Bristol Football Club (RFU)

Bristol Football Club (RFU), to give it its original title, is one of the most famous Rugby Union teams in England. The club's heritage and traditions are an important aspect of one of Britain's leading cities. This is the first of two volumes illustrating the history of the club with over 200 images, including action shots, team groups, programme covers, cartoons and other items of memorabilia. Compiled by Dave Fox and Mark Hoskins, rugby historians and memorabilia enthusiasts of note, this book traces the evolution from the rabble that the merged Carlton and Redland Park teams produced in 1888 to a side brimming with international players and sporting celebrities fifty years later. The names of Sam Tucker and Len Corbett are etched in the history of this great sport not only in Bristol and England but around the world. Tucker, the tough hooker known affectionately as 'Our Sam', and the elegant Corbett played for Bristol at the same time and both captained England between the wars. The selection covers the time when the club were tenants of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club and includes the move to their spiritual home on Buffalo Bill's field, later christened the Memorial Ground and dedicated to the rugby players of Bristol who fell in the First World War. This fascinating book is an essential read for those interested in the trials and tribulations of sport, its heroes, the ethos of rugby and the city of Bristol.