Blackheath Football Club is a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

club based in Well Hall,

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three ...

, in south-east

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The club was founded in Blackheath in 1858 and is the oldest open rugby club in continuous existence in the world. The Blackheath club also assisted in organising the world's first rugby international (between

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

on 27 March 1871) and hosted the first international between England and Wales ten years later – the players meeting and getting changed at the Princess of Wales public house. Blackheath, along with Civil Service F.C., is one of the two clubs that can claim to be a founder member of both

The Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

and the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

. The club currently plays in

National League 1 National One, up until 2023 known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Lea ...

, the third tier of the

English rugby union system Men's Rugby union in England consists of 106 leagues, which includes professional leagues at the highest level, down to amateur regional leagues. Promotion and relegation are in place throughout the system. Women's Rugby union in England consi ...

, with matches played at Well Hall after a move from Rectory Field in Blackheath at the end of the 2015–16 season.

History

Early history

The institution was founded as "Blackheath Football Club" in 1858 by old boys of

Blackheath Proprietary School The Blackheath Proprietary School was an educational establishment founded in 1830. In the 19th century, it had a profound influence on the game of football, in both Association and Rugby codes. In 1863, the school became one of the founders of T ...

who played a "carrying" game of football made popular by

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

. When the old boys played against the current pupils, supporters would shout for either "Club" or "School" accordingly. This is why, to this day, supporters of BFC shout for "Club", not for "Blackheath". In 1863, the club developed the tactic of passing the ball from player to player as an alternative to the solo break and the "kick and follow-up". Blackheath football club team 1862

Blackheath is the fourth-oldest rugby club in continuous existence in the world, after

Dublin University Football Club Dublin University Football Club (DUFC) is the rugby union club of Trinity College Dublin, Trinity College, in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, which plays in 2024–25 All-Ireland League (rugby union)#Division 1B, Division 1B of the All-Ir ...

(1854),

Liverpool St Helens F.C. Liverpool St Helens Football Club is an England, English rugby union team formed from the merger of Liverpool Football Club and St Helens RUFC. The institution is not to be confused with either Liverpool F.C. (playing association football) or St ...

(1857) and

Edinburgh Academical Football Club Edinburgh Academical Football Club, also known as Edinburgh Accies, is a rugby union club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club is currently a member of the Scottish Premiership, the top tier of Scottish club rugby. Its home ground is Raeburn Place, ...

(1857), but asserts it is the "oldest independent Rugby club, meaning that it was not attached to any institution such as a military establishment, hospital, school or college." In 1863 Blackheath was a founder member of

which was formed at the

Freemasons' Tavern The Freemasons' Tavern was established in 1775 at 61–65 Great Queen Street in the West End of London, West End of London. It served as a meeting place for a variety of notable organisations from the 18th century until it was demolished in 1909 ...

, Great Queen Street, on Lincoln Inn Fields, London 26 October 1863 with the intention to frame a code of laws that would embrace the best and most acceptable points of all the various methods of play under the one heading of "football".

Francis Maule Campbell Francis Maule Campbell (c. 1844 – 30 December 1920) was a significant figure in the history of association and rugby football. Early life Campbell was born in Blackheath, Kent to Dawson Campbell, a wine merchant, and his wife Jane née Sut ...

, a member of Blackheath, was elected treasurer. At the fifth meeting Campbell argued that hacking was an essential element of 'football' and that eliminating hacking would "do away with all the courage and pluck from the game, and I will be bound over to bring over a lot of Frenchmen who would beat you with a week’s practice." At the sixth meeting on 8 December Campbell withdrew Blackheath, explaining that the rules that the FA intended to adopt would destroy the game and all interest in it. Other rugby clubs followed this lead and did not join the Football Association. In this way the great divide between association football and rugby took place. In December 1870, Edwin Ash, secretary of

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Ric ...

published a letter in the papers which said, "Those who play the rugby-type game should meet to form a code of practice as various clubs play to rules which differ from others, which makes the game difficult to play." On 26 January 1871 a meeting attended by representatives from 22 clubs was held in London at the

Pall Mall Restaurant The Pall Mall Restaurant was a hostelry situated at Number 1 Cockspur Street, Westminster, London, just off Pall Mall and near Trafalgar Square. The site was subsequently the offices of the White Star Line, and was then occupied by a Tex Mex r ...

. As a result of this meeting the

(RFU) was founded. Three lawyers who had been pupils at Rugby School drew up the first laws of the game which were approved in June 1871. The Club is one of seven of the original twenty-one clubs to have survived to this day.

Later history

Blackheath initially played its matches on the Heath (meeting and changing at the Princess of Wales

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

) but occasional interruptions from spectators led the club to move, initially to a private field (Richardson's Field) in Blackheath before moving to the Rectory Field in 1883. On 27 March 1871,

(captained by Blackheath's captain and with three other Club players in the 20-strong side) played

at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh, losing by one point. This was the first international rugby union game in history. Richardson's Field hosted the first England v.

