Editing Wasps RFC (section)

===Wasps FC: 1866–1995===
Hampstead Football Club was founded in 1866.<ref name="history"/> A split in the membership resulted in the formation of two different clubs: [[Harlequin F.C.]] and Wasps. Wasps Football Club was itself formed in 1867<ref name="history"/> at the now defunct Eton and Middlesex Tavern in North London;<ref name="history"/> names of insects, birds and other animals were considered fashionable in the Victorian period. In December 1870, Edwin Ash, Secretary of Richmond Football Club published a letter in the papers which said, "Those who play the rugby-type game should meet to form a code of practice as various clubs play to rules which differ from others, which makes the game difficult to play."

As a reasonably well-established club, the Wasps were eligible to be founder members of the [[Rugby Football Union]] (RFU).<ref name="history"/> On 26 January 1871 the meeting was scheduled to take place. However a mix-up led to them sending their representative to the wrong venue at the wrong time on the wrong day.<ref name="history"/> Another version of the story was that he went to a pub of the same name and after consuming a number of drinks was too drunk to make it to the correct address after he realised his mistake. Wasps were, therefore, not present at the inauguration ceremony and thus forfeited their right to be called foundation members.<ref name="history"/>

Wasps' first home was in [[Finchley Road]], North London. Later, grounds were rented in various parts of London until in 1923 the Wasps found a permanent home at [[Sudbury, London|Sudbury]], [[Middlesex]], eventually buying the ground outright.<ref name="history"/> The side had somewhat of a renaissance during the 1930s; in the earlier part of the decade they were seen as one of the better English clubs, going unbeaten in the 1930/31 English season.<ref name="backrow">{{cite web |url=http://www.wasps.co.uk/History2.ink |title=The 1930s – London Wasps |website=wasps.co.uk |access-date=13 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080319104458/http://www.wasps.co.uk/History2.ink |archive-date=19 March 2008 }}</ref> The 1930s also saw the emergence of Neville Compton, who captained the side between 1939 and 1947 and went on to become fixture secretary in 1959 and eventually became the club president in the early 1970s before retiring in 1988.

Wasps went on to host Welsh internationals Vivian Jenkins and [[Harry Bowcott]], in addition to this national representation, numerous Wasps came to play for the [[England national rugby union team|England national side]], such as [[Ted Woodward (rugby union)|Ted Woodward]], Bob Stirling, [[Richard Sharp (rugby union)|Richard Sharp]] and Don Rutherford. In 1967, the Wasps club celebrated their centenary. Celebrations took the form of two matches that were held at the [[Rugby school]] grounds, where [[William Webb Ellis]] is thought to have originated the rugby union game. One match was played against the [[Barbarian F.C.]], the other, against another London rugby union club, the Harlequins.

In 1986, Wasps Football Club made their first appearance at the final of the [[EDF Energy Cup|John Player Cup]] knock-out competition, which originated in 1972. Wasps were defeated by [[Bath Rugby|Bath]] in a close game, where Bath emerged as winners, 25 points to 17. The following year Wasps continued their success in the knock-out competition and they again met Bath in the final. They were however again defeated by Bath in a close game, Bath winning 19 points to 12. Wasp [[Rob Andrew]] captained England against [[Romania national rugby union team|Romania]] in 1989. In 1990, Andrew captained Wasps to their first Courage League title, as they narrowly pipped [[Orrell R.U.F.C.]] to be English champions.

In 1995 Wasps lost 16–36 to [[Bath Rugby|Bath]] in the final of the [[Pilkington Cup]]. It was their first appearance in the final since 1987 and 1986, when their opponents – and the eventual winners – on both occasions were also Bath.

After winning the title, Wasps regularly finished in the top three of the Courage league title, although they were never quite good enough to overcome Bath, the pre-eminent club of the time. Then in 1995–96, with many pundits predicting Wasps could make a run for the title, Rob Andrew took up a lucrative deal to become Player Manager of Newcastle Falcons. He recruited several other leading Wasps, including, most notably, Club Captain Dean Ryan. For a few weeks Wasps looked like becoming the first casualty of the professional era as the backbone of their team had left. But under newly appointed captain Lawrence Dallaglio, the club steadied the ship, and managed to finish fourth, and secure a place in the following season's Heineken Cup, which English teams were entering for the first time.