Early Army Navy Matches (1878-1914)
The First Army Navy Match (1878)
The first Army Navy match was held on 13 February 1878 at Kennington
Oval, London. A contemporary newspaper The Broad Arrow
gave the following account of the match:
"A fine exhibition of football delighted the somewhat
small number of spectators. Bush scored the first try for the Navy
from a scrummage near the line. The goal was kicked by Orford. A
band of naval spectators who had taken up their position beneath
a white ensign mounted on the roof of a drag greeted this score
with great cheering. The greasy state of the ground was not favourable
for any great display of running. Encouraged by a cry from their
supporters 'Come on Navy, Force the Passage of the Straights'* [sic]
the Navy mounted great pressure and scored a touch down. In the
second half the Navy scored a second try. Wrench of the Army took
advantage of some bad passing by the Navy and scored the Army try:
The goal was kicked but this ended the scoring and the Navy deservedly
won the first match between the Services."
The Army's selectors made a generous contribution towards the Navy victory
by selecting a Royal Artillery officer, R Bannatyne, as Team Captain.
He was serving overseas at the time and received no notification
of his selection. As a result he was absent for the game. The situation
was further confounded by the fact that another Army player arrived
late and missed a good part of the match.
The teams were:
British Army — back: C F Crombie (37th North Hampshire Regt); threequarter-backs: C H Coke (86th Royal County Down Regt), J N Cowan (Royal Engineers); half-backs: F C Heath (Royal Engineers), A J C French (76th Regt of Foot); forwards: A R Barker (Royal Artillery), A J Street (unidentified), J Spens (85th King's Light Infantry), I W Urquhart (108th (Madras Infantry) Regt of Foot), G Campbell (77th (East Middlesex) Regt). I G Adamson (108th Foot), Gould-Adams (1st (Royal Scots) Regt), T H Manser (Army Hospital Corps), S Ogilvie (unidentified), R A Bannatyne (Royal Artillery) (captain - absent).
Royal Navy — F Campbell, C Bishop, E Daniells, C Hart, P Bush, J Startin, D Henderson, J Orford, C Trower, R Montgomerie, J Bennett, F Thring, H Goldfinch, C Bayly, C Waiters
* The correct phrase is "force the passage of the straits" - a
naval term meaning to aggressively thrust forward.
Army Navy Match Statistics (1878-1914)
| Year |
Winners |
Points |
Losers |
Points |
| 1878 |
Royal Navy |
1G 1T |
Army |
1G |
| 1907 |
Royal Navy |
15 |
Army |
14 |
| 1907 |
Royal Navy |
15 |
Army |
0 |
| 1909 |
Royal Navy |
25 |
Army |
0 |
| 1910 |
Royal Navy |
19 |
Army |
10 |
| 1911 |
Army |
22 |
Royal Navy |
13 |
| 1912 |
Royal Navy |
16 |
Army |
8 |
| 1913 |
Royal Navy |
18 |
Army |
8 |
| 1914 |
Army |
26 |
Royal Navy |
14 |
| 1915-1919 No games were played due
to First World War |
Source McLaren Col Lt J:The History of Army Rugby (Aldershot, The Army RFU, 1986)
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