Harlequin F.C.

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Harlequins
Full name	Harlequin Football Club
Nickname(s)	Quins
Founded	1866
Location	London, England
Ground	Twickenham Stoop
Capacity	12,700
Chairman	Mark Evans
Coach	Dean Richards
League	Guinness Premiership
2005-06 (Nat. Div 1)	1st
Home colours		Away colours
Official Website
www.quins.co.uk

The Harlequin Football Club (The Harlequins or Quins for short) is an English rugby union team who will play in the top level of English rugby, the Guinness Premiership, for 2006-07, having secured their return from National Division One at the first opportunity. Their ground in London is traditionally known as The Stoop though it has recently been renamed The Twickenham Stoop. For sponsorship reasons they are known as NEC Harlequins.

In the amateur era many of the players worked in the City of London and the club has retained strong ties to the financial sector.

Harlequins Rugby League is a separately owned rugby league team which, from 23 September 2005, shares the same name, ground and wears kit similar to the union club's famous multi-coloured quartered jersey.

Contents 1 History 2 Stadium 3 Current squad 4 Current England elite squad 5 Other internationals 6 Famous former players 7 Club honours 8 External links

[edit] History

The Harlequin Rugby Football Club was founded in 1866 (although the first recorded game was not until 1867) as Hampstead Football Club and re-named in 1870.

An offshoot of this was that there was a split in the membership of the Hampstead Football Club, with the half that did not form the Harlequins going off and forming a club known as the Wasps.

For their first 40 years, they were very nomadic in their existence and played at a total of 15 venues. Since 1909, they have only played at three.

In 1906, the Quins were invited by the Rugby Football Union to use the new national stadium in Twickenham. In those early days, only one or two internationals were played there during the season, and it wasn't long before the RFU ground became the Headquarters of the Harlequin Football Club.

The 1910 saw the rise of the Harlequins club, whose effective brand of attacking rugby led to a purple period in the years leading up to the Great War.

In 1963, the Quins acquired an athletics ground with 14 acres (57,000 m²) just over the road from the RFU ground, which became the Harlequin training pitch. This has subsequently become their home: the Stoop Memorial Ground. This is named after Adrian Dura Stoop, who won 15 caps for England and is said to have been the person who developed modern back play.

On the field, and with the introduction of leagues in 1987 bringing with it a more competitive environment, the Quins had maintained their status in the Premier Division as one of England's top 12 clubs until 2005.

The club has won the Rugby Football Union clubs knockout competition on two occasions: the John Player Cup in 1988 and Pilkington Cup in 1991. In addition, they played in the finals of 1992, 1993 and 2001.

The Quins became the first British team to win the European Shield in 2001, defeating Narbonne 42-33 in the final. They then became the first team to win the tournament twice, defeating Montferrand 27-26 in the final of the renamed Parker Pen Challenge Cup on 22nd May 2004.

In 2005 they were relegated to National Division One after finishing at the bottom of the Zurich Premiership. In July of that year they announced that they would be establishing a partnership with rugby league club London Broncos, which will see the two clubs sharing Harlequins home ground of The Stoop from the start of the 2006 Super League season. As part of the deal, the Broncos changed their name to Harlequins Rugby League, though the two clubs remain under separate ownership.

In 2005-06, Quins utterly dominated National Division One. They won 25 of their 26 league matches, including their first 19, losing only at Exeter Chiefs on 25 February 2006. Quins also averaged nearly 40 points per match, scored four or more tries in 20 matches, and racked up an average victory margin of slightly over 25 points. They secured their return to the Premiership on 1 April with four matches to spare, crushing Sedgley Park 65-8 while the only team with a mathematical chance of pipping them for the title, Bedford, lost 26-23 at Exeter.

[edit] Stadium

Main Article - Twickenham Stoop

The Harlequins play at the Twickenham Stoop, which is also known as simply, The Stoop. The stadium is situated in Twickenham. The ground has previously been referred to as the Stoop Memorial Ground, though that was changed in mid 2005. The stadium is named after former England international, Adrian Stoop, who was also a Harlequin player and president.

The Stoop has a capacity of 12,700, since the redeveloped Lexus Stand (west) was opened in late 2005. Since Harlequins RL joined the Harlequins at the ground, both teams played on the same day in 2006, with the Harlequins playing first, and then field markings and advertisements being changed so the Harlequins RL could play.

The Quins acquired the then athletics pitch in 1963, a ground of 14 acres, close by to the RFU ground. It became the training pitch, and eventually, the Harlequins home ground. The site provided a ground that could be developed, and since then much has been done in terms of upgrading. The stadium was known as the Stoop Memorial Ground for many years, but it was renamed to the Twickenham Stoop in 2005.

[edit] Current squad

Nationality Name Born Aston Croall 1984 Mel Deane 1975 Gavin Duffy 1981 Nick Easter 1978 Jim Evans 1980 Tani Fuga 1973 Tom Guest 1984 George Harder 1974 James Hayter 1978 Adrian Jarvis 1983 Ceri Jones 1977 Simon Keogh 1979

Nationality Name Born Andrew Mehrtens 1973 Simon Miall 1976 Ugo Monye 1983 Ricky Nebbett 1977 Jimmy Richards 1976 Luke Sherriff 1979 Steve So'oialo 1977 André Vos 1975 Lorne Ward 1977 Tom Williams 1983 David Strettle 1983 Will Skinner 1984

[edit] Current England elite squad

• Stuart Abbott

[edit] Other internationals

• Pablo Bouza (Argentina)
• Andrew Mehrtens (New Zealand)
• Steven So'oialo (Manu Samoa)
• Mike Worsley (England)
• André Vos (South Africa)
• Hal Luscombe (Wales)

[edit] Famous former players

• Will Greenwood (England)
• Paul Ackford (England)
• Zinzan Brooke (New Zealand)
• Will Carling (England)
• W.P.C. Davies (England)
• Nick Duncombe (England)
• Thierry Lacroix (France)
• Jason Leonard (England)
• Dan Luger (England)
• Brian Moore (England)
• Gareth Rees (Canada)
• Agustín Costa Repetto (Argentina)
• Mickey Skinner (England)
• Adrian Stoop (England)
• Wavell Wakefield (England)
• Keith Wood (Ireland)
• Sir Clive Woodward (England)

[edit] Club honours

• John Player Cup / Pilkington Cup 1988 1991
• European Shield / Parker Pen Challenge Cup 2001 2004
• National Division One 2006
• Powergen National Trophy 2006

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Come All Within (unofficial fan-site)
• Quinssa! (Quins Supporters Association)
• Diamond Geezers (Quins Supporters)
• Data, results etc (in English and in French)