Wimbledon Rugby Football Club is a

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

based in

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

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 a founding member of 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 ...

and were at that time known as the Wimbledon Hornets. The first

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 ...

team currently play in Regional 1 South Central following their relegation from National League 2 East at the end of 2023–24 season. Apart from rugby, the club has a

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section.

History

Wimbledon’s first recorded match was against Richmond F.C. in November 1865, making the club one of the oldest in the country, and one of just twelve surviving clubs that founded the

in 1871. The club’s captain at this time was L J Maton who drafted the first laws of the game and went on to become the third president of the RFU in 1875. In the same year, two club members, J D and H J Graham, gained one and four caps respectively for

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 ...

. In 1874 the club changed its name to Wimbledon RFC. It has been suggested that the change in name was due to the club's L J Maton becoming president of the

, and in order to reflect their new-found gravitas they dispensed with the Hornets for a less whimsical name.Dick Tyson, ''London's Oldest Rugby Clubs'', p159 (JJG Publishing), 2008 They played on

Wimbledon Common Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Co ...

until

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, using the Rose & Crown in Wimbledon Village as changing rooms and clubhouse. The club then went into suspended animation when the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

started, and was only re-formed in 1927. It was at this time that the club changed colours from broad blue and white hooped jerseys, to maroon and Cambridge blue hooped jerseys.Dick Tyson, ''London's Oldest Rugby Clubs'', p158 (JJG Publishing), 2008 The club's celebration of its centenary with a dinner held in February 1966, was demonstrative that it perceived itself a continuation of the original Wimbledon Hornets. They moved to the current clubhouse on Barham Road,

in the 1987–88 season, coinciding with the setting up of

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

league rugby in

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Honours

1st team: * Surrey 2 champions: 1989–90 * Surrey 1 champions: 1993–94 * London 3 South West champions: 1994–95 * London 1 South champions (2): 1995–96, 2014–15 * London 2 (south-east v south-west) promotion play-off winners (2): 2008–09, 2011–12 * National League 3 (south-east v south-west) promotion play-off winners: 2016–17 * Regional 1 South Central champions: 2022–23 2nd team: * Surrey Cup winners: 2018

Club colours

Wimbledon 1st team play in maroon shirts with blue sleeves and a blue stripe on the side. They wear navy shorts and navy socks. All other teams play in maroon and blue hooped shirts with navy shorts and navy socks.

Teams

Wimbledon has four men's teams, a ladies team and a thriving youth & mini section. The men's teams Wimbledon currently has four men's teams. The 1st team play in London & South East Premier (Nat3SE), as a result of result of relegation from National League 2S in the 2017–18 season. The 2nd team play in the Zoo Sports Shield Division 1 having won consecutive promotions from Division 3 and 2 in the 2015–16/2016-17 seasons. The 3rds or Mavericks as they are fondly known and the 4ths Strollers (the Vets team) compete in the Surrey Leagues. The ladies team The ladies team was founded in the 1990–91 season by Tina and John Ambler, club stewards from 1989 to 1993. Their team mascot is Alderney, one of The Wombles. The first ladies match was against a selection of players from the men's teams. Due to a lack of playing experience the men emerged the victors. Since then, the Ladies section has grown from strength to strength with several of the players reaching national and international level. The team currently plays in the Championship South West 2 League and has a regular squad of over thirty ladies as well as strong mini and youth section offering rugby for all ability levels from 5 to 18.

Current standings

Notable former players

* Madison Hughes () USA Rugby Sevens (''first capped'' 2012) * H J Graham () (''first capped'' 1875) * J D Graham () (''first capped'' 1875)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wimbledon Rfc Women's rugby union teams in England Rugby clubs established in 1865 Rugby union clubs in London Wimbledon, London