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

fixture on 19 February 1881, which England won, again with four Club players in the side. In 1982 Blackheath joined the list of winning teams at the Glengarth Sevens at Stockport R.U.F.C. Blackheath were one of the opponents for

The Original All Blacks The Original All Blacks (also known simply as "The Originals") were the first New Zealand national rugby union team, New Zealand national rugby union team to tour outside Australasia. They toured the British Isles, France and the United State ...

on their 1905–06 northern hemisphere tour, the first-ever New Zealand rugby union tour outside of Australasia. The touring side ran out 32–0 victors. After 158 years it was announced that the 2015–16 season would be the last playing at the historic Rectory Field as the club had made the difficult decision to move to their training ground, Well Hall in

, for the 2016–17 season to maximise matchday revenue and to continue developing for the future. Blackheath played their last game at the Rectory Field on 30 April 2016, beating Blaydon 45–17.

Current standings

Modern club

*Blackheath FC's first team currently plays in National Division 1 in England, but the club fields many sides. *The mini and junior sections have their own home ground, based at Kidbrooke Road, Well Hall, London, SE9. *The club also has two women's teams, the first XV winning the Championship South East 2 League back to back in seasons 2015–16 and 2016–17. *The club provides sections ranging from under-6's right through to under-18's, and has experienced success at all levels. *The mini section ran its first Mini Rugby Festival at

Eltham College Eltham College is a private day school situated in Mottingham, southeast London. Eltham and Mottingham once formed part of the same parish, hence its name. It is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC). Early history ...

on 25 November 2007. *The club also runs a rugby academy, which started in its current format in 2013, for boys who wish to continue their academic studies alongside playing rugby. The academy is also based at Well Hall.

Notable players

:''See also :Blackheath F.C. players'' * David Allen – openside flanker who played at Club for 13 seasons between 2004 and 2016, scoring 147 league tries from 274 appearances and becoming the all-time top try scorer in tier 3. Gained 8 caps for the England Counties XV as well as appearing for the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

. * Harold Dingwall Bateson. * Thomas Batson * Norman Bruce * Mike Bulpitt * George Burton (rugby union) *

Mike Campbell-Lamerton Colonel Michael John Campbell-Lamerton (1 August 1933 – 17 March 2005) was a Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland international player. He was also a British Army officer. Military career He was educated at Ottershaw School ne ...

. * Charles Arthur Crompton, played in England's first international * Walter Michael Dickson * John Douglas * Hector Forsayth * Edward Fraser * C.B. Fry * John Gallagher, All Black and member of the team that won the inaugural

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

in 1987. * Stephen Gray, played for Canada 1987,91,95 World Cups. * Thomas Gubb * Stan Harris * Dhani Jones * Aadel Kardooni, England A * Frank Mitchell. * John Selwyn Moll * Raynor Parkinson * JEC 'Birdie' Partridge * Alexander William Pearson (born 1854) * Charles Pillman. Played for England 18 times before WW1. * Robert Pillman. Charles Pillman's younger brother who played for England against France in 1914 and was killed in Belgium in 1916 * Hamish Scott * E H D Sewell sports writer and cricketer * Charles Sherrard (1849–1938), played in England's first international * Joe Simpson. * Mickey Skinner "The Munch". * Stephen Smith. Five England caps * Graham Standing * Frederick Stokes (1850–1929),Steve Lewis, ''One Among Equals'', 2008, pp9-10 (Vertical Editions:London) the first captain of the

England national rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France national rugby union team, France, Ireland national rugby union team, ...

. * Lennard Stokes (1856–1933), former captain of the

. * Henry Taylor (rugby union) * Rob Webber.

Fictional players

Dr. Watson Dr. John H. Watson is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). "The Adventure of Shosc ...

, character from the

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

stories

Honours

Middlesex Sevens The Middlesex Sevens was a Rugby Sevens tournament held annually at Twickenham stadium in London, England until 2011. It was first held in 1926, and started by Dr J.A. Russell-Cargill, a London-based Scot.Bath, ''Scotland Rugby Miscellany'', p82 T ...

(2): 1932, 1958 * Gala Sevens (1): 1957 * Kent Cup (16): 1891, 1972, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1996, 2003, 2009, 2013 * Glengarth Sevens Main Event (1): 1982 * Glengarth Sevens Davenport Plate (1): 1983 * National Division Three South (1): 2003–04 * National League 2 East (1): 2022–23

References

External links

* {{The Football Association 1858 establishments in England Blackheath, London Eltham Rugby union teams in England Rugby clubs established in 1858 Rugby union clubs in London Rugby union clubs in Kent Sport in the Royal Borough of Greenwich