| Full name | Harlequins Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Quins | ||
| Founded | 1866 | ||
| Location | London, England | ||
| Ground(s) | Twickenham Stoop (Capacity: 14,816) | ||
| CEO | David Ellis | ||
| Director of Rugby | Conor O'Shea | ||
| Coach(es) | John Kingston | ||
| Captain(s) | Chris Robshaw | ||
| League(s) | Aviva Premiership | ||
| 2010–11 | 7th | ||
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| Official website | |||
| www.quins.co.uk | |||
The Harlequin Football Club (The Harlequins or Quins for short) is an English rugby union team who play in the top level of English rugby, the Aviva Premiership. Their ground in London is Twickenham Stoop. For sponsorship reasons they were formerly known as NEC Harlequins, but principal sponsorship is currently held by Etihad Airways on a three-year term.[1]
When the game was amateur, many Harlequins 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 multi-coloured quartered jersey.
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The Hampstead Football Club was founded in 1866 and the first recorded game took place in 1867. The club was re-named Harlequin Rugby Football Club in 1870, supposedly because the membership was no longer purely local but the HFC monogram had to be retained. The word 'Harlequin' was found in a dictionary and all present agreed to the new name. This caused a split in the membership and the half that did not form the Harlequins went off and formed a club known as the Wasps.
During its first 40 years the club played at a total of 15 venues. Since 1909, they have only played at three.
In 1906, the club was 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 Twickenham became the headquarters of the Harlequin Football Club.
In 1961, Harlequins undertook a tour of East Africa in conjunction with Pretoria Harlequins from South Africa, as guests of the Kenya Harlequin F.C. and the Rugby Football Union of East Africa; the club won five and drew one. The tour is notable for two facts, it was the first time that three sister clubs of the Harlequin family all played each other in a coordinated series of matches and at 19 days it was the longest overseas tour undertaken by a British club up to that time. Despite this, the tour pales to insignificance when it is realised the Pretoria club spent four weeks in East Africa playing eight matches and another in Rhodesia on the way home.
The London club arrived at Entebbe airport at dawn on 4th May and opened their tour with a 44-13 win against Uganada in Kampala on 6th May. They played West Kenya Province at Kitale (winning 24-6), and the Pretoria Harlequins on Saturday 13th May at the RFUEA ground, Nairobi (winning 13 - 11). The next two matches were played at the same location, beating the host club 16-0 the next day and earning a 9-all tie against Kenya Central Province on Wednesday 17 May. The last match for the London club was against Kenya at Nakuru on Saturday 20th May (winning 8-0). This last match was played under a typical "long-rains" shower that, though heavy, did not soften the hard ground enough to be a problem.
The team was seen off by a huge crowd of the Kenya rugby fraternity, departing from Nairobi airport on the evening of 23 May. Touching down to refuel in Entebbe after midnight, they found that a large contingent of the Ugandan rugby scene had turned up at the airport to wave them on their way.
In 1963, Harlequin acquired an athletics ground with 14 acres (57,000 m²) just over the road from the Twickenham ground, which became its 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.
With the introduction of leagues in 1987 bringing a more competitive environment, the Quins 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.
Harlequins hold the world record for providing the most players from one club (8) in a Rugby World Cup final. In the second ever RWC final at Twickenham in November 1991, seven Harlequin players appeared for England (Will Carling, Simon Halliday, Jason Leonard, Brian Moore, Paul Ackford, Mickey Skinner, Peter Winterbottom) and Troy Coker played in the Australian pack.
In the summer of 2000 an amateur team, Harlequin Amateurs was formed.
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 22 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 saw 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.
For the 2008 tour to New Zealand, England coach Martin Johnson selected 4 Harlequin players to play for the tour, Nick Easter, David Strettle, Mike Brown and Danny Care. Also five Harlequin players were selected for the England Saxons Barclays Churchill Cup matches to the USA and Canada. Tom Guest, Chris Robshaw, Adrian Jarvis, Ugo Monye and Will Skinner were all selected with Will Skinner chosen as captain for the side.
