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Club History |
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| The Harlequin Football Club was founded in 1866 (although the first recorded game was not until 1867) as
Hampstead Football Club and re-named in 1870. |
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This, according to which story you believe, has two accounts. The first is that there was a meeting under
a street lamp at two o'clock in the morning in Hampstead! The second and more believable is that the name was changed when
the membership was no longer a purely local one.
 A meeting was called and because the HFC monogram had to be retained, a dictionary was produced and, when the reader reached
Harlequin, he was stopped and all present agreed and so the new name was born.
An offshoot of this was that there
was a split in the membership of the Hampstead Football Club and the half that did not form the Harlequins went off and formed
a club known as the Wasps.
For our first 40 years, we were very nomadic in our existence and played at a total of
15 venues. Since 1909, we have only played at three!
In 1906, Quins were invited by the Rugby Football Union to use
the new national stadium in Twickenham. In those early days only one or two internationals were played there during the season,
and it wasn't long before the RFU ground became the Headquarters of the Harlequin Football Club. Twickenham is very rarely
used for club matches now, the last there being on 15th September 1990 where Quins defeated Welsh side Llanelli 35-14.
In
1963, Quins acquired an athletics ground with 14 acres just over the road from the RFU ground, which became the Harlequin
training pitch. This has subsequently become our home: the Stoop Memorial Ground. This is named after Adrian Dura Stoop, who
won 15 caps for England and is said to have been the person who developed modern back play.
He was born on 27th March
1883 in London. His father was Dutch (naturalised English) and his mother was half Scottish and half Irish. He went to school
at Dover College, Rugby school and then to Oxford University, getting his Blue in his second year, 1902. He was then captain
in 1904.
 In all he played 182 times for Quins between 1901 and 1939, captained the side for eight years, was honorary secretary for
28 years and finally became President between 1920 to 1949. He died on 27th November 1957, aged 74 years.
This site
itself, situated in the centre of rugby excellence, provided the club with a ground that could be developed. Over the years
much has been done to improve the facilities, most recently with the introduction of the East Stand in 1997 that runs along
the whole length of the East touchline. This superb stand seats 4,200 spectators, all of whom have an excellent view of the
game. There are 25 boxes for corporate hospitality, and inside the stand there is a restaurant facility and three large bar
areas.
On the field and with the introduction of leagues in 1987, bringing with it a more competitive environment,
Quins has maintained its status in the Premier Division as one of England’s top 12 Clubs.
The club have won the
Rugby Football Union Clubs knockout competition on two occasions. The John Player Cup in 1988 and Pilkington Cup in 1991.
In addition they played in the finals of 1992, 1993 and 2001.
Quins became the first British side to win the European
Shield in 2001, defeating Narbone 42-33 in the final. Reaching the final itself was a tremendous achievement as the previous
four finals had all been contested by two French sides. They then became the first team to win the tournament twice; defeating
Montferrand 27-26 in the final of the renamed Parker Pen Challenge Cup on 22nd May 2004.
The clubs instinct for the
expansive game of rugby doubtless accounts for its liking of the seven-a-side version of the sport. In the premier tournament
(Middlesex Sevens) no other club has won on more than 13 occasions. This includes four wins in a row between 1926 and 1929
and setting a unique record of five consecutive victories from 1986 to 1990.
With thanks to Nick Cross. |
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