London Wasps is an English professional rugby union team. The men's first team, which forms London Wasps, was derived from Wasps Football Club who were formed in 1867 at the now defunct Eton and Middlesex Tavern in North London, at the turn of professionalism in 1999. London Wasps play at Adams Park, which is located in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and are the current Heineken Cup champions. London Wasps are one of the most successful English rugby union sides in recent years, having won at least one of each of the major European competitions or knock-out tournaments in the past decade. The team compete in the English club competition, the Guinness Premiership, the Anglo-Welsh competition the EDF Energy Cup and the European knock-out competition, the Heineken Cup.
History
1866-1967
Hampstead Football Club was founded in 1866, there was a split in the membership of the which resulted in the formation of two different clubs; Harlequin F.C. and Wasps.[1] Wasps Football Club was itself formed in 1867 as the now defunct Eton and Middlesex Tavern in North London.[1] The club gained its name because of a fashion of the Victorian period for clubs to adopt the names of insects, birds and animals. In December 1870, Edwin Ash, Secretary of Richmond Football Club published a letter in the papers which said, "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." Wasps are interestingly founder members of the FA along with several other rugby clubs such as Blackheath R.C., despite never really playing the proper code of association football. As a reasonably well-established club, the Wasps were eligible to be founder members of the Rugby Football Union (RFU).[1] On January 26, 1871 the meeting was scheduled to take place. However a mix-up led to them sending their representative to the wrong venue at the wrong time on the wrong day.[1] Another version of the story was that he went to a pub of the same name and after consuming a number of drinks was too drunk to make it to the correct address after he realized his mistake. Wasps were, therefore, not present at the inauguration ceremony and forfeited their right to be called foundation members. Wasps first home was in Finchley Road, North London although subsequent years saw grounds being rented in various parts of London. In 1923 the Wasps moved to a permanent home at Sudbury, Middlesex, eventually buying the ground outright. The side had somewhat of a renaissance during the 1930s, particularly the earlier part of the decade, where they were seen as one of the better English clubs, going unbeaten in the 1930/31 English season. The 1930s also saw the emergence of Neville Compton, who captained the side between 1939 and 1947 and went on to become fixture secretary in 1959 and eventually became the club president in the early 1970s before retiring in 1988. Wasps went on to host Welsh internationals Vivian Jenkins and Harry Bowcott, in addition to this national representation, numerous Wasps came to play for the England national side, such as Ted Woodward, Bob Stirling, Richard Sharp and Don Rutherford. In 1967, the Wasps club celebrated their centenary. Celebrations took the form of two matches that were held at the Rugby school grounds, where William Webb Ellis is thought to have originated the rugby union game. One match was played against the Barbarians F.C., the other, against another London rugby union club, the Harlequins.
1968-1994
The 1980s saw what was, at that point, an all time high representation of Wasps players in the England national side. In 1986, Wasps Football Club made their first appearance at the final of the John Player Cup knock-out competition, which originated in 1972. Wasps were defeated by Bath in a close game, where Bath emerged as winners, 25 points to 17. The following year Wasps continued their success in the knock-out competition and they again met Bath in the final. They were however again defeated by Bath in a close game, Bath winning 19 points to 12. Wasp Rob Andrew captained England against Romania in 1989.
1995-1999
The original Wasps logo used until 1999.
In 1995 Wasps made it to the final of the Pilkington Cup, their first final appearance of that competition in almost eight years. They again met Bath in the final, as they had on two occasions in 1986 and 1987. They were however defeated by Bath, 36 points to 16. A few years later in 1998, the now professional Wasps emerged again as finalists of the Pilkington Cup. They were, however, soundly defeated 48 points to 18 by a star-studded Saracens. These were the days pre salary cap when the clubs could spend what they deemed appropriate on their players wages. When rugby union became professional the club split into two parts. The professional side became part of Loftus Road Holdings PLC (who also owned Queens Park Rangers F.C., sharing the Loftus Road stadium with the West London association football team). In 1999 Wasps made the final of the Tetley's Bitter Cup (now called EDF Energy Cup), where they would meet the Newcastle Falcons. Wasps emerged as winners, defeating Newcastle 29 points to 19 and claiming their first title of that competition. The following year Wasps backed up this successful Tetley's Bitter Cup win by again making it to the final. They successfully defended their title, defeating the Northampton Saints 31 to 23. The team was rebranded in the summer of 1999 as London Wasps to differentiate them from Wasps FC, the amateur side of the club. They adopted the current club logo after several proposed designs were deemed to be too far out of touch with the clubs history. They had been running as Wasps RFC (professional) since the 1996-1997 season using the existing Wasps FC badge.
2000-present
Wasps playing Perpignan in 2006.
