The history of GKT is the combined history of three older sides, and their joint history from the point of merger:
Guy's Hospital Football Club The Guy's Hospital Football Club, representing the medics of
Guy's Hospital, in
Southwark, London, is accepted by the
Rugby Football Union and the
Guinness Book of Records as being the oldest rugby club in the world and therefore the
first football club, with a foundation date of 1843. Despite the acceptance by these two bodies of Guy's foundation date, the claim to be the oldest club is contested. The major reason for doubt is that no contemporary documentation survives. The date of 1843 is based on circumstantial evidence predominantly in the form of a fixture card from 1883/4 referring to Guy's 40th season and the submission of distinguished officials in 1863 and 1864. There are clubs with a longer documented history because they have contemporary documentary evidence, the oldest being
Dublin University Football Club, which also plays rugby, formed at
Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, in 1854, with the oldest in England being
Blackheath FC founded in 1858. The club
Barnes R.F.C. (originally known simply as the Barnes Club), claims to have been founded in 1839, but this has no contemporary documentation and its circumstantial evidence is neither as abundant nor as compelling as that of Guy's Hospital. The club played football using a modified form of the
Rugby School code. They originally played on Blackheath and after the formation of
Blackheath FC in 1858, (the club of the old boys of
Blackheath Proprietary School), Guy's shared a dressing room with them in the Princess of Wales hotel from 1862. On 26 January 1871, they sent representation to a meeting of twenty-one London and suburban football clubs that followed
Rugby School rules assembled at the
Pall Mall Restaurant in
Regent Street. E.C. Holmes, captain of the
Richmond Club assumed the presidency. It was resolved unanimously that the formation of a Rugby Football Society was desirable and thus the
Rugby Football Union was formed. A president, a secretary and treasurer, and a committee of thirteen were elected, to whom was entrusted the drawing-up of the laws of the game upon the basis of the code in use at Rugby School. Guy's Hospital was represented on the founding committee by J. H. Ewart, one of thirteen places on that original committee. In the nineteenth century Guy's did produce some international players, including
Alan Ayre-Smith, W. W. Pinching, A. W. Pearson, and A. H. Jackson, and they did have some success in the
Inter-Hospital Challenge Cup. However, it was in the 1920s and '30s that Guy's reached its zenith and was arguably the most formidable team in the land especially when under the captaincy of the Ireland international and Irish national captain W.D. Doherty. In total Guy's has won the United Hospitals Challenge Cup 32 times, a record that stood for many years until St. Mary's/Imperial Medics overtook it.
St Thomas' Hospital Football Club St Thomas' Hospital Football Club was officially established in 1864. They first played on Clapham Common, using the Clock Tavern as their changing room. They later moved to the
Lambeth Palace Grounds and in 1897 moved to
Chiswick, where they stayed for over half a century until in the 1950s they moved to
Cobham. The club's success in the
United Hospitals Cup came early on in 1878 and they went on to win it a further 15 times. Eleven international players
Merger (1999–present) The present day club's first XV plays in the Kent 2nd Division, and its home ground is the Guy's Hospital Athletic Ground at
Honor Oak Park,
Honor Oak. This recently underwent redevelopment and the club had to lead a nomadic existence for the 2008–9 season. The GKT Rugby team won back the
United Hospitals Cup from
Imperial Medics, at the Richmond Athletic Ground, on Sunday 22 March 2009 for the first time in many years.G.K.T. scored four tries to nil and beat Imperial by 30 points to 12 in the final. ==United Hospitals Challenge Cup==