Marlborough Nomads
| Full name | Marlborough Nomads Football Club |
|---|---|
| Union | Rugby Football Union |
| Nickname(s) | Nomads |
| Founded | 1868 |
| Disbanded | 1911 |
| Location | London, England |
| Ground(s) | in Surbiton |
The Marlborough Nomads was a 19th-century English rugby union club that was notable for being one of the twenty-one founding members of the Rugby Football Union. They also supplied a number of players for the sport's early international fixtures.
The Nomads were founded in 1868 by James Bourdillon, a member of the Indian Civil Service and F. I. Currey, who became the first secretary, and was later captain. It was founded as a club for former pupils of Marlborough College who had moved to live and work in London but still wanted to actively play football. Hence it was referred to in some quarters as Old Marlburians.
The club's first match was played in 1868 against the well established Richmond FC, at Richmond's ground in the Old Deer Park and in this fixture the Nomads were beaten. The Nomads themselves originally played on Blackheath on the opposite side of the road to Blackheath F.C., except when the latter had a match away, when they utilised their ground. The ground at Blackheath was unenclosed, and the spectators often trespassed on the ground. True to their name they moved and settled later in Surbiton at a private ground. They became very well established and their fixture list included a regular match with Blackheath FC who they finally beat in 1882, thanks principally to A. Kaye Butterworth and Harry Vassal.
Other opponents, besides Blackheath and Richmond, included West Kent, The Gipsies and Ravenscourt Park. They also played both their old school, Marlborough College as well as Haileybury College ona regular basis.
Later secretaries of the club included H. Stanhope Illingworth, R. F. Isaacson, and J. D. Vans Agnew. Of the men associated with the club Hamersley, Freeman, A. K. Butterworth, Vans Agnew, and F. I. Currey all served on the committee of the Rugby Union, and the latter held the secretaryship in 1874, during A. G. Guillemard's temporary absence abroad. Currey later became president of the RFU from 1884 to 1886.
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