copyright: andy carroll 2006-07

Founded in 1879 for the purpose of playing Rugby Union

Affiliated to The Rugby Football Union, The Middlesex County Rugby Football Union and the London Society of Rugby Referees.  Associated with the Essex County Rugby Football Union.

History

Founded in 1879, the Upper Clapton Football Club is one of the oldest surviving rugby clubs associated to the Rugby Football Union. The 2006-07 season marks 127 (or is it 128?) years of rugby for Upper Clapton and our many friends and members scattered around the world. The turn of the millennium also marked out Upper Clapton as one of a handful of clubs whose history spans three centuries.

The Club 'kicked off' in and around Clapton, East London but played its early  games on Blackheath Common as the Orion Football Club. Our first recorded minutes date from 1879 but Rosslyn Park FC's archives record a fixture against 'Clapton' at a much earlier date.

The Club's name was changed to Upper Clapton and it played games at a number of venues including Elm Farm, Walthamstow and, eventually, Spring Hill, below Clapton Ponds (most recently used by Hackney RFC).  Early fixture cards show fixtures against London Welsh and Bedford in 1902 and Wasps and Saracens in 1907.  Ealing appear in both cards.  The Club led a nomadic existence in the period before 1933, when it moved to the current ground at Thornwood, Essex.

Like most sporting clubs in existence at the time, the Club's playing membership was decimated by the twentieth century's wars. Two tablets can still be seen today in the club house to commemorate the Club members who gave their lives in the Boar War and First and Second World Wars.

Chris Prince has researched the background of many of those named on the tablet and his work can be seen here [link to follow].

Following the end of WWII the Club once again found itself struggling to identify members who had survived the conflict. Furthermore, the grounds had been taken over by the RAF during the war due to their closeness to the North Weald airfield. However, a determined band of members re-established Upper Clapton when the RAF vacated the Club's Thornwood HQ and slowly but surely the Clapton magic returned.

Some of our older members will tell you of the days when, just after the war, the Club ran a coach service for home and visiting players to and from Finsbury Square, London. Some may even tell you about the revered Ivy Wilson who was talented enough to be able to balance two pints of beer about her person - no prizes for guessing where! 

1965 saw the introduction of the Colts XV. It is probably no co-incidence that the 70's and 80's saw Clapton's playing hey-day. The 70s saw the Club gain fixtures against a number of senior clubs (some of which were on our fixture lists in the nineteenth century) and an expansion of the fixture list to cover the whole of the home and Eastern Counties and as far away as Derby and Solihull. The 70s also saw the selection of flanker, Steve Callum, to tour Australia with the full England squad along with other rising stars as Beaumont and Uttley (we know where Callum is, does anyone know what happened to Beaumont?).

The Club's most famous day came, however, in 1980 when it hosted the mighty Bristol in the John Player Cup. Although UCFC were second best on the day, the Club was not overrun and the First XV were rightly proud of their performance.

The introduction of leagues saw UCFC placed in London League 1 (highest 94 clubs in England) but a succession of injuries and retirements led to a loss of that position and we now find ourselves in the middle of the English league structure.  As you would expect of a Club of Upper Clapton's age a number of Club members players have played rugby at a representative level - the current list is can be accessed via the menu on the left.

Last season (2005-06) saw Upper Clapton battling it out in Essex League 1 where all of the sides are very evenly matched and just one or two victories can make the difference between promotion and a mid-table finish.

Although we are determined to work our way back into the higher standard of the London Leagues we also appreciate that rugby is a social game. We like to think that we are just a bunch of rugby players who enjoy having visitors to the Club and indulging in the more important aspects of life; playing a bit of football, having a good time and making lifelong friends - welcome to the fold!