London Athletic Club
London Athletic Club (LAC) is a track and field club based in London, England. It is the oldest independent track and field club in the world and celebrated its first 150 years in 2013.[1] More than sixty athletes connected with the club have since become Olympians and top athletics administrators in Britain. The club is currently based at Barn Elms, in West London.
Club colours
London Athletic Club’s colours are Classic Green and Old Gold. The club's kit includes a green vest with a single horizontal gold band. Inside the gold band on the front of the vest is the name of the club or the club’s crest.
London Athletic Club’s Olympians
Over sixty members of London Athletic Club have competed at the Olympic Games. Australian
Club Records
Event | Performance | Record Holder | Location | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
100 m | 10.3 s | E.R. Sandstrom | Brussels | 1957-09-18 |
200 m | 21.1 s | B.A. Smouha | Sofia | 1961-09-03 |
400 m | 46.8 s | M.J. Winbolt-Lewis | White City | 1966-08-20 |
800 m | 1 min 49.4 s * | J.K. Johnson | Motspur Park | 1966-05-21 |
1500 m | 3 min 49.0 s | D.C. Seaman | Stockholm | 1953-09-03 |
1 mile | 4 min 05.4 s | J.I. Disley | Walton | 1958-06-14 |
5000 m | 14 min 13.2 s | J.I. Disley | White City | 1957-07-20 |
110 m hurdles | 14.5 s | V.C. Matthews | Paris | 1958-09-14 |
400 m hurdles | 51.5 s | H. Kane | White City | 1954-10-13 |
3000 m s/chase | 8 min 44.2 s | J.I. Disley | Moscow | 1955-09-11 |
4×100 m | 43.3 s * | N.H. Seale, R.H. Solomons, M.J. Winbolt-Lewis, N. K. Rice | RMA Sandhurst | 1966-07-02 |
4×400 m | 3.18.7 s * | E.A.L. Riley, C.P.N. Reilly, J.V. Powell, F.A.R. Hunter | Motspur Park | 1934-07-07 |
High Jump | 2.31 m | G.P. Parsons | Victoria, Canada | 1994-08-26 |
Long Jump | 7.49 m | J.D. Gangadeen | Bristol | 1973-09-02 |
Triple Jump | 14.75 m | J. Mackin | Hurlingham | 1973-05-17 |
Shot | 16.83 m | J.A. Savidge | Cardiff | 1954-05-08 |
Discus | 54.01 m | E.A. Cleaver | Minden | 1962-10-21 |
Javelin | 74.30 m | R.D.W. Miller | Chiswick | 1963-07-27 |
Hammer | 59.61 m | P.C. Allday | Bisham Abbey | 1956-09-02 |
Pole Vault | 4.14 m | G. Elliott | Paris | 1952-08-23 |
Decathlon | 6 638 | C.J. Andrews | Welwyn Garden City | 1960-07-08/09 |
* Times adjusted from 440 yard, 880 yard, 4×110 yard and 4×440 yard respectively.
History
The London Athletic Club is the oldest independent track and field club in the world:[3] it was founded in 1863. Initially the club was named Mincing Lane Athletic Club because its members were mainly businessmen in the City of London.
Early Meetings
Its first meeting, on 27 June 1863, was at the (then recently-opened) West London Cricket and Running Grounds, Brompton. A later meeting, held on 9 April 1864 at Bow running grounds, was reported in The Sporting Life: “From the attendance….and the excellent sports exhibited, the club promises to become very popular”. Meetings were held at various locations across London: another was at the West London running grounds held on 25 November 1865. On 16 January 1866 The Sporting Life reported that the Mincing Lane Athletic Club had been renamed the London Athletic Club, because “gentlemen from all parts of London and most of the principal pedestrians of the day [were] among its members”. Three years later, in 1869, the club moved its base to the newly-opened Lillie Bridge Grounds, a few hundred yards north of where Stamford Bridge Stadium is today. Then, in 1870, the brothers James and William Waddell, who had joined LAC as athletes, became treasurer and secretary. Profits soared and in 1877 they secured six and a half acres at Stamford Bridge. The grounds made LAC the premier club of the time. (The brothers fled the country in 1883 and they left the club in debt.)
The early meetings featured events such as cricket ball throwing, bicycle races and, in winter, regular “Assault at Arms” evenings which included fencing and
Early association football
The club had a football section which was an early adopted of the
Stamford Bridge Years
In 1904 London Athletic Club moved to a new stadium and grounds at
After Stamford Bridge
During 1933 the track at Stamford Bridge was converted for use as a greyhound racing track and the club moved its base to White City after being evicted by the Greyhound Racing Association.[14] In 1954 the club moved again to Hurlingham Park stadium, which had been opened by Roger Bannister four months after he had broken the four-minute mile barrier. The club moved its base yet again in 1966 to Crystal Palace, then returned to Hurlingham in 1972 and later used Motspur Park, one of the locations in the film, “Chariots of Fire”. LAC President Sir Arthur Gold appeared in the film’s depiction of the memorial service for Harold Abrahams. Today the club uses Barn Elms athletic track in west London as its base.
