicknell, Gaskins, A. Herbert – Evetts, Morbey – Baldwin, Hudson, Hughes, E. Grant (Captain) Umbers, Hancocks, Duckett and Cardell

1897-98: End of the road

In previewing the football season in September, the Warwick Advertiser commented that “the Rugby game seems as dead as a door-nail in Warwick and Leamington district - nothing is yet heard of the resumption of operations by the Leamington club”. It added, that the situation was similar elsewhere, for example in Coventry, where the Rugby code was reported as being in decline and clubs were finding it difficult to get players to join them. This was attributed the stranglehold gained by the Association code with its well defined and popular competition structures. Similar comments were made in the Rugby Advertiser which said that “Rugby Football which five years ago held undisputed sway in Warwick and Leamington is now only played by the boys of Warwick School and Leamington College”.

The reported demise of the Leamington club was slightly premature as it at least commenced its third season on 9th October, with a visit to Handsworth. Leamington played 3 or 4 men short and not surprisingly the game resulted in an easy win for the Birmingham side, by 23-5. The following week Stoneygate travelled from Leicester to visit Old Warwick Road and played in front of a crowd said to have comprised “three reporters, two spectators and a dog”. The visitors won thanks to an early score. Gaussen and Lamplough excelled for the home side in a spirited performance. The selected line-up was TS Evans – H Lamplough, EA Gaussen, P Fell, JT Williams – WL Ryves, FH Davis – Flood, Legge, Chattaway, Burnside, Clarke, R Barnett, C Barnett, Forbes

Leamington RFC – 1897-98

This may well have been the last game played in the Victorian era. Bromsgrove were due to be the next opponents but the Worcestershire club was dissolved and the match was cancelled. Moseley Harlequins were due to visit on 6 November, but Leamington couldn’t raise a team. The local press suggested that as their existence as a club was now fitful, in common parlance, they had better “chuck it”. This appears to have been what happened as although other fixtures were scheduled there are no further results available. Nothing is known about whether the Club was formally wound-up or not., although Leamington Town FC, had taken over the lease of the Old Warwick Road ground for Association football by the end of the season.

And so, after a promising start by Leamington Rovers, in the earliest days of rugby football, which could have resulted in an on-going first-class club, on a par with those in towns of a similar size, such as Nuneaton and Rugby, the game in Leamington sank without a trace in 1897 and did not resurface until the modern Leamington Rugby Club was established in 1926.

The Coventry, Nuneaton, Rugby and Stratford clubs managed to continue, with Stratford almost reaching first-class standard and winning the Midlands Counties Cup in 1908. In the villages, Southam continued to do well, playing mostly against Coventry and Rugby junior sides. They won the Coventry Junior Cup for a second time in 1900. Napton also had a good side and were their fierce rivals. Stockton and Bishops Itchington also continued to play. Southam appear to have gone into decline from around 1905, when an Association club was formed, with the same impact as in Leamington. A match was played on Christmas Day in 1908 to try and revive interest in the village, but it seems to have come to nothing. With the demise of the village sides, Warwick School was left as the only active rugby team in the immediate area until after the First World War.

There are probably several reasons for the demise of the game in the Leamington area. In the case of the Rovers and the later attempts to re-start the town club, problems of financial mismanagement, apathy and in-fighting were reported in the Courier in jottings by OPQ and ALPHA, the latter adding that, from his experience –

“trams were missed, matches began or ended in semi-darkness, teams did not turn up and consequently the public began to get disgusted. Some of the best players were employed in banks and other businesses which turned the half-day holiday into a sham. Whilst many tried to keep things going there was no outstanding personality to follow on from H.C. King”.

The Leamington Daily Circular was more sympathetic and in October 1896, when the Club was losing every week, described it as

“a striking instance of the amateurism of old… a club low in finances, with hardly any gates, members out of pocket……and losing match after match, yet still pegging away”.

It felt the Club needed more patronage and better luck but commended its spirit in taking on the good clubs and losing all the time rather than settling for playing a lot of junior clubs

Whatever happened to Leamington, it does not explain why the other clubs in the area disappeared. The split between rugby union and rugby league in 1895; schools no longer playing the game and providing a player feed; an economic downturn and a changing social profile in the town may all have been contributing factors, but their significance is not clear. The most obvious explanation is that Association replaced Rugby as the popular code for both players and spectators, with large paying crowds attracted to watching the free-flowing Association game rather than the endless close-quarter play of the Rugby code.

John Lyons

Honorary Secretary, Leamington RFC

Updated September 2022

Part 1: Origins to 1882
Part 2: 1882 to 1890
Part 3: 1890 to 1898