In the 2007–08 season Harlequins won 12 of their 22 Guinness Premiership matches and finished 6th in the league. Harlequins got off to a shaky start which saw them be in 2nd, 3rd 4th place consecutively, and during the latter half of the season Halequins managed to reach 3rd after a string of 7 out of 9 wins, but three defeats from London Irish, Sale Sharks and Leicester Tigers to finish the season meant that Quins dropped to 6th and missed out on the play offs.
Two Harlequins players were short-listed for awards, Danny Care and Chris Robshaw, were short-listed for the Land Rover Discovery of the Season award. As well as Coach Dean Richards being short-listed for the 02 Director of Rugby of the Season as well as Tom Guest being nominated for MBNA Try of the Season for his try against Leeds Carnegie on Sunday 13 April 2008.
Players to leave Quins at the end of the 2007–08 season were Adrian Jarvis, Hal Luscombe, Chris Hala'ufia, Paul Volley, Nicholas Spanghero, Simon Keogh, Ricky Nebbett and Ryan Manyika. For the 2008–09 season Quins signed five new players; London Irish centre Gonzala Tiesi, Ulster Back-row forward Neil McMillan, Auckland Blues fly-half Nick Evans, Tongan international Epi Taione who plays on wing, centre and back row and Fijian utility back Waisea Luveniyali.
Quins finished second in the 2008-09 Guinness Premiership table. In the play-offs, they lost 0–16 at home to eventual losing finalists London Irish.
Quins also hosted their first "Big Game" at Twickenham over the Christmas period, playing out a 28–28 draw with Leicester Tigers in front of 52000 people.
In the 2008-09 Heineken Cup Harlequins came top of their pool, including beating tournament favourites Stade Français both at home (thanks to a dramatic last play drop goal from Nick Evans) and away in front of 80000 people in the Stade de France in Paris. They lost 5–6 at the Stoop to eventual tournament winners Leinster Rugby at the quarter final stage, In which the infamous Bloodgate Scandal took place.
The contrast between this season and the previous season could hardly have been greater. With the shadow of Bloodgate still hanging over the club, the club struggled to an 8th place finish despite retaining most of the players from their successful previous campaign. They also made a swift exit from the Heineken Cup at the group stages whilst failing to chalk up a single victory in the competition. Owing to the club's lower league position, they failed to qualify for the competition for the first time in three years.
Quins also hosted their second "Big Game" at Twickenham. Despite losing 20–21 to "London" Wasps, the game attracted 76000 spectators.
Following the resignation of Dean Richards in August 2009, Conor O'Shea was appointed Director of Rugby in March 2010.
Harlequins endured a mixed 2010-11 season, which was characterised by inconsistency. They finished seventh in the league, which was insufficient to ensure Heineken Cup qualification. However, they proved their potential with some inspiring performances on their way to the Amlin Cup final. This included a historic win away against Munster in the semi-final, where they became only the second club to beat the Irish province at home in a European Competition. Harlequins won the final (19-18) against Stade Français to win its 3rd Amlin Cup.[2][3]
Harlequins play at Twickenham Stoop, which is situated in Twickenham in south-west London. The stadium is named after former England international Adrian Stoop, who was a Harlequins player and later president of the club.
The Stoop has a capacity of 14,816, since the redeveloped South Stand was opened in 2009. 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 club acquired the then athletics pitch in 1963, a ground of 14 acres (57,000 m2), 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.
In the beginning of the 2007/08 season a temporary roof was placed on the south stand. One of the underlying reasons behind the decision to build this was the 2006/07 game against Bath, when Mark Evans witnessed a father and son, without coats, sharing a big jumper and he decided that the club should show more consideration for those fans on lower incomes. Since construction of this however, planning consent has been granted by Richmond Borough Council for a completely new permanent covered stand but no date has yet been announced for construction to start.
