Marlborough Nomads
Full name | Marlborough Nomads Football Club | |
---|---|---|
Union | RFU | |
Nickname(s) | Nomads | |
Founded | 1868 | |
Disbanded | 1911 | |
Location | London, England | |
Ground(s) | in Surbiton | |
|
The Marlborough Nomads was a 19th-century English rugby union club that was notable for being one of the twenty-one founding members of the Rugby Football Union. They also supplied a number of players for the sport's early international fixtures.
History
The Nomads were founded in 1868 by James Bourdillon, a member of the Indian Civil Service, and F. I. Currey, who became the first secretary, and was later captain. It was founded as a club for former pupils of Marlborough College who had moved to live and work in London but still wanted to actively play football.[1] Hence it was referred to in some quarters as Old Marlburians.[2]
The club's first match was played in 1868 against the well established
Other opponents, besides Blackheath and Richmond, included
Later secretaries of the club included H. Stanhope Illingworth, R. F. Isaacson, and J. D. Vans Agnew. Of the men associated with the club Hamersley, Freeman, A. K. Butterworth, Vans Agnew, and F. I. Currey all served on the committee of the Rugby Union, and the latter held the secretaryship in 1874, during A. G. Guillemard's temporary absence abroad. Currey later became president of the RFU from 1884 to 1886.[3]
Foundation of the RFU
On 26 January 1871, 32 members representing twenty-one London and suburban football clubs that followed
The First Internationals
Later years
In 1911 Rosslyn Park F.C. invited the club to join them; with the acceptance of the Marlborough Nomads the club went out of existence.[4][5] Rosslyn Park then became the London club of choice for old Marlburians.[6] The Nomads remain today as a vibrant social and international touring side within Rosslyn Park playing league matches in London Merit Table 3.[7]
Notable players
A number of Nomads represented the national sides, most prominently England:
- Alfred St. George Hamersley(first capped 1871; captain of England in 1874)
- Fred Mills (first capped 1872)
- Harold Freeman (first capped 1872)
- Frederick Currey (first capped 1872)
- Sydney Morse (first capped 1873 playing for Law FC, capped whilst a Nomad in 1874)
- William Henry Milton (first capped 1874)
- Montgomerie Hamilton (first capped 1874)
- Francis Hugh Fox (first capped 1890)
- Great Britainin 1896)
- Anglo-Welshtour of Australia and New Zealand)
Additional notable players include:
- W. M. Tatham (first capped 1882 while playing for Oxford University)
- Harry Vassall (first capped 1881 while playing for Oxford University)
- Ledger Hill played cricket for England
References
- ^ Steve Lewis, One Among Equals, page 253, 2008 (Vertical Editions:London)
- Dickens's Dictionary of London, 1879
- ^ a b c d Marshall, Francis, Football; the Rugby union game, contribution by W Parker, (1892) (London Paris Melbourne, Cassell and company, limited)
- ^ Stuart Farmer, The Official England Rugby Miscellany: The Ultimate Book of England Rugby Trivia, p6, (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd) (16 Oct 2006)
- ^ Marlborough RFC - History Archived 2008-08-28 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Dick Tyson, London's Oldest Rugby Clubs, p46 (JJG Publishing), 2008
- ^ "Rosslyn Park FC » Nomads". Archived from the original on 2009-08-08.