Guy's, Kings and St. Thomas' Rugby Football Club
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| Full name | Guy's, Kings and St. Thomas' Rugby Football Club |
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| Union | Rugby Football Union |
| Nickname(s) | GKT |
| Founded | 1843 |
| Location | Honor Oak Park, London, England |
| Ground(s) | Guy's Hospital Athletic Ground |
| Director of Rugby | Edd Conway |
| Captain(s) | Thomas Francis |
| League(s) | Kent 2nd division BUCS 2A |
| Official website | |
| www |
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Guy's, Kings and St. Thomas' Rugby Football Club ("GKT") is the name given to the modern amalgam of three formerly distinct hospital rugby clubs each with a long history, having all been founded in the nineteenth century. The teams from Guy's Hospital and St Thomas' Hospital were the first to merge following the union of their respective Medical Departments. When King's College Hospital also merged in 1999 the King's College Hospital Rugby Football Club opted to remain separate and in so doing became an open rugby club that no longer represented the Hospital Medic's. GKT is notable for having been part of the twenty-one founding members of the Rugby Football Union (the Guy's team), and across its joint history has produced a large number of international players.
The history of GKT is the combined history of three older sides, and their joint history from the point of merger:
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.
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