During the quarter final of the 2009 Heineken Cup against Leinster, Harlequins wing Tom Williams came off the field with what turned out to be a faked blood injury in order to facilitate a tactical substitution. An investigation by the ERC and the RFU revealed that blood injuries had also been faked by Harlequins to enable tactical substitutions on four previous occasions. These findings resulted in a twelve month ban for Williams – reduced to 4 months on appeal, a three year ban for former director of rugby Dean Richards and a two year ban for physiotherapist Steph Brennan as well as a £260,000 fine for the club.[4][5] The club chairman Charles Jillings subsequently tendered his resignation[6] while the club doctor Wendy Chapman was suspended by the GMC for cutting Williams's lip to hide his use of the blood capsule.[7] On 2 September 2009, it was reported that Harlequins had escaped being thrown out of the Heineken Cup following the scandal when the board of organisers European Rugby Cup (ERC) said it approved of the bans and fines already handed out.[8]
The affair was dubbed by many in the media "Bloodgate".[7]
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| Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Tries For | Tries Against | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harlequins | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 317 | 195 | +122 | 34 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 47 | ||||
| 2 | Saracens | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 252 | 189 | +63 | 19 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 40 | ||||
| 3 | Northampton Saints | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 286 | 201 | +85 | 28 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 32 | ||||
| 4 | Leicester Tigers | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 319 | 306 | +13 | 33 | 32 | 3 | 3 | 32 | ||||
| 5 | Sale Sharks | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 266 | 291 | -25 | 25 | 27 | 1 | 4 | 29 | ||||
| 6 | London Irish | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 285 | 279 | +6 | 23 | 23 | 2 | 5 | 29 | ||||
| 7 | Gloucester Rugby | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 260 | 233 | +27 | 24 | 20 | 1 | 5 | 28 | ||||
| 8 | Exeter Chiefs | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 226 | 242 | -16 | 18 | 22 | 1 | 6 | 27 | ||||
| 9 | Bath Rugby | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 216 | 226 | -10 | 18 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 23 | ||||
| 10 | Worcester Warriors | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 154 | 205 | -51 | 9 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 21 | ||||
| 11 | London Wasps | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 191 | 257 | -66 | 19 | 19 | 1 | 4 | 21 | ||||
| 12 | Newcastle Falcons | 12 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 197 | 345 | -148 | 14 | 38 | 0 | 1 | 11 | ||||
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If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
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| Green background (rows 1 to 4) are play-off places, and receive berths in the 2012–13 Heineken Cup. Blue background (rows 5 and 6) are clubs that do not make the play-offs, but will receive Heineken Cup berths. Red background (row 12) to be relegated if the champion of the RFU Championship meets the requirements for promotion. Updated 09 October 2011 — Current English Leagues
source:Premiership Rugby Notes: |
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Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under IRB eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-IRB nationality.
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Director of Rugby | Conor O'Shea [9] |
| Head Coach | John Kingston [10] |
| Chiropractor | Andy Beckinsale [11] |
| First XV Physio | Andy Reynolds [12] |
| Physiotherapist | Ann-Marie Birmingham [13] |
| Assistant First Team Coach | Collin Osborne [14] |
| Nutritionist | Dan Kings [15] |
| Kit Logistics Technician | Dennis Harding [16] |
| Head of Performance Analysis | Ed Spokes [17] |
| Conditioning Coach | Gareth Tong [18] |
| Head of Rugby Operations | Graeme Bowerbank [19] |
| Head Training and Conditioning Coach | John Dams [20] |
| Kit Logistics Technician | Julian Ayton [21] |
| Sport Psychology | Kate Hays [22] |
| Assistant Coach | Mark Mapletoft [23] |
| Head Physiotherapist | Richard Bamford [24] |
| Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach | Tim Hall [25] |
| Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach | Tim Hanway [26] |
| Academy Manager and First Team Coach | Tony Diprose [27] |
| First XV Administrator | Trish Hassall [28] |
| Assistant Academy Coach | Jim Evans [29] |
| Academy Head Coach | Howard Graham [30] |
| Academy Physiotherapist | Adam Roberts [31] |
| Head of Harlequins Sussex School of Rugby | Richard Sigs [32] |
| Academy Administrator | Louise Ryan [33] |
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