SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



in 1899-1900), has won the Wellingborough 

 Cup two or three times, the Northants Cup 

 and the Rushden Charity Cup. 



In Northampton, Association football made 

 comparatively poor headway up to a few 

 years ago. There is a Town League in 

 Northampton with two divisions. Football 

 in Peterborough is not quite so flourishing 

 as might be expected of the second largest 

 town in the county, but the chief amateur 

 club has done fairly well and looks forward to 

 doing much better. 



RUGBY 



The history of Rugby football in North- 

 amptonshire goes back over thirty years. It 

 was in 1873 that the first important North- 

 ampton Rugby Club was formed. Almost 

 simultaneously there sprang into existence a 

 very excellent club in connexion with Abing- 

 ton House School, at the head of which was 

 Mr. W. Kingston, the father of the band of 

 brothers who have done so much to maintain 

 the prestige of Northamptonshire, not only on 

 the football field but also in the cricket world. 

 When not engaged in playing for Abington 

 House School the elder sons of Mr. Kingston 

 used to assist the Town Club, and some capi- 

 tal matches were witnessed in the * seventies ' 

 on the old Northampton racecourse between 

 the Town and such clubs as Kettering, 

 Leicester, Rushden, Bedford County School, 

 Olney, and Stony Stratford. 



Other clubs sprang up in Northampton, 

 including the Rovers, the Wanderers, and the 

 Scorpions, the last named embracing medical 

 students and the sons of civic dignitaries. The 

 old Town Club and the Rovers finally com- 

 bined, and the Northampton Unity became 

 one of the leading Midland organizations. 

 Hard fought contests were carried on with 

 Coventry, Rugby, Moseley, Bedford, and other 

 teams, the place of meeting being repeatedly 

 changed from the racecourse to Peach's field, 

 and yet again to the militia stores field, and 

 finally to the new cricket ground. 



Some eight years ago the club began to 

 show wonderful improvement, a result largely 

 due to the efforts of Mr. C. H. Davis. 



Younger members of the Kingston family 

 and J. W. Adam (a master at Guilsborough 

 Grammar School, whither Mr. W. Kingston 

 had removed to take up his residence with his 

 son, the Rev. F. W. Kingston, a Cambridge 

 ' blue ') did wonders for the ' Saints,' as 

 they were familiarly called. In 1897-98 

 Northampton St. James's made the record 

 score of points for England and Wales, and 

 the words 'St. James's' were dropped from the 



Rugby club's title, the organization being 

 now known as the Northampton Club. In 

 1898-99 the highest number of points in 

 England was made, and in 1 899-1 900 the 

 highest for England and Wales. More 

 noteworthy even than the rapid rise in 

 the standing of the club was the support it 

 received from the public. Gates of 10,000 

 were not uncommon — 14,000 have as- 

 sembled to see Northampton play their great 

 Midland rival, Leicester ; and as many as 

 3,000 supporters have accompanied the Saints 

 on their journeys to London. 



The history of the present Northampton 

 Club is virtually the history of Rugby football 

 in Northamptonshire in recent years. Men- 

 tion has been made above of the Kettering 

 and Rushden Clubs. The latter was formed 

 in 1877 and the Kettering Club a little 

 earlier. Although the Rushden players were 

 drawn from what was then an obscure village 

 without railway accommodation, they did ex- 

 ceedingly well in the Midland Counties Cup, 

 giving Leicester, Rugby, and Moseley hard 

 games. Both at Kettering and Rushden the 

 clubs were carried on under the same manage- 

 ment as the Association clubs, and thirteen 

 years ago Rugby football was virtually dropped 

 at both towns. True, there was some kind 

 of revival about eight years since at Rushden, 

 but Association football now has the field to 

 itself both at Rushden and Kettering. North- 

 ants had a really good county team some twenty 

 years back, though little county football was 

 played at Northampton after 1890 until the 

 formation of the East Midland Counties 

 Union (Northants, Beds and Bucks) in 1897. 

 The East Midlands entered the County 

 Championship, and were placed in a section 

 with the Midland Counties, Middlesex, and 

 Surrey. In the first year they did fairly well, 

 but in the second year they finished last with 

 terrible ill-luck. In 1 899-1 900 however 

 they played up splendidly, and tied with 

 Kent for the honours of the division, though 

 Kent gained an unexpected victory when the 

 tie was played off. As four-fifths of the 

 players have been drawn from the Northamp- 

 ton Club, the success of the East Mid- 

 landers has been very gratifying to their 

 supporters. There are numerous Rugby clubs 

 in Northampton and the immediate vicinity, 

 and a cup for seniors and shield for juniors 

 are offered in competition. In Bozeat, the 

 Rugby game predominates, and a Rugby 

 club was last year formed in Wellingborough. 

 Oundle School is the only public school in the 

 county where Rugb^' is played, and that 

 flourishing institution h.as long been lionour- 

 ably associated with the game. 



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