The First International Athletics meetings and London Athletic Club
London Athletic Club was the leading track and field club in the 1870s, illustrated by the fact that its members held every track world record between 220 yards to 10 miles during that decade.
Event | Performance | Record Holder | Year |
---|---|---|---|
220 yd | 22.6 s | F T Elborough | 1876 |
440 yd | 50.4 s | E J Colbeck | 1868 |
880 yd | 1 min 57.5 s | F T Elborough | 1876 |
1 mile | 4 min 24.5 s | W Slade | 1875 |
2 mile | 9 min 42.0 s | W Slade | 1876 |
3 mile | 15 min 8.6 s | J Scott | 1871 |
4 mile | 20 min 22 s | W Slade | 1875 |
6 mile | 33 min 38 s | W E Fuller | 1875 |
10 mile | 56 min 7 s | W E Fuller | 1875 |
Walter Rye, the champion walker of the time, recalled in his autobiography[15] what was arguably the first ever international athletics meeting, when a team from London Athletic Club weathered the Irish Sea to take part in a match in Ireland on 5 June 1876. In 1895 the club sailed to America for a match against New York Athletic club.[16] Another international match took place in 1903 – and was celebrated with a return match in 1985 – at Le Touquet, France. As well as track and field, the events included fencing, tennis, cycling and horse-riding.
London Athletic Club’s Schools’ Meetings
The club initiated the idea of a national athletics meeting for English schools. The annual meetings began in the 19th century and until 1948 were restricted to public schools. The first complete London Athletic Club Public Schools’ Meeting was held at Queen's Club, on 10 April 1897. Boys competed at 100, 440, 880 yards, the mile, 120 yards hurdles, high jump and long jump. Later meetings were held at Stamford Bridge until 1933, then mainly at White City until 1962, and then at Motspur Park. Typically over 200 schools would compete each year in the 1940s and 1950s. The schools’ meetings would lead to further club competitions against public schools and grammar schools and several of the young athletes who competed would go on to join the club. The LAC Schools’ meetings were transferred to the Independent Schools’ Physical Education Conference in 1973.
100th and 150th Anniversaries
The 100th and 150th anniversaries were commemorated at historically significant locations for the club. The 100th anniversary dinner in 1963 was at the Clothworkers Hall, in Mincing Lane in the City of London–significant because the club was founded as Mincing Lane Athletic Club. HRH
Club Archives
The LAC archives reside, with other track and field memorabilia of national importance,[17] in the library of the National Union of Track Statisticians (NUTS) at Coombe Wood School, South Croydon, where they may be viewed by prior appointment with the NUTS librarian.
References
- ^ a b Barker, Philip (2013). "London Athletic club still going strong at 150 years" AIPS website. Retrieved 27 March 2013
- ^ Cutler, Rachel (interviewer) (2002) "Miller, Richard (Part 6 of 10). An Oral History of British Athletics." British Library website. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
- ^ Solomons, Richard. (2013) "London Athletic Club: The First 150 Years" London: London Athletic Club.
- ^ Dickens, Charles, Jr (1879) “Dickens’s Dictionary of London: An Unconventional Handbook” London: Charles Dickens and Evans.
- ISBN 0709102550
- ^ Lillywhite, John (1868). Football Annual. p. 78.
- ^ "Barnes v London Athletic Club". Sportsman: 3. 21 December 1867.
- ^ "Wanderers v London Athletic Club". Sportsman: 3. 30 November 1867.
- ^ "Wanderers v London Athletic Club". Sportsman: 3. 15 December 1868.
- ^ "C.C.C. v Brentwood School". The Field: 397. 14 November 1868.
- ^ "Wanderers v A.A.C.". The Field: 335. 24 October 1868.
- ^ "C.C.C. v Brentwood School". The Field: 397. 14 November 1868.
- ^ Benson, Colin (1987) “The Bridge: The History Of Stamford
Bridge” . London: Chelsea Football Club. ISBN 0950979813
- ^ Culpepper Clarke, Carlo F (1934). Greyhound and Greyhound Racing. Methuen & Co Ltd (London). p. 136.
- ^ Rye, Walter (1916). “An autobiography of an ancient athlete and antiquary”. Norwich: Roberts.
- ^ Lucas, John A. (1972) “The First Great International Track Meet” Sports Illustrated October 23 1972 Sports Illustrated Vault website. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
- ^ Henderson, Jason (2022). "[https://athleticsweekly.com/athletics-news/nuts-keep-history-alive-1039960407/ NUTS keep history alive" Retrieved 30 April 2023