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London Wasps (also known as '''Wasps FC''' or '''The Wasps''') is an English Rugby Union team. The club was formed in 1897 at the now defunct Eton and Middlesex Tavern in North London. The Wasps are a London club, although they play at Causeway Stadium , which is located in High Wycombe , Buckinghamshire . The Wasps are one of the most successful english rugby union sides in recent years, having won at least one of each of the major European competitions or knock-out tournaments in the past decade. The team are currently competing in the english club competition, the 2005-06 Guinness Premiership and the European knock-out competition, the 2005-06 Heineken Cup . HISTORY 1867-1967 Wasps Football Club was originally formed in 1867 at the now defunct Eton and Middlesex Tavern in North London. The club gained its name because of the fashion of the Victorian period for clubs to adopt the names of insects, birds and animals. 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 . On January 26, 1871 the meeting was schedualed 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, 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 realized his mistake. Wasps were, therefore, not present at the inauguration ceremony and forfeited their right to be called foundation members. The Wasp's first home was in Finchley Road , North London although subsequent years saw grounds being rented in various parts of London. In 1923 the Wasps moved to a permanent home at Sudbury , Middlesex , eventually buying the ground outright. The side had somewhat of a renaissence during the 1930s, particularly the earlier part of the decade, where they were seen as one of the bet english clubs, going unbeaten in the 1930/31 english season. 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. The 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 Side , such as Ted Woodward , Bob Stirling , 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 Barbarians F.C. , the other, against another London rugby union club, Harlequin F.C. . 1968-1994 The 1980s saw an all time high represenation of Wasps players in the England National Side . In 1986, the Wasps Football Club made their first final appearance at the John Player Cup knock-out competition, which originated in 1972. The Wasps were defeated by Bath Rugby in a close final, were Bath emerged as winners, 25 points to 17. The following year, the Wasps continued their success in the knock-out competition, and they again met Bath in the final. They were however, again defeat by Bath in a close game, Bath winning 19 points to 12. Wasp Rob Andrew captaining England against Romania in 1989. When rugby union became professional, the club split into two parts. The professional side became part of Loftus Road Holdings (who also owned Queens Park Rangers F.C. , sharing the Loftus Road stadium with the West London Association Football team). This part of the club was renamed London Wasps in part as a marketing move in order to identify with the city more (at the time they were the only professional rugby club with a London postal address. The amateur side of the club still uses the name Wasps Football Club. 1995-present In 1995 the Wasps made it to the final of the Pilkington Cup , their first final apperance of that competition in almost eight years. They again met Bath in the final, as they did on two occasions in 1986 and 1987. They were however defeated by Bath Rugby , 36 points to 16. After the defeat by Bath at 1995's Pilkington tournament, a few years later, in 1998 the Wasps emerged as finalists of the Pilkington Cup . They were, however, soundly defeated 48 points to 18 by the Saracens Club . In 1999, the London Wasps made it to the final of the Tetley's Bitter Cup (now called Powergen Cup), where they would meet the Newcastle Falcons . The Wasps emerged as winners, defeating Newcastle 29 points to 19, and claiming their first title of that competition. The following year, the Wasps backed up this successful Tetley's Bitter Cup win, by again making it to the final. The Wasps succsesfully defended their title, defeating the Northampton Saints 31 to 23. In 2001 ex-Wigan rugby league star Shaun Edwards joined as a coach. He has largely been credited with creating Wasp's famous Blitz Defence that stops teams and is the basis for Wasps' own scoring chances. In the 2002/03 European Challenge Cup, the Wasps made their way to the final, where they met Bath, though Bath beat them in numerous finals in the 1990s , the Wasps emerged as champions, beating Bath 48 to 30 at Madejski Stadium . The Wasps finished atop of their pool in the 2003-4 Heineken Cup , where they went on to soundly defeat Gloucester at the quarterfinals and won a final birth after overcoming Munster 37 points to 32 in the semi-finals. They met Stade Toulousain in the final at Twickenham , where they became champions, defeating the French side, 27 points to 20, and thus winning their first Heineken Cup . On for fielding an ineligible player, Hooker Jonny Barrett, in a sixth-round game versus Bristol Rugby . Ian McGeechan is the new Director of Rugby at Wasps from the 2005/06 season, taking over from Warren Gatland who has returned to New Zealand following 3 very successful years at the club. STADIUM The Wasp's first home was in Finchley Road , North London although subsequent years saw grounds being rented in various parts of London. In 1923 the Wasps moved to a permanent home at Sudbury , Middlesex , eventually buying the ground outright. Although the team currently play home matches at Causeway Stadium , High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire , and the ground at Sudbury has been developed for housing, the clubhouse still stands (currently being used as a Hindu Community Centre) and is still considered by many as the Club's spiritual home. The Wasps previously played their home games at Loftus Road in West London. They however made the move to High Wycombe. The crowds figure went up by 31.8% the next season. In recent years, the Wasps have played their season opener at Twickenham, which draws around 35,000. CURRENT ENGLAND ELITE SQUAD
OTHER INTERNATIONALS
CLUB HONOURS
1989/90, 1996/97, 2002/03 (play-offs), 2003/04 (play-offs), 2004/05 (play-offs)
EXTERNAL LINKS
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