250:, at that time arguably the strongest association club. Despite the prowess of their opponents the Rovers won 1–0. The Rovers were equally successful under rugby rules, and such was their gathering reputation by January 1870, they had sufficient membership to enable the club to play two matches every Saturday, one under each code. At the close of the 1870 season, only two matches had been lost, one under each rule, and in both instances, the return match was won, (under rugby rules, with the
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When the club played one of the strongest and most well established clubs, Richmond, for the first time on 21 October 1871, they won the match by 1 goal and 2 tries. At the end of the 1870–71 season the club moved from
Clapham Common, to a field at Balham, where they continued to play till 1876, when
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The club was formed on 10 August 1869 by a meeting arranged by W. E. Rawlinson, who, on the formation of the club, was elected honorary secretary. At this first meeting, it was agreed to play under both codes, with association rules to be played one week, and rugby the next. This peculiar feature in
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was formed. A president, a secretary and treasurer, and a committee of thirteen were elected, to whom was entrusted the drawing-up of the laws of the game upon the basis of the code in use at Rugby School. R. H. Birkett represented The Rovers and was one of the thirteen original committee members.
399:(who was captain), his brother, Louis Birkett, and the Bryden brothers. Additionally, Crampton and Walker were well-regarded forwards and Clapham was known to have "the strongest combination of the time behind the scrummage".
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The club's strength in rugby was borne out by their record: from 1870 to 1881 the club played 151 Rugby games, winning 80, losing 30, and drawing 41. During the 1870s they fielded a team that had four internationals:
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The first international rugby match was played between
Scotland and England in 1871 and The Rovers provided R. H. Birkett. In this match he scored England's first ever try.
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and never re-emerged when hostilities ended in 1918. The club lost three players during the war and
Captain Begg who was the driving force behind the club was injured.
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The club played in cerise and French grey halves, the colours suggested by Louis
Birkett, as one of his younger sisters had a new dress in those colours.
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the constitution of the club obtained for the club the sobriquet of the "Hybrid Club". The first match was played on 25 September 1869, against the
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set a record for being the youngest player in an FA Cup Final, at 17 years and 245 days, a record that held until 2004 when it was broken by
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assumed the presidency. It was resolved unanimously that the formation of a Rugby
Football Society was desirable and thus the
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On 26 January 1871, 32 members representing twenty-one London and suburban football clubs that followed
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225:. It was a prominent club in the late 19th century but is now defunct. The club played variously on
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on 14 February 1914. The club announced that it was ceasing activities for the duration of
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The club survived until 1914 and their last recorded match was a 2–1 win over the
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Clapham Rovers were one of the fifteen teams to play in the first edition of the
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they moved to
Wandsworth, where they were still playing in 1892.
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rules (Wasps were invited but failed to attend) assembled at the
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between 1874 and 1887, who were as follows (caps in brackets):
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1871 England squad with Rovers player R. H. Birkett highlighted
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sports organisation in the two dominant codes of football,
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Clapham Rovers were also one of ten founder members of the
269:. The first ever FA Cup goal was scored by Clapham Rovers'
781:"England Players' Club Affiliations – Clapham Rovers"
693:"Surrey County Football Association – A History"
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532:The following players represented "England" in the
359:The previous year, Clapham Rovers had also reached
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1586:Association football clubs disestablished in 1914
1541:Association football clubs established in 1869
356:Lloyd-Jones scored the only goal of the game.
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285:Rovers' greatest achievement was winning the
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213:was from its foundation in 1869 a leading
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1571:Sport in the London Borough of Wandsworth
475:Eight Clapham Rovers players played for
740:"A History Of Clapham Rovers 1869-1914"
652:Marshall, Francis; R S Whalley (1892).
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237:and wore a cerise and French-grey kit.
673:"A brief history" at Pitchero website
7:
1556:Defunct rugby union teams in England
718:Marshall, Francis; W Parker (1892).
