Blackheath RFC
Like the title character in Woody Allen's film Zelig, who pops up in news clips at all manner of historic events, England's Blackheath RFC appear an uncanny amount of times at key points in the game's early history.
Like the title character in Woody Allen's film Zelig, who pops up in news clips at all manner of historic events, England's Blackheath RFC appear an uncanny amount of times at key points in the game's early history.
The southeast London club attended the 1863 meeting where the Football Association was founded but declined to join because the new rules didn't allow for enough hacking or handling.
In 1871, they were among the 20 founders of the Rugby Union and much of what became the game of rugby is based on Blackheath's own 1862 set of rules.
Also in 1871 Blackheath organised the first international - Scotland v England in Edinburgh - and provided four of the England players, including the captain.
They hosted the first England v Wales match (in 1881), were the first club in the world without restricted membership and are the third-oldest club of any kind. Now they play in National League Division Two.