CLUB PROFILE: HAMILTONS RFC

Hamilton, aka The Hammies, was founded in 1875 and is recognized as being the oldest rugby club in South Africa.

Although rugby was played spasmodically in the Cape earlier than 1875, a game was played on Green Point common between Mother Country vs Colonial Born which really laid the foundation for generations to come.
The Clubs old records and photographs were destroyed in 1935 when the Pavillion building in which they were housed was burnt down.

The club truly came into being in March 1875 at a meeting convened by W Nightingale who hailed from Scotland. A number of enthusiasts attended in the offices of Messrs Hamilton Ross & Co in Cape Town. This meeting decided the name of Hamilton Football Club which is derived from Nightingales club in Scotland, founded in 1868 and which ultimately went over to professional soccer.

In 1883 the Grand Challenge was founded and is still competed for today. Hamiltons’ most successful period was the mid-1940s when the club entered 12 teams into various competitions, with a full playing staff of over 300.

The traditions setup in those far off times remain the basis on which much of the Club’s success today still rests. Traditions that in unbroken continuity have been handed down year by year as a cherished heritage, each succeeding generation of players adding to it before in turn handing them on to those following thereafter.