624:List of rugby union clubs in England
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448:Royal Military College at Sandhurst
823:Clapham Rovers modern team website
746:from the original on 17 April 2021
384:Surrey County Football Association
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1581:1914 disestablishments in England
1546:Defunct football clubs in England
614:List of football clubs in England
367:. In this match, Clapham Rovers'
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655:Football; the Rugby union game
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414:. E.C. Holmes, captain of the
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682:retrieved 24 January 2013
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592:(2 caps, 1875 and 1877))
273:, in a 3–0 victory over
1459:London Intermediate Cup
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916:King's College Hospital
785:England Football Online
765:"Clapham Rovers F.C.".
1305:Wingate & Finchley
858:Founding Clubs of the
769:: 9. 18 February 1914.
678:5 January 2014 at the
534:representative matches
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1336:Erith & Belvedere
619:Rugby union in London
466:International players
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277:on 11 November 1871.
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699:on 28 September 2007
658:. Cassell. pp.
561:(3 matches, 4 goals)
471:Association football
420:Rugby Football Union
408:Pall Mall Restaurant
301:. Their team in the
293:with a 1–0 win over
281:Association football
219:association football
1250:Carshalton Athletic
1127:Queens Park Rangers
724:. Cassell. p.
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586:(first capped 1875)
580:(first capped 1874)
574:(first capped 1871)
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256:Charterhouse School
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793:. Retrieved
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748:. Retrieved
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701:. Retrieved
697:the original
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578:Henry Bryden
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358:
355:
284:
260:
244:
210:
209:
192:Away colours
190:
137:Home colours
135:
38:
15:
1381:Walthamstow
1351:New Salamis
1300:Kingstonian
1184:(tiers 5–8)
1062:(tiers 1–4)
502:Edgar Field
442:Dissolution
390:Rugby union
386:, in 1877.
342:Felix Barry
318:Edgar Field
223:rugby union
35:Nickname(s)
1535:Categories
1295:Hornchurch
1213:Wealdstone
911:Harlequins
896:Flamingoes
881:Blackheath
750:9 November
630:References
541:T.S. Baker
346:Edward Ram
275:Upton Park
1520:(defunct)
1512:(defunct)
1504:London XI
1478:(defunct)
1470:(defunct)
1394:Rivalries
1371:Redbridge
1356:Northwood
1081:Brentford
971:Wimbledon
966:West Kent
555:(1 match)
549:(1 match)
543:(1 match)
486:(19 caps)
361:the final
248:Wanderers
53:Dissolved
27:Full name
1487:See also
1376:Uxbridge
1122:Millwall
951:Richmond
936:Mohicans
921:Lausanne
789:Archived
744:Archived
676:Archived
605:(C.C.C.)
597:See also
528:(2 caps)
504:(2 caps)
373:Millwall
1169:Bromley
1086:Chelsea
1076:Arsenal
901:Gipsies
871:Addison
816:at the
795:9 April
703:8 April
522:(1 cap)
516:(1 cap)
510:(1 cap)
498:(1 cap)
492:(1 cap)
477:England
458:Colours
291:1879–80
267:1871–72
241:History
215:English
45:Founded
1341:Hadley
1290:Hendon
1198:Barnet
1096:Fulham
998:The FA
287:FA Cup
263:FA Cup
233:, and
61:Ground
39:Rovers
1426:South
1421:North
662:–350.
305:was:
265:, in
1436:West
1431:East
797:2007
752:2021
705:2007
221:and
56:1914
926:Law
860:RFU
660:349
410:in
375:'s
297:at
289:in
258:).
1537::
787:.
783:.
742:.
726:68
638:^
379:.
348:,
344:,
340:,
336:,
332:,
328:,
324:,
320:,
316:,
312:,
229:,
1314:8
1243:7
1222:6
1191:5
1157:4
1136:3
1115:2
1069:1
1045:e
1038:t
1031:v
851:e
844:t
837:v
799:.
754:.
728:.
707:.
352:.
72:,
67:,
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