The club reached the John Player Cup semi-final for the first time in 1978/9, while the arrival at Sudbury of England forwards Roger Uttley and Nigel Horton plus a youthful Nigel Melville also provided a major boost to a side which went on to enjoy an outstanding start to the 1980’s. A stream of Oxbridge blues also featured during this spell, including the likes of Chris Oti, Fran Clough, Huw Davies, Mark Bailey and Rob Andrew, and the club’s strength was shown when it lifted the London merit table and Middlesex Sevens in 1984. And better followed in the next two seasons, when Wasps reached the John Player Cup final for the first and second times, only to slip to 25-17 and 19-12 defeats at the hands of Bath.
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NewsNow: Wasps RFC news | Breaking News & Search 24/7In the last hour 'I'm in a different headspace from looking to retire a few weeks ago' RugbyPass11:11 In the last 6 hours We must bring back relegation -Baxter The Rugby Paper06:58 Marler calls for change of governance The Rugby Paper06:58 Toulouse leading the race for Willis The Rugby Paper06:58 Ma’asi-White heads for Sale The Rugby Paper06:58 Yesterday Dan Robson Exclusive: 'It will stay with me for the rest of my life' Coventry Live10:39 12-Nov-22 In the last 7 days Provinces can survive financial crisis - IRFU BBC21:05 11-Nov-22 Premiership Rugby statement: The revised 11-team fixtures list RugbyPass18:02 11-Nov-22 Premiership Rugby restructures fixture list BBC17:00 11-Nov-22 Barbarians name Damian McKenzie in Wasps-flavour week two squad RugbyPass11:15 11-Nov-22 Exeter's asset sale should concern every English rugby fan RugbyPass11:15 11-Nov-22 English giants snap up 'Welsh international in the making' amid Wasps turmoil Wales Online10:25 10-Nov-22 Top 14 club snaps up ex-Wasps back three Ali Crossdale RugbyPass09:26 10-Nov-22 A Sam Simmonds replacement, Premiership ready winger and giant lock - Exeter Chiefs sign Wasps… Devon Live07:21 10-Nov-22 Exeter sign three more players from Wasps RugbyPass19:51 9-Nov-22 Exeter sign ex-Wasps academy trio BBC19:05 9-Nov-22 Chiefs sign young trio from Wasps Exeter Chiefs - Official Site18:23 9-Nov-22 Saracens confirm replacement fixtures against non-English teams RugbyPass17:39 9-Nov-22 One to Watch: Charlie Atkinson Last Word On Sports17:29 9-Nov-22 Saracens announce replacement matches against Tel Aviv Heat & Scarlets Saracens - Official Site16:12 9-Nov-22 Wasps' London return backed by former England prop Phil Vickery Coventry Live16:10 9-Nov-22 Former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley agrees ‘eight figure’ takeover involving football club Newcastle World15:04 9-Nov-22 Gloucester Rugby pick up former Wasps prop with injured Argentina international still to arrive Gloucester Live12:11 9-Nov-22 Exeter debts 'incomparable' to other clubs BBC11:58 9-Nov-22 England U20's Archie McArthur signs for Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby - Official Site10:53 9-Nov-22 Vickery: London return for Wasps 'would be awesome' Sky Sports06:25 9-Nov-22 Barbarians name Danny Cipriani, Marland Yarde and nine ex-Wasps stars made redundant in… Coventry Live14:24 8-Nov-22 Jack Willis transfer latest: Bristol Bears and Leicester Tigers set to be beaten by Top 14 side … Bristol Live11:45 8-Nov-22 Harlequins sign England prop Cleall from Wasps BBC12:39 7-Nov-22 Launchbury set for stint in Japan The Rugby Paper04:45 6-Nov-22 Tigers hunt Hassell-Collins The Rugby Paper04:45 6-Nov-22 In the last month Rugby transfer rumours and news: Leicester Tigers linked with winger, Wasps and Worcester… Bristol Live10:10 5-Nov-22 Exeter statement: EGM arranged to address funding shortfall RugbyPass17:36 4-Nov-22 Ryan Mills has bagged new Premiership deal after Wasps redundancy RugbyPass14:01 4-Nov-22 Allianz Cup: Disputes Committee Update Saracens - Official Site12:47 4-Nov-22 New Head of Rugby Operations appointed Edinburgh Rugby - Official Site12:26 4-Nov-22 Wasps rumours and transfer news as Ryan Mills joins Premiership club Coventry Live11:44 4-Nov-22 Biggar leaves Northampton for Toulon BBC09:50 4-Nov-22 Autumn Internationals begin with elite rugby in sport’s spotlight The Independent07:58 4-Nov-22 Scarlets snap up 'out of work' Wasps coach Rugby 36521:17 3-Nov-22 Eddie