Club History (August 2004)

The Club was founded in 1959 by the late Tony Mason and Alan Wright, both players for Sidcup RFC, who subsequently became Vice Presidents of Sidcup RFC and Kent County RFU.

Penguins is now recognised as the premier touring club in the UK, having played in or against teams from no less than 57 countries. Indeed, we are not only the most travelled rugby club in the world, but the most travelled sports club in the world.

The principal objective of the Club has been to foster - by coaching and playing - the development, goodwill and camaderie of Rugby Union worldwide. The Club’s coaching and educational programme is organised by the HSBC Penguin Rugby Coaching Academy.

The Club’s committee is drawn from 14 nations and its President is Sir William Purves, CBE, DSO. Willie, as he likes to be called, was a member of the main committee of the Scottish Rugby Union. He was the only National Service officer to be awarded the DSO in the Korean War, and has a worldwide reputation as probably the most accomplished and distinguished British banker of the 20th century.

Eminent past Presidents have included Field Marshall Sir Claude Auchinleck, GCB, CGIE, CSI, DSO, OBE, LLD (Commander-in-Chief of the 8th Army and Indian Army); Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader, CBE, DSO, DFC, FRAcS, DL (Britain’s greatest ace fighter in World War II); Sir Robert Lawrence, CBE, ERD; D.H. Harrison, CBE (President, RFU 1966/1967); Air Commodore R.H.G. Weighill, CBE, DFC (Secretary, RFU 1973/1986); and Sir Peter Yarranton (President, RFU 1991/1992).

In the abbreviated game, the Club was mentioned in the Middlesex Programme 2001 as “acknowledged Master of Sevens” and the Club’s record is set out below:

From 1996 to 2004 , the Club’s main Fifteen-a-Side tours have included eleven visits to Asia and the Far East, three visits to South America, one to North America, one to the Middle East and seven to Europe. In the year 2000, we were the first European club to be invited to play a series of International matches versus the National team of the People’s Republic of China.

The Club is proud to have been sponsored by HSBC for its major tours over the last seven years. This great banking house is the largest bank in Europe, the second largest bank in the world, operating in no less than 81 countries. It is the 10th largest company in the world.

The international playing membership of the Club has been drawn from no less than 30 countries, and distinguished captains have included Waisale Serevi (the world’s No.1 Sevens player from Fiji); Bill Calcraft (Australia and past captain of Oxford University); Rob Wainwright (past captain of Scotland); and Fergus Slattery, one of Ireland’s most notable players.

We look forward to the future with confidence with the help and dedication of our hard-working, amateur committee.

Alan Wright, Chairman & Co-Founder