Rugby Fives Association, 21st September 2023
The new (well, technically revived) London League started last night at St Paul’s School, with a match between the Executioners and the UCS Old Boys clubs, which was won by the home club.
Inspired – and organised – by Shinan Zhang, the league also includes the Stoke Newington Swifts and the Edward Alleyn Club, with home and away matches to be played over the next 12 months. The encounters take the form of a regular four-a-side match, with singles and doubles matches counting towards an overall match score.
More seasoned RFA members may recall that there was a London League in the early 1990s, and while the history books record that it was won by the Over Forties Club (Messrs Fuller, Schroeter, Parlby and Love), the competition was not a lasting success. In an effort to prevent the kind of cancellations that spelt the demise of that original league, this new incarnation will have a set time frame for each match – and a strong emphasis on the social side of the encounters!
While there are four teams in this inaugural season, the hope is that it can be expanded in the coming years to include more teams and more players.