Jones has been telling England players to bring joy to rugby - a sport 'on its arse' i News15:32 3-Nov-22 'Delighted' Blackett names his new club 17 days after Wasps' demise RugbyPass15:19 3-Nov-22 Dwayne Peel turns to former Wasps Coach as replacement for Dai Flanagan Scarlets - Official Site15:00 3-Nov-22 Dragons to face Lions in Europe - meaning gruelling South African triple-header South Wales Argus12:35 3-Nov-22 Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs: Full team news for Friday's game at the Gardens Northampton Chronicle & Echo12:11 3-Nov-22 Lions learn who their new Challenge Cup oppositions are Rugby 36511:23 3-Nov-22 Ex-Wasps CEO Stephen Vaughan has landed himself a new sports job RugbyPass10:54 3-Nov-22 Challenge Cup adjusts to compensate for English clubs demise RugbyPass10:14 3-Nov-22 Dragons to face Lions in Europe Dragons - Official Site10:05 3-Nov-22 Knights Sign Lock Theo Vukasinovic Doncaster Knights - Official Site17:37 2-Nov-22 Former Wasps chief Stephen Vaughan lands new role as Yorkshire cricket CEO The Mirror15:24 2-Nov-22 Palframan refreshed and eager for Bath challenge Newcastle Falcons - Official Site14:25 2-Nov-22 Former Wasps Rugby boss appointed new CEO of crisis cricket county Yorkshire The Telegraph12:41 2-Nov-22 Former Wasps CEO Stephen Vaughan joins Yorkshire County Cricket Club Coventry Live12:07 2-Nov-22 Coventry City and Wasps stadium owners apply for administration The Independent10:42 2-Nov-22 'Preferred bidder' for Coventry Building Society Arena identified as administration application … Coventry Live09:27 2-Nov-22 Lee Blackett: Former Wasps boss lands new coaching role Coventry Live18:29 1-Nov-22 Scarlets set to land Blackett from Wasps BBC17:47 1-Nov-22 Loose Pass: Brodie Retallick, stopping another Wasps and Worcester scenario and the outstanding Alex Goode Planet Rugby16:48 1-Nov-22 Wasps: Nizaam Carr and Matteo Minozzi find new clubs as Bulls and Benetton swoop for their services Planet Rugby13:04 1-Nov-22 Where 15 former Wasps stars are now playing - and the 28 searching for new clubs Coventry Live12:53 1-Nov-22 Ex-Wasps back-rower Nizaam Carr has named his new URC club RugbyPass11:18 1-Nov-22 Matteo Minozzi becomes the latest Wasps player to find a new club RugbyPass09:47 1-Nov-22 Cockerill's Matera verdict nine years after his Leicester stint RugbyPass09:17 1-Nov-22 Charlie Atkinson, Wasps' 'brightest young talent', can be Leicester Tigers' 10 for a generation Leicestershire Live19:01 31-Oct-22 Bids in for CBS Arena prompt Coventry City home fixtures update beyond Blackburn Rovers clash Coventry Live18:07 31-Oct-22 Charlie Atkinson the latest Wasps player to be rehomed RugbyPass15:37 31-Oct-22 Leicester Tigers sign Matt Everard from Wasps RugbyPass15:17 31-Oct-22 Coventry to play Blackburn at CBS Arena as planned BBC14:58 31-Oct-22 Leicester sign fly-half Atkinson on long-term deal BBC14:00 31-Oct-22 Charlie Atkinson: Leicester Tigers sign former Wasps fly-half Leicestershire Live13:25 31-Oct-22 Leicester Tigers sign Charlie Atkinson Leicester Tigers - Official Site13:08 31-Oct-22 Agreement Reached Waspies.
The former World War One pilot captained the club from 1925 to 1934, at one point playing 301 consecutive games in the back row. After retiring from the field of play he served Wasps with distinction in the committee room and was twice President prior to his death in 1995 aged 101. Wasps’ second unbeaten season, 1930/31, came during Swyer’s time at the helm, while the club’s powerful forward-based game also enabled it to go over four years and 50-plus matches unbeaten at home. This upturn saw the club granted fixtures against a number of top-level clubs including London Scottish, Moseley, Richmond and London Welsh, while in 1933 Wasps reached the final of the Middlesex Sevens for the first time.
Indeed, by 1914 Wasps were running four sides from a ground in Acton which they had called home for over a decade. 1914-1939 1914-39: The inter-war years Rugby was cancelled immediately following the outbreak of World War One, and Wasps’ secretary Jack Spiller soon reported that 92 per cent of the club’s active membership had joined the King’s forces. Sadly, of the 150 or so young men with Wasps connections who served, 38 lost their lives in the course of the next four years.
