Club History


The club began in 1919, when a group of local rugby players, some ex pupils of Queen Elizabeth Barnet, formed Barnet Rugby Football Club. At that time there were only a few clubs in North London and none in Hertfordshire.

Between the two World Wars the club never really had a permanent home, using various local fields marked out as pitches and local public houses for a cold wash and splash after the game. For a few years in the 1930s the Club were winter tenants of Barnet Cricket Club in Barnet Lane. Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War the Club had the facility of a shed and pitch at Gypsy Corner, which ultimately became the home of the Old Elizabethans RFC. This Club was created in 1935 and initially played their home games at the rear of the Arkley Windmill using the Bell Pub, now The Gate, for their refreshments and hospitality.

Both Barnet RFC and Old Elizabethans RFC reformed after the Second World War. Barnet resumed playing for a few years at the Cricket Club in Barnet Lane, but as the Club and the fixture list grew, a new home had to be found.

Following a large fund raising exercise a lease was created with Barnet Urban District Council for the land at Byng Road Playing Fields, which is the Club's current home venue. Over fifty years on, that original Clubhouse still stands and is used throughout during the rugby season. During this time Old Elizabethans entered into an agreement and rented from the same Council premises at Gypsy Corner, which was developed to encompass cricket and football, as well as rugby. In 1952 they built a pavilion which was extended in 1959 and subsequently improved.

Both Byng Road and Gypsy Corner suffered from London clay subsoil and both Clubs were put to the expense of mole drains and other drainage improvements over many years.

During the 1990s both clubs suffered, as with most other clubs, a reduction in the number of teams that were turning out and for the 1997/98 season, it was agreed to merge Barnet RFC and Old Elizabethans RFC and be known as Barnet Elizabethans RFC. This strengthened the overall position of local rugby but, in common with other clubs, coupled with a decline in school rugby, proved difficult to recruit young players and mini/junior rugby only went as far as the under 15s.

The First XV currently plays in London League North West Three and other Senior sides play in their respective Hertfordshire-Middlesex Merit Tables. The Club also has a very strong and active Mini and Junior section from under 7's to under 17's involving over 350 children and youths. In addition, there is also a Colts Team ,Development Squad and an aspiring Ladies Section. The Junior teams play many matches in the Hertfordshire Middlesex Leagues sponsored by Saracens.