Formation On 4 December 1870, Edwin Ash of
Richmond F.C. and
Benjamin Burns of
Blackheath F.C. published a letter in
The Times suggesting that "those who play the rugby-type game should meet to form a code of practice as various clubs play to rules which differ from others, which makes the game difficult to play". On 26 January 1871, a meeting attended by representatives from 21 clubs was held in London at the
Pall Mall Restaurant on
Regent Street. The 21 clubs present at the meeting were: Blackheath (represented by Burns and by
Frederick Stokes, the latter becoming the first captain of
England), Richmond,
Ravenscourt Park,
West Kent,
Marlborough Nomads,
Wimbledon Hornets,
Gipsies,
Civil Service,
The Law Club,
Wellington College,
Guy's Hospital,
Flamingoes,
Clapham Rovers,
Harlequin F.C.,
King's College Hospital,
St Paul's School,
Queen's House,
Lausanne,
Addison,
Mohicans, and
Belsize Park. The one notable omission was the
Wasps. According to one version, a Wasps representative was sent to attend the meeting, but owing to a misunderstanding was sent to the wrong venue at the wrong time on the wrong day; another version is that he went to a venue of the same name where, after consuming a number of drinks, he realised his mistake but was too drunk to make his way to the correct venue. Ealing Rugby Club (now Ealing Trailfinders) also received an invitation, but its representative stopped in a public house and also missed the meeting. . The RFU is represented as a religious cabal, expelling
Arthur "Monkey" Gould from their "church" over the "Gould Affair". Gould, in his Newport jersey, appears unconcerned As a result of this meeting the Rugby Football Union (RFU) was founded. Algernon Rutter was elected as the first president of the RFU, and Edwin Ash was elected as treasurer. Three lawyers who were
Rugby School alumni (Rutter,
Holmes and L.J. Maton) drew up the first laws of the game, which were approved in June 1871. Although similar unions were organised during the next few years in Ireland, Wales, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, France, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, the RFU was the first and therefore had no need to distinguish itself from others by calling itself the English RFU.
Northern clubs secede – Rugby League Twenty-two rugby clubs from across the north of England met on 29 August 1895 in the
George Hotel in Huddersfield, where they voted to secede from the Rugby Football Union. The main reason for the split was the wish of players to be compensated for lost wages when playing Rugby. Many working class players in the North lost wages to play. The RFU opposed payment being made to players. The seceders set up the
Northern Rugby Football Union (later renamed the Rugby Football League). The RFU took strong action against the clubs involved in the formation of the NRFU, all of whom were deemed to have forfeited their amateur status and therefore to have left the RFU. A similar interpretation was applied to all players who played either for or against such clubs, whether or not they received any compensation. These players were barred indefinitely from any involvement in organised rugby union. These comprehensive and enduring sanctions, combined with the very localised nature of most rugby competition, meant that most northern clubs had little practical option but to affiliate with the NRFU in the first few years of its existence. ==The modern era (1970–present)==