Hampstead Rugby Club is one of the oldest clubs in the world, but has only been active in its current form since the late sixties.

Originally the Hampstead Heathens Sports Club was founded in 1863 and was the birthplace for other notable clubs such as Harlequins, Wasps & Rosslyn Park. There was a ‘temporary dissolution’ of the club at the start of the First World War and it stayed dormant until 1967, when Mike Flynn and friends got together and re-formed the club.

The club has run multiple men’s teams ever since its rebirth and has now spread its roots to a wider base. We formed a Ladies team in 2004 and now have two senior sides training and playing regularly.

The most exciting aspect of the club was the launch of a Junior section in 2010. With the help of the Heath management team we ran taster sessions in May of that year. We soon realised that there was interest enough to launch the section for real.

September 2010, we opened our doors. We had twelve children of various ages turn up, with a couple of ex-players acting as coaches. From these humble beginnings we are now in our tenth season, hosting over 200 children every Saturday, putting out over twenty sides regularly and have over 350 registered players. We see ourselves as an open and inclusive club with the emphasis on the children just enjoying playing rugby.

In 2013 we introduced girls’ rugby teams, with a host of our players going on to represent Middlesex, including two girls who have captained the county.

This youth section has grown beyond our expectations and we have already been lucky enough to have quite a degree of team and individual honours. We have an active community programme, running summer touch rugby sessions and autumn mid-week training sessions, both of which are open to non-club members. On top of this we are part of the RFU’s ‘All Schools’ programme and deliver taster sessions, after school clubs and even actual PE lessons in local state schools. Our work has been recognised with the club being awarded ‘Middlesex RFU’s President Award for Community Work’ several times.

The junior section has a special feel, and we have had ex-players, parents and external volunteers join and take an active part in its growth. In not quite ten years to go from 12 players to over 350, ranging from six to seventeen years olds, is testament to all those who lend a hand.

Within our short existence we have won the Middlesex Development Cup for u7- u12s, have had numerous players gaining county representative honours, as well as multiple mini festival tournament wins. Our proudest moment to date, is that one of the very first attendees at our inception, Cecil McCarthy, has gone on to play professional rugby.

As proud as we are of our playing achievements, our main aim remains to make players and families feel welcome, enjoy their time at the club, and grow the game.