Ivor Montlake played a prominent part in the club at this time, including being the driving force behind a number of projects which greatly improved the Sudbury facilities. He subsequently went on to devote endless hours behind the scenes as club secretary and was heavily involved in his club’s transition to professionalism a decade later. 1987-1995 1987 saw the introduction of a national league system which has remained to the present day. Wasps were placed in the first division of the Courage League alongside some traditional heavyweights such as Leicester, Bath, Gloucester and Harlequins, plus the likes of Waterloo and Orrell, whose names will be less familiar to younger rugby supporters.
Ties to Sudbury were totally severed by the start of the 2001/02 campaign when Wasps amateur club relocated to Twyford Avenue, Acton, where it remains to the current day, and where the professional side was to train until its relocation to Coventry nearly two decades later. On the pitch, even the arrival of coach Shaun Edwards and Kiwis Ian Jones and Craig Dowd was unable to arrest a very poor 2001/02 season, which saw the end of Melville’s seven-year term of office, with former Ireland boss Warren Gatland taking the helm.
2002-2005 The former Kiwi hooker immediately went about establishing a winning culture at the club, with a group of players that now contained British Lions scrum-half Rob Howley as well as a host of England internationals including Lawrence Dallaglio, Phil Greening and Josh Lewsey. By now, Wasps had also bid farewell to Loftus Road. They began the 2002/03 season as tenants of Wycombe Wanderers’ Adams Park ground, where attendances quickly increased by almost 50 per cent from the 6, 000 or so who had regularly attended at QPR. There was also some winning rugby to watch since Gatland’s team finished second in the Premiership before beating Northampton in the semi-final to clinch a Twickenham appearance against table-topping Gloucester, who by now had former Wasps Nigel Melville and Dean Ryan at the helm. And in a game which has gone down in Wasps folklore, the cherry-and-whites, who had headed the league table by 15 points, were demolished 39-3.
The club’s early years were characterised by its nomadic status, indeed home games had been played at 12 different venues prior to the outbreak of war in 1914, while changing facilities and post-match hospitality were usually provided by local pubs. The 1875/76 season saw Wasps, led by stockbroker Jack Angle, go unbeaten through the season, winning 14 games and drawing two, in a feat which the club has since repeated only once. John Biggs also became the club’s first international in 1879, but a decade later most of these early Wasps had retired, and with the club also required to leave the Half Moon ground in Putney which had been home for 14 years, it faced difficult times. However, the arrival of George Harnett as President brought about a gradual upturn in fortunes through the remainder of the pre-war period.
Early games saw crowds of close to 10, 000 flock to watch big-name signing Inga Tuigamala plus the likes of Kenny Logan, Alex King and Will Green clinch the title with a game in hand after losing only three of their 22 matches. English clubs entered the Heineken Cup for the first time in 1996/97, but with little early success for a Wasps side which failed to emerge from its pool before losing to Brive in the quarter-finals 12 months later.
Of that figure, it was said that £1. 6m was tax debt. Dalrymple has responded to those claims though, writing on Twitter: “I can’t speak for all clubs, but the Harlequins data is factually inaccurate. We’re up to date with all of our HMRC payments – VAT/PAYE and NIC. ”I can’t speak for all clubs, but the @Harlequins data is factually inaccurate.
These departures led to Lawrence Dallaglio being appointed as skipper at Sudbury, while a new era was also ushered in off the field since entrepreneur and Chrysalis founder Chris Wright purchased a controlling interest in both Wasps and Queens Park Rangers and took the newly-formed professional outfit into Shepherd’s Bush-based ground share at Loftus Road. A change in the club’s coaching structure also followed, as former player and long-serving Wasp Rob Smith gave way to Nigel Melville, who became Wasps’ first professional rugby director.
https://t. co/C7ERtTmufn— Laurie Dalrymple (@LaurieDalrymple) September 4, 2022Of the remaining teams in the Premiership, only Bristol Bears and London Irish were reported to have been in credit with regards to tax debt, but both have a greater total debt than Quins, with Bristol having the second greatest in the league with £51. 2m. That figure is dwarfed by Wasps’ total debt of £112. 3m, which makes up 20 percent of the league’s combined debt. Exeter Chiefs conversely come out best with only a total debt of £13m. Quins get their season underway this Saturday with a trip to Kingston Park to take on Newcastle Falcons, having lost their final preseason match against Leinster last Friday at the Stoop.
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Club History Club History 1867-1914 1867-1914: The early years Wasps was founded in 1867 in the Hampstead area of London by a group of members who previously had connections with Harlequins – or Hampstead FC as it was then known. In addition, a strong link existed to Merchant Taylors, where the club’s first secretary William Alford had been educated. His younger brother Fred was the first club captain, while Richard Pain was President. The first fixture was staged at Primrose Hill, but no further records exist from the club’s inaugural season.
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