In 2001 ex-Wigan rugby league star Shaun Edwards joined as a coach. He has largely been credited with creating Wasps' famous Blitz Defence that stops teams and is the basis for Wasps' own scoring chances. London Wasps agreed to move out of Queens Park Rangers' Loftus Road stadium to allow Fulham F.C. to rent for 2 seasons between 2002 and 2004, while their ground, Craven Cottage, was redeveloped. They became tenants to Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park at the end of the 2001/02 season. The success of Wasps at their new ground meant they didn't return to Loftus Road after Fulham left. In the 2002/03 European Challenge Cup, Wasps made their way to the final, where they met Bath. Though Bath beat them in numerous finals in the 1990s, the Wasps emerged as champions, beating Bath 48 to 30 at Madejski Stadium. Wasps end of season run to glory also included timely wins that saw them defeat the Northampton Saints, in the Premiership semi final, after finishing 2nd in the league table. This saw them face Gloucester in the final at Twickenham. Wasps superior fitness saw them waltz past the cherry and whites and win their first English title since 1997, by 39 points to 3. Wasps finished top of their pool in the 2003-04 Heineken Cup, where they went on to soundly defeat Gloucester at the quarter-finals and won a final berth after overcoming Munster 37 points to 32 in the semi-finals. The semi-final, held at Lansdowne Road, has gone down as one of the all-time classic matches, for its incredible intensity, beating that of most international games. They met Toulouse in the final at Twickenham, where they became champions, defeating the French side, 27 points to 20, and in winning their first Heineken Cup produced another classic match. Wasps followed up the win the following week, again at Twickenham, by beating Bath to retain the title of England's champion side, and complete an impressive double. In December of 2004 the RFU revealed that the team was to be disqualified from the Powergen Cup for fielding an ineligible player, hooker Jonny Barrett, in a sixth-round game versus Bristol.[2] Wasps went through the season well, after the cup glitch, and retained the English title for a second time, by beating Leicester Tigers in the final at Twickenham. Edwards, however, was not a totally happy man as Wasps conceded their first try of the three Premiership finals in the dying minutes. Warren Gatland signed off at Wasps with a rare smile to continue his coaching with Waikato in New Zealand. Ian McGeechan became the new Director of Rugby at Wasps from the 2005/06 season, taking over from Gatland. London Wasps won the Powergen Anglo-Welsh Cup in the 2005-06 season, beating Llanelli Scarlets in the final at Twickenham. Before the 2006/07 season began, London Wasps won the Middlesex 7's in Twickenham, beating Leicester Tigers in the final. Josh Lewsey scored 11 tries in the process. In the 2007 Six Nations Championship, England vs. Wales game at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wasps supplied the entire back row of the scrum, James Haskell, Joe Worsley and Tom Rees all made an appearance.[3] This was the first time that any club supplied the entire back row. Unfortunately for England, Wales won the encounter 27 to 18.[4]
Wasps celebrate after their win in 2007.
In the Heineken Cup of 2007, Wasps qualified by topping their group for a home quarter final. They were drawn against Leinster on 31 March. There was a full house at Adams Park, and three players in total were sent to the Sin Bin, Lawrence Dallaglio in the last moments of the first half, Dominic Waldouck of London Wasps and Malcolm O'Kelly of Leinster later spent time there as well.[5] The final score was 35-13 to wasps. In the Semi Final on Sunday April 22nd at Coventry Citys Ricoh Arena, Wasps beat Northampton 30-13 and in doing so, gained a place in the Heineken Cup Final against Leicester at Twickenham Stadium.
Leicester were the favourites, as they had already won the Anglo-Welsh cup and the Guinness Premiership, the latter just the week before. It was also expected that this match would break records for the biggest crowd for a club rugby match in the world. This later turned out to be true. Wasps went ahead early, and while Leicester kept in the match, Wasps defense was on top form and Leicester didn't even score a penalty in the second half. Wasps won 25-9, thanks to penalties by Alex King and tries by Raphael Ibanez and Eoin Reddan to become 2007 champions.
Home ground
A view from the Valley Terrace at Adams Park.
Wasp's first home was in Finchley Road, North London although subsequent years saw grounds being rented in various parts of London. In 1923 Wasps moved to a permanent home at Sudbury, Middlesex, eventually buying the ground outright. Although the team currently play home matches at Adams Park, High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, and the ground at Sudbury has been developed for housing, the club house still stands (currently being used as a Hindu Community Centre) and is still considered by many as the club's spiritual home. Wasps previously played their home games at Loftus Road in West London. They however made the move to High Wycombe in 2002. The crowds figure went up by 31.8% the next season.[6] In recent years, Wasps have played their season opener in the London Double Header at Twickenham, in 2006 this drew a crowd of 51,950, breaking the record set in 2004.[7] From the start of the 2003/4 season to the end of the 2005/6 season the stadium was sponsored by Causeway Technologies and known as the Causeway Stadium. For the 2007/08 season it was announced[8] that Wasps will begin their defense of the Heineken Cup in Coventry, playing their "home" tie against Munster at Coventry City's Ricoh Arena. While commercially the move was seen as a success[9] with Wasps winning the game 24-23 in front of a crowd of 21,506[10], the move attracted criticism from some of the club's supporters. It was announced in 2007 that a joint venture between Wasps, Wycombe Wanderers and Wycombe District Council would fund a new stadium in the High Wycombe area. The loose plans are that it would be 16-17,000 capacity, with a terraced section (it would be the first new football ground in England with terraced section since the Taylor Report). The development would also included retail, hotel, conference and other facilities. Wasps and Wanderers funding would primarily be from Steve Hayes, who has been increasing his share holding in Wasps in the 2nd half of 2007, also taking over the Chairman duties from Chris Wright.
Current Standings
Current Squad
Current England Elite Squad
Other Internationally Capped Players
Honours
- English Champions titles: 5
- 1989/90*, 1996/97**, 2002/03, 2003/04, 2004/05
- Runners-up 3
- 1987/88*, 1990/91*, 1992/93*
- RFU Tetley's Bitter Cup & Powergen Cup / Powergen Anglo Welsh Cup titles: 3
- 1998/99**, 1999/2000, 2005/06
- Runners-up 4
- 1985/86*, 1986/87*, 1994/95*, 1997/98**
- Heineken Cup titles: 2
- Parker Pen Challenge Cup titles: 1
- Middlesex 7s Tournament titles: 5
- 1948*, 1952*, 1985*, 1993*, 2006
- Runners-up: 4
- 1933*, 1951*, 1996*, 2005
- (* As Wasps FC)
- (** As Wasps RFC)
Director of Rugby
References
External links
Coordinates: 51°37′50.00″N, 0°48′00.73″W
Ian McGeechan
Tom Rees
Raphaël Ibañez
Eoin Reddan
Daniel Leo
