History of the Hamilton Hornets Rugby Football Club

Past Presidents and Captains
Basic information about the Hornets

Hornets History - taken from the 50th Anniversary Program

In the beginning it was the Hamilton British Rugby Club...

Hamilton was there at the beginning of "British Rugby" in Ontario. The term British Rugby was used to distinguish it from Canadian football which was known as rugby into the 1950s. Several newly arrived British Isles types met at the YMCA and started a team in 1925, playing their local games at the HAAA grounds or Eastwood Park. It was intermittent but did get reestablished solidly by 1928, with Mayor William Burton as President and in fact in that year went undefeated, winning the Ontario league. Hamilton Rugby team won the Burton trophy in 1929 and 1930 as the top team in Ontario. Stalwarts for the Hamilton team included Bob Smith from Edinburgh, Ernie Abernethy, international trialist from Belfast, and Jim Meredith, world-class boxer from Wales. Jim died in 2003 at the age of 100. Also playing were Alex Denman, captain of the Hamilton Tigers football team (he later played rugby for the 91st Highlanders), and Bobby Pearce, world champion sculler. In Toronto on Thanksgiving Day, November 11th, 1929, Abernethy and Smith played for Ontario against Quebec before a crowd of 4000.

In 1930 Hamilton played league games against Toronto RFC, Toronto Irish, Bank of Montreal, British Public, Toronto Varsity, Bank of Commerce, Toronto Welsh, Hamilton 91st Highlanders, Toronto Canadians, and in an exhibition game at Civic Stadium against the champion University of British Columbia team and lost narrowly 12-6 to the visitors, who had defeated Ontario 39-3 four days previously. Two years earlier UBC held the world-famous New Zealand Maoris to a 12-6 result. As Ontario Champs, Hamilton won the right to play in the Eastern Canada final for the McTier Cup, but declined as it meant travelling 1200 miles to play Glace Bay. Rugby was very popular in the Atlantic and Quebec and crowds of up to 7000 were not unusual at games.

In 1931 the club record was 7 wins, 4 ties, 3 losses. Unfortunately, one loss was the game for the Burton trophy. The game received extensive coverage in the papers and the Hamilton Herald, in one edition, even posted the half-time score at press time. Bob Smith, an engineer with Hamilton Bridge and Tank, was selected to play for the Canadian National team that went to Japan in January 1932. Unfortunately Bob's employer would not give him the time off work. The club kept going until 1932, playing against mostly Toronto clubs, but also against the local 91st Highlanders, now the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders, but as "British Rugby" waned in Ontario, so did the Hamilton Club.

Fast forward to 1954. Bob Smith had gone back to Scotland, then returned to Canada, and was now a physician specializing in podiatry (perhaps linked to his love of Scottish dancing). He organized a meeting, once again at the YMCA and, with the help of Vince Jones, one of several Welsh Jones's living in Brantford, Bill Crosbie and others, the club was reborn as the Hamilton Hornets Rugby Football Club.

The club has enjoyed many successes over the years including winning the McCormick Cup in 1957, the Intermediate Championship in 1962 and 1966, the Ontario Sevens title in 1969, the Ontario Senior B League in1976 and the Senior A title in 1977. 1966 was a banner year as the team went undefeated, scoring 246 points while allowing only 21. Many Hornets have played for the Niagara Branch, Ontario and even Canada.

Another major achievement was in obtaining a lease for the clubhouse at Mohawk Sports Park when it opened in 1979. In the administration end of things Hornets have also been very active. The inaugural President of the NRU was Brendan Webb and the current President is Dai Rhys-Jones. Several Hornets or former Hornets have been presidents of the ORU and former captain Monty Heald went on to become President of the Canadian Rugby Union.

Anyone who ever played with or against the Hornets in the 1960s will recall the infamous Ranch on Plains Road. It was the residence for numerous players and the location for after game hosting. Everyone recalls the great pool parties and jumping off the Cabana roof into the pool, the pop vending machine converted to dispense those stubby beers bottles for 25 cents, the after game singalongs (remember "Bubbles") where the next song could be selected from the many titles written on the ceiling of the Hornets Nest, the great parties and stags (even if there was a beer strike), the kitchen wallpaper, cooking episodes, car escapades, and the list goes on and on.

Currently the senior men's team play in the intermediate division but our junior division is growing with boys' teams at U18, U16, U14 and a non-contact co-ed program for U12s. With these programs well established, the future of the club for the next 50 years is getting off to a good start.