ABOUT US
SHORT HISTORY
In 1823, during a school soccer game in the town of Rugby, England, a young man named William Webb Ellis picked up the ball and ran towards the opposition’s goal line.
The Harlequin Football Club was founded in 1866 (the first recorded game was not until 1867) as Hampstead Football Club – renamed in 1870.
Two accounts. The first – there was a meeting under a street lamp at two o’clock in the morning in Hampstead! The second (more believable) is that the name was changed when membership was no longer purely local.
A meeting was called, a dictionary was produced and when the reader reached Harlequin, he was stopped and all present agreed, so the new name was born.
1902: After the war, Civil Servants moved up from Cpt; Dbn; PE; – Civil Services Club. The Presidency of the Attorney General of Transvaal.
The first Game was played on 10 May 1902 against Wanders in Jhb.
Membership extended beyond Civil Service, in 1903, the name changed to “The Harlequin Rugby Club” – affiliation to the London Quins.
Carlton Cup is named after a trophy that was founded in the “Carlton Bar” on Church Square.
The 1995 Rugby World Cup winning coach, Kitch Christie was first a player and then a coach at Pretoria Harlequins.
Affiliation: The right to wear the London club colours (namely: – light blue, magenta, chocolate, French grey, reversed on the back, sleeves light green and black reversed, white shorts and dark stockings with the Club Colours in diamonds around the tops)
