Quote: mickyb1234 ".......................Look at the origins of Harlequins RU
In fact the club are "the Harlequins of London"'"
Time for a history lesson I think.....................
History
The Hampstead Football Club was founded in 1866 and the first recorded game took place in 1867.
They were 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.
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 First World 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 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 22 May 2004.
Harlequins during the 2005-